Shortly after completing the London Marathon on April 24, I decided I needed to set myself a new challenge as my weird mid-late twenties fitness binge continues.
So I bought a cheap road bike and signed up to cycle from Paris to London with around 70 other people that work in tech at companies like Apple, Google, IBM, Deliveroo, Merill Lynch, and Tech City UK.
The mixed-ability charity bike ride, organised by non-profit TechBikers, involved cycling more than 300km in around two and a half days.
Starting at the iconic Eiffel Tower, we headed north through the French countryside and up towards the coastal town of Dieppe. From there we caught a ferry to Newhaven, before riding on up to London.
Having never done anything like this, I was slightly apprehensive. Thankfully I managed to stay on my bike and return home with little more than a slightly dodgy right knee and a bit of minor sunburn.
Below are some photos from the ride:
I bought a B'twin Triban 500 SE from Decathlon for £299 at the end of April. The bike was recommended to me by a couple of friends that know a bit about cycling.
A month later, I confirmed my place on the TechBikers Paris to London ride. The ride is organised every year to raise money for children's education charity Room to Read, which has been building schools in Nepal recently following the country's devastating earthquake last year.
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By the time I confirmed my place, there were just four weeks left to train for the ride. I crammed in two rides over 80km, including one out into Hertfordshire with Apple's head of UK public sector, Craig Pollard (front), and entrepreneur David Wynter (back).
See the rest of the story at Business Insider