Sponsor Ciaran Doran at : https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/ciarandoranbeforethetour
This was the first big day on the road and everyone knew it. At dinner the evening before the TV crew were interviewing the riders about their view of the ride, with questions about everything from the prologue which was a parade for us to the first big day, (today), the mountains and about Lance Armstrong. Wait for news about the documentary, no seriosuly, this will come next!
I’m not taking chances on whether the hotel has the right breakfast for me so my AeroPress came with me as usual on my travels and Quaker Porridge Oats, singles packets, abound in my hotel room. If you think this is a little quirky then think again, one of my vegan co-riders has brought not only half the supermarket veggie counter but his own pillow and mattress! When I saw him exit his hotel bedroom I really thought he’d knicked the duvet and pillows it was such a sight. The thing is, he’s faster than me ! so maybe it’s me that’s missing a trick here.
Because the professionals were starting their big day in the centre of Utrecht we were set off a little outside the main centre and picked up the official route quite quickly. As you can se Geoff was certainly, and quite rightly, the centre of the TV crew’s attention as this was a big day for him and us all. A childhood dream come true for me but also a major milestone for Geoff and the team to bring this project together. Entries are being taken for 2016, no kdding.
We set off at quite a pace as many of us were eager to get going, perhaps a little too eager as the pace was quite fast. It’s not surprising when you get a bunch of wannabe racehorses together and then expect them to set off nice and gently on the biggest ride of their lives. Here’s the map of the ride.
One of the great thing about this ride that I’ve not mentioned til now as this was the first real day we experienced it is the motorcycle outriders, or “les motos” as they’re called. Made up of a team of ex-gendarmes, ex-ProTour outriders and highly experienced drivers who know how to kep roads open, we were escorted through the day with a rolling road closure that was second to none. I’ve never ridden with rolling road closures so it was quite something to be moving along (racing as we thought we were) and have oncoming vehicles from all sides simply stopped for “us” ! One special moment was as we crested the Erasmus bridge in Rotterdam and further ahead we could see les motos simply sitting at the traffic lights. Then as we approached about 150m distance they fanned out most beautifully and theatrically as if moses were parting the waves – we sailed through.
However, and there’s always something isn’t there. Les Motos, while on the bikem, always looked like they knew what they were doing so it was jsut a tad puzzling when I caught them trying to work out where we were on a tourist map at one of our pit-stops 🙂
I’m told that they did indeed know where we were and were just commenting on the tourist area – Hmmm?
One sad thing was that as we traversed the first major dyke to the islands of south holland we were surprised by a narrow expansion gap that appeared on the road fast and which caught several of us riders. Bike in front crashed, I was very nearly taken down completely but managed to stagger to the side and was terrified of falling into the lane of traffic only to see that the car in the outer lane saw what happend and took evasive action – otherwise I could have ‘come a cropper’ as they say. Unfortunately two riders were injured, one quite badly and had to have 11 stiches in the rear. Bravely, though, she regained composure a short while later and was back on the bike for the last 40km of the day. Hugely impressed by Helen’s courage and determination to keep going. I can understand, though, because after all, this is about the patients, their pain, their potential gain by the money we’re raising.
So with the above in mind please give generously on the donation link above. You can see what we’re doing here, the challenge we’re taking on and the pitfalls involved. In many ways, this is nothing compared with being told to go home to die – that shouldn’t happen to anyone.
On a positive note, we finished the way well, even if it was into a 30mph headwind. THe views were spectacular and we felt like real professionals having completed our first big day in the heat, in our very own peleton and in style.
At the finish line were my family, Jillian, Aidan, Alesha, Philip and Gillian Spencer – it was so very lovely, and just a little emotional, to see them there excited and gathering many photos for our memories. Also there was a good friend from Auro Technologies, Jan Ranier, who cycled out to the finish to meet the team – thank you Jan, that was so lovely.
…and finally, I promised myself no alcohol for the last couple of months and the reward was to be on the ride if I felt good at the end of the day. Mission accomplished and one De Koninck was much appreciated.
