Saturday 13th July 2024.
A non-riding day, well partial riding day to be more accurate, but we were not riding far. Breakfast was a dissapointment, even by the standards we had seen this week, so we quickly packed our bags and our cycling kit and rode the 2.5 miles back into town to grab coffee and croissants at a charming spot overlooking the harbour in Dieppe. Dark clouds were threatening yet more rain and we did have to shelter briefly from another downpour. Our ferry was due to leave at midday and we cycled to the ferry port in plenty of time. There were a lot more cyclists on this journey than we had from Dover to Calais, but it still did not take long to find a spot to secure the bikes on the ferry. We made our way up from the car deck and settled on some comfortable chairs for the four hour boat journey across The Channel back to England. Our crossing was calm and bathed in warm sunshine as we left the dark clouds over the coast of France. We arrived in Newhaven just before 15:00 and headed to the train station to start our journey back to London.
This is the 6th and final Blog entry for our London to Paris trip. If you haven't already seen the earlier blog posts, then please do go back and read them. It has been just over a week or so since we got home and we have all had a chance to reflect on our individual journeys as well as our collective journey. I'm sure that we all remember some things differently. These six entries are just from my memory, other members of the team will be able to tell you their own stories and I am sure they will do so willingly.
To our families, thank you for supporting us, while we embarked on this adventure. In the planning and build up to this ride, I am sure my co-riders have bored their families just as much as I bored my ever supporting wife, Nicky, and the rest of our family and friends. Trying to relay information about bike bags, what to pack and route diversions can't really be interesting to those not taking part, but our families are our rocks. They are the shoulders we stand upon. They allow us the ambition, support us and let us dream of trips like these. Thank you all.
For my five co-riders, I don't have the vocabulary to express my gratitude and my feelings for what we achieved and to be honest, it still hasn't really sunk in yet. Thank you for your excellent company and sharing this adventure with me. Despite the hills, the rain, the wind and the miles cycled, I had a great time with five of my best friends.
You are all amazing.
Jad.
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