In July 2007 Huw Spanner cycled from Paris to London in 24 hours. He repeated this feat again in July 2009. On both occasions, Huw raised funds online using JustGiving. Here is Huw’s account of his first trip:
In March 2006, more by accident than design, I cycled from Paris to London, via the Dieppe-to-Newhaven ferry, and found that I’d done it in 24 hours. I wished I had had the foresight to get sponsored for it, but I hadn’t.
So, I had no option but to do it again this year. In July, accompanied this time by a friend, I set off from the foot of the Eiffel Tower at midday on Bastille Day. I was riding my battered 15-year-old hybrid – when I took it in for a service, the mechanic had said: ‘I think this bike should now be retired!’ At 47, I was feeling quite old myself; but this time I had the advantage that, instead of jeans, I was properly clad in lycra.
It was baking hot as we rode through France under a clear blue sky, and we were fortunate to have the support of my friend’s family, who drove all the way to the coast and stopped at strategic intervals to give us food and fruit juice and encouragement. We arrived at Dieppe at 10pm, and had a quiet (because exhausted) drink in some waterfront bar before boarding the 12.30 ferry for England. I had booked a cabin with a hot shower and a bed just large enough for two weary men to catch four hours’ sleep.
Back in Blighty, it was (of course) overcast, and thunder followed us inland as we creaked our way up the A23 towards Croydon. The storm caught up with us around 6.30am, but we could afford to take shelter only for 20 minutes or so before we had to press on. We passed a couple out walking their dog, in scarves and sou’westers, and they asked us, ‘Is it worth it?’ My friend said to me: ‘How different from France. The French would be shouting Allez! Allez!’ The odd thing was that, in nothing but lycra, I found I was remarkably warm and the rain didn’t matter.
On (and on) into south London, where the roads were potholed and the traffic lights carefully phased to stop us every 200 yards. We got a little lost as we approached the south bank of the Thames, so it took a furious sprint down Millbank to reach Parliament Square just in time to hear Big Ben chime half past ten. Given the time difference, we finally made it, from the Eiffel Tower to Nelson’s Column, with 25 minutes to spare.
I was raising money for both the Cambodia Trust and a bicycle ambulance in Malawi. Including the tax reclaimed through justgiving.com, I reckon I have raised about £450 for the Trust. In the end, the 170-odd miles we covered were much less gruelling than I’d expected - but the advantage of this very direct route is that, as most of the high-profile charity rides go via Calais and Dover over three days, Paris to London in a day sounds almost superhuman! And who am I to disagree?
