Ashley and Jo's Tour de France

[joanne123]

Glad your both doing so well and all the best for the rest of the way

[carolj]

I hope you are going to have a huge celebration when you get there!!! :Netherlands: :first:

[Lost_in_a_Dark_Maze]

A huge well done to you both! You have done so well. :cheer:

[Caramoole]

Glad it's U2 (the Old Gal did Text Talk!) Clever me!!

Good Luck for the last 55 Miles, proud of you both.....for cycling (and more importantly) for coping with the OCD.

Well Done Jo and Ashley

Caramoole :hug:

[Guest SophieM]

You are doing brilliantly!!!!

Sending lots of best wishes

S. xx

[Northern Star]

Against all the odds......I DID IT!!!!

I promise to write a proper post in the next day or so......but too tired to go back to Cornwall tonight so in a hotel with hubby having just been treated to the best curry in the world and a bath in Deep Heat Muscle Rub bath soak. I am utterly exhausted - this has truly been the hardest thing I have ever done, and I only managed it by the skin of my teeth. Still can't believe I made it to Paris - OCD did its damnedest to make sure that I didn't, but between us we got there and I am chuffed to bits.

More soon, but sleeeeeep now

[Guest legend]

Against all the odds......I DID IT!!!!

I promise to write a proper post in the next day or so......but too tired to go back to Cornwall tonight so in a hotel with hubby having just been treated to the best curry in the world and a bath in Deep Heat Muscle Rub bath soak. I am utterly exhausted - this has truly been the hardest thing I have ever done, and I only managed it by the skin of my teeth. Still can't believe I made it to Paris - OCD did its damnedest to make sure that I didn't, but between us we got there and I am chuffed to bits.

More soon, but sleeeeeep now

outstanding jo. so pleased you did it . xx well done

[carolj]

Absolutely fantastic Jo, what an incredible achievement, you must be so proud!!! :first:

[Guest Sun]

well done Jo :clapping: well done Ashley :clapping:

what an amazing achievement...........xx

[Stephen]

You go girl (and boy)

Well done to you both!!

[Hal]

An amazing achievement, well done, here's to you both :cheers: I bet you never want to go near a bike ever again!

Hal :original:

[Northern Star]

As promised, a little more about the trip.....

Wednesday (Crystal Palace to Dover)

Wednesday morning we set off bright and early - on the road by 7am. It all started ok, before I got separated from the others at a set of traffic lights, missed one of the direction arrows and got lost. Had to backtrack a couple of miles before finding the marker I should have followed. Spent the next hour or so cycling on my own, crying on and off as I went along. My OCD was starting to rise, plus I hate being lost and was in a part of London I've never been to before. About 9am I rang hubby in a right state, told him that I couldn't do it, that I needed him to come and join me. I passed on to him the phone number of the leader of the support crew who, after speaking to Jim, came and found me, pulled me over at the side of the road. He gave me a bit of a pep talk but also reassured me that the support crew was there to...well...support me. Jim text me to say, as I'd expected, that it would be close to impossible for him to join me on the bike ride, both logistically and financially speaking.

A little later Ashley and I were reunited, think he'd got lost in a different place, then came the first water stop. I was battling with my head, not really focussing on the cycling. Had a quick chat on the phone with someone who knows a helluva lot about OCD, who added a little bit more support. Ash and I carried on, managed not to get lost before getting to the lunch stop. I forced some food down but every loo stop was taking in the region of 20 mins, due to all the washing and cleaning that they entailed.

Midway through the afternoon Ash overtook me at a junction, saw I was sobbing on the side of the road. He was kind, we talked a little bit, I told him that it was too difficult, the OCD was too extreme for me to be able to manage this. He said that I didn't have to put myself through this if it was going to be so upsetting for me. I calmed myself down a bit, managed to carry on cycling but struggling all the while. At the final water stop of the day Ash told the crew that I was struggling, one of them talked to me and even though we didn't discuss anything about what was going on, just the very act of putting a bit of distance between myself and the fear was enough to keep me going. I had been ready to give up at Dover, just to phone Jim and ask him to come and pick me up. I know that he would have done, and in the short term it would have been easier, but I would have been desperately disappointed and angry with myself not to have carried on. So boarded the ferry at Dover, had something to eat, then about 6 miles of cycling to the hotel in Calais. Not much to report from that point, met the girl I was sharing a room with and turned in for the night.

[Ashley]

It all started ok, before I got separated from the others at a set of traffic lights, missed one of the direction arrows and got lost. Had to backtrack a couple of miles before finding the marker I should have followed.

What Jo, somewhat cheekily, fails to mention here is that the reason we were separated at this point was because I had rather gentlemanly pulled over to the side of the road (ironically near the Bethlem unit) to wait for Jo as I had got a little ahead, but I had forgot to unclip my feet from my pedals in time and ended up on my ****. So as I sheepishly picked myself up looking a right tit for falling within 20 minutes of the start, Jo came flying by, without a word of concern for poor old me :lol: , and it was just after this she missed the turning.

Sadly for me, that was the least embarrassing and least painful of my falls over the four days.

[Northern Star]

So as I sheepishly picked myself up looking a right tit for falling within 20 minutes of the start, Jo came flying by, without a word of concern for poor old me :lol: , and it was just after this she missed the turning.

...as she hadn't seen you fall and therefore didn't realise you might be hurt!

[Northern Star]

Thursday (Calais to Abbeville)

Woke up feeling sore and achey, but the cycling itself was a little easier on this day. I began to struggle a little more with keeping hydrated though, as I was so worried about needing the loo in the middle of the French countryside and not being able to find one. Most people were just going behind trees / bushes etc but that was way too difficult for me to try. So I began restricting more how much water I drank. I knew that I could be causing myself a serious problem (e.g. kidney failure) by not drinking enough, but the OCD fear outweighed any worry I had about my physical health. I came to the conclusion that I would rather be in physical pain than endure the terror that I might contaminate someone / something and make someone ill as a result. Had two showers within a few hours that night (thankfully my roommate was asleep so didn't hear me take the second one).

Edited September 11, 2012 by Northern Star

[Guest Icicle]

You should be so so proud of yourself, that brought a tear to my eye reading how much you struggled but how you overcame it! I would hope to have as much strength in a similar situation but I honestly doubt that I would.

You have both done such an amazing thing, you should both be sooooo proud.

Massive congratulations

Rach xx

[Northern Star]

Friday (Abbeville to Beauvais)

Sore and achey again this morning, found it difficult to eat much, and drank less and less. It was a baking hot day but I was barely drinking any water. I think Ash and the crew were worried about me this day, one of the crew even drove me into the next village and knocked on a random French couple's door to ask if I could use their loo. I was mightily embarrassed but also relieved. He dropped me back where I'd left my bike and I cycled like a bat out of hell to catch up with the others. I allowed myself a couple of sips of water but was still very under-hydrated. Again, loo breaks were taking me forever, I was so embarrassed by it but again the OCD fear outweighed any sense of embarrassment. Ash said that he would wait for me however long it took, which was kind, although I was still trying to hide it from everyone else. I think we cycled 62 miles that day and I did that on a little over half a litre of water. I started to get a headache from the dehydration but still OCD mainly overruled my body's need for fluid. As we got closer to that night's hotel I began to drink a little more, but I knew that what I was doing was dangerous, but felt powerless against it. I was more afraid of the mental pain than any physical that might happen.

[Northern Star]

Saturday (Beauvais to Paris)

The least number of miles - "only" 52 today. I think all of us went all-out with the cycling, no need to worry about being too sore to ride the next day! I was still drinking less than I should, not quite as little as Friday though. There were a few "undulations" (crew-speak for "hills") including one which was 1.1 miles of upward 10% gradient, but generally the cycling was relatively easy. As we got closer to Paris the roads worsened, almost as many potholes as English roads, and it seemed like we got caught at every single traffic light. We stopped for lunch by the Seine (again, just fruit for me) although I used the most revolting public loo ever - even those without OCD were wary. Everyone gathered together about 3 miles from the Eiffel Tower, before making one huge convoy along past the Arc de Triomphe and finishing under the Eiffel Tower. I was battling my OCD hard by this point - that public loo had set me off and I was "inside" my head, trying to reason with the OCD. Ash kept telling me to refocus and indeed said that it didn't matter what the "contamination" was, which was a novel idea to me - how could he be telling me to ignore the contamination, without knowing what it was and therefore whether or not it actually was dangerous?! He did so much better than I did OCD-wise though - and I did try to refocus on the final cycle to the Eiffel Tower.

Saturday evening was the celebration dinner, had a couple of drinks, pure-o set off. Alcohol reduces my OCD thoughts in the short-term but then they come back harder than ever after a little while, which is why I rarely get drunk - it's just not worth the hassle, and I know it would be a rubbish coping method anyway. After dinner everyone was going out to continue drinking but I had had enough OCD and couldn't take the idea of any more, so I lay down on my bed to read, but ended up falling asleep within about 5 minutes.

Edited September 11, 2012 by Northern Star

[Lost_in_a_Dark_Maze]

Many congratulations to both of you! :clapping: You definitely deserve a gold medal! :first:

[Ashley]

My review of the challenge, but before I do, I have emailed all those that kindly sponsored me to thank them, but I don't have details for a Heather N, Helen B and Benjamin C. To you three I want to thank you too for your kind sponsorship, which on the first days really helped motivate me to push on.

Just a few general notes about the trip, there was 56 people cycling for different charities. The company that run it (Skyline) were very well organised, the set out route markers all the way to Paris, and on the trip they have support vehicles that setup water stops and lunch stops to ensure we are looked after, and in the heat of last week, the water stops were so needed.

I escaped the four days with nothing more than a few cuts and bruises (from falls) and a sore bottom from being in the saddle too long :lol: , but amazingly my legs felt ok and could have perhaps done more days. It also helped me with my OCD, because toilet facilities were not available at the water and lunch stops so I had to use nature and the hedgerows of France for pee breaks, without washing, which allowed me to challenge my OCD. Not too polite, but helped me push my OCD!

The whole trip was amazing, beautiful French countryside, time to think as you cycled along the country lanes, energy from the tour crew and other cyclists when I needed the company, it just worked so well. I would love to do it again next year, or the three cities (London to Amsterdam to Brussels, 350 miles in 4 days).

It was such hard work physically, the sun was hot which made it much harder, but I guess that is better than pouring rain, but it was such an amazing challenge, hard and exhausting, it pressured every bone, your feet, your legs, your hands blister, even my chest is bruised from compression of chest over four days. But it is one of the most amazing things I have ever done, and thank you to all of you for your sponsorship and good luck messages on here and in email, I really do appreciate all your kind words.

Following Jo's example, here is a little diary review of each of the four days.

Day 1 - Wednesday (Crystal Palace to Dover)

You can view the route we took here. I was slightly gutted when I saw signs for Tonbridge and Paddock Wood and I realised I was cycling so close to home, I could have just started from here. The route from Crystal Palace to Dover is logged at 92 miles, a few added miles there as I got lost near Westerham (you will see in the route map I am shown doubling back a little), sadly for me I only knew I was lost after going down a huge, huge hill... so I had to climb it again! In the end the total for day one was 98 miles because when we got to Calais we had to cycle another 6 miles to the hotel.

The first day was by far the worst for me. I had injured my calf the Sunday before on my final training, and had struggled walking all week, so I had feared my calf would give up on me, or my injured knee within a few miles and I would embarrassingly have to pull out. As it happened, I had adjusted my seat forward and down in the week, and that resolved my calf problems, in fact I never felt a thing in all four days. But the fear building up to the day had really left me concerned.

I started the day at 5:00am, wake up for shower in my hotel at East Croydon, on the train to Crystal Palace at 5:40am and into Crystal Palace Park for 6am as instructed, slightly miffed to then find I was hanging around until everyone arrived at 7am. Talk about building the nerves.

Well after our briefing we set off, we were given basic maps, but the route was marked at every junction by small orange triangles, and my day started with ignominy after I forgot to unclip my feet from my pedals after about 10 minutes and fell! Luckily only a couple of people saw this

I did lose Jo at this point (as she mentions above), after I picked myself up I set off again, and I saw a line of cyclists ahead speeding straight on, I assumed Jo was in that group, but when I got to the bottom of the road, a lovely lady called Andrea that had only learned to ride a bike the month before (never too late) was pointing to the road to the left where the orange triangle was pointing, so everyone else had gone the wrong way in their haste, us slow coaches had spotted the triangle. I did try to call Jo on her mobile but she was too busy pedalling to hear it I guess. So I had no choice but to go down the same road with Andrea.

This road took us out intro the countryside, I was surprised at how close to South London the countryside actually is. The route was well planned, throughout the week it took us through back country lanes wherever possible to avoid traffic. From here the first few hills started, but I decided to go slow up them, partly to see if Jo caught me up, and partly to conserve energy. After about 10 miles I had passed a few cyclists, and I hit a main road (A21), I think this is where I went wrong, I must have missed an orange triangle straight off it, and this is where I think I added a good 6 or more miles by going the wrong way.

I eventually caught up with Jo just before the water stop at a place called Seal. The water stops allowed us to fill our water bottles, and they provided bananas and grain bars to help us refuel up. For me the water stops mainly just allowed me to rest my legs, stretch other muscles and just have 5 minutes out of the saddle.

We could not rest too long, we were already behind others, and the first day was the most pressured because we had to get from Crystal Palace to Dover in time for the ferry at 5pm.

We pushed on and made it to the lunch stop at Bethersden (just outside Ashford). Skyline had a catering company with us all week, although the first say was in a village hall, other days they set up little marquees with tables of amazing food, Pasta with chicken, tuna, potatoes for carbs, lovely salads, all the foods you need to get you through the physical challenges ahead, even carrot cake or flapjacks and healthy deserts.

The final stint was a push to the afternoon water stop near Etchinghill and then on to Dover. Near Etchinghill I had stopped for a pee break and when I caught up,Jo was struggling on bit of a hill climb just at the same time the Skyline crew drove past. It was agreed Jo would take a breather for that final run to Dover. I was told I had 25 minutes to do the final 11 or 12 miles, and they would come find me to pick me up if I ran out of time. I pushed on hard, sadly for me, this was also the hardest part of the day in terms of hill climbs. After a couple of miles I came upon a young lady slightly lost, so we teamed up and pushed each other on to Dover and the meeting point. As it turned out the ferry was late anyway! The Skyline team escorted all 56 cyclists into the port in convoy for safety, but it felt good to be cycling with lots of others for a few minutes.

After lots of waiting at Dover, and a fairly uneventful ferry crossing I was slightly miffed and not amused to find at about 9-10pm in Calais we then had a 6 mile ride to the hotel. So 56 people cycling in the dark, many of us cold and tired following the Skyline car to the hotel. It was not too hard, although a small climb I could of done without, but I was cold by this point as everyone else had a cycling high vis jacket, I had forgot to bring mine so I was still in a t-shirt. I think most people were in bed within a hour of reaching the hotel at Calais!

(I forgot to set the tracker on the phone for that final 6 miles from the port of Calais to the hotel).

My OCD was slightly worried about having to share a room with someone I did not know. I was buddied with a guy of similar age called Daniel. He was ok, and as room mates go he was ok, quiet and clean. Through the week it worked well because he would finish 2 or 3 hours before me, so he was in and showered and out before I would get back, giving me the room and some space too.

Day 2 - Thursday (Calais to Abbeville)

The days route tracking can be viewed here. It's clocked at 67.39 miles, but I had forgot to turn the GPS on my phone for the first 3 or 4 miles so we did about 71 miles in total on day two. This was my crunch day I had assumed. I felt if I could get through day one, and then had no niggles at the start of day two, I may be ok. I was amazed to find I woke up ok and not feeling stiff anywhere.

I am not sure if this was planned but Jo's room-mate started the morning cycling with us, and ended up cycling most of the remaining three days with us too. Along the first big hill climb of the day, was a really pretty village with a church on top of the hill we passed two guys from London, who would go on to also cycle most of the remaining days with us.

Getting used to riding on the right side of the road took a little working out for the first hour, but I soon got used to it.

The morning was basically full of 'undulations' as the Skyline crew called them, 'flipping hills' as I preferred to call them... I think I used another word, I seem to recall Jo mentioned she had never heard me swear so much, every time a new hill climb came into view, I felt the urge to share my disappointment. :lol:

We made it to the first water stop, near Courset. Basically just a car park area, but it worked. Although we did not see it, some of the ladies told us later on that they had encountered a flasher at some point around here! Rather them than me.

Our excitement came a couple of miles down the road, finally the roads had become nice and flat, and all of a sudden we saw a cow (smallish) in a ditch to the left of the road. Jo and one of the guys rode past, I was at the back with Jo's room mate, and the other guy we cycled with was in the middle. A fair distance between us all, suddenly as the guy in the middle got near the cow it bolted (fasted thing you have ever seen, the cow must have been a horse in disguise, that quick) it leapt out of the ditch, across the road almost taking the front wheel of the guy in front of us, who had to brake hard, and off into the field on the right. Needless to say, myself and Jo's room mate who saw it all were not too sympathetic, I think we were both giggling with fits of laughter for a good 30 minutes after.

Lunch was in such a beautiful spot near Mainyenay Village, set by a small lake in lovely tranquil surroundings. The day passed without much more event, we stopped for the final water break near Marcheville Village.

At one point during the day, I had stopped for water as I was a little ahead of others. As they caught up and passed me, I looked up to see a hill and my legs gave way, I had nothing at all to give, dead. I quickly put two energy bars and gels down me, managed to peddle slowly up the hill until I caught the others who had waited for me at the top. What really helped was I was able to peddle in the rear wheel of the slowest of the group, and watching her peddle strokes allowed me to get my rhythm back, and within 15 minutes my legs were working fine again. I think there is something to be said for cycling with others, not just for motivation, but when you flag just following someone elses wheel can real help.

Day 3 - Friday (Abbeville to Beauvais)

The days route tracking can be viewed here, although I again forgot to start the tracker for the first couple of miles. clocked at 63 miles, but was likely to be 65 or 66 miles in total.

Slight worry for me when I woke up, firstly stiff upper legs, and chest pains. But Jo quickly assured me I was not having a heart attack, it was just chest muscle strain. I had been pressed up on my handlebars for two long days, 170 miles of pushing my arms and chest together, so makes sense. Thankfully, within 10 minutes of cycling my stiff legs had loosened up.

A strange morning, close mist, very pretty though, but that soon burned off to glorious sunshine and hot sun! Nothing much to report really, first water stop was Selincourt Village. I did have my most embarrassing fall of the trip on day three. There was a hill climb in the morning, short but steep and after struggling I get to the top only to see the SKyline car was there, chatting to my cycling group already there and some of the other girls from the cycling group. So what do I do, get to the top, miss my foot when trying to unclip and smack, straight on my side to huge cheers from everyone.

Other than that, not much to report, lunch in a lovely village green at Sarcus Village, and then the final water stop of the day at Grand Oudeuil... which I kinda liked as the young Skyline crew were pouring water over a couple of the younger female cyclists.. all in good taste of course!

Day 4 - Saturday (Beauvais to Paris)

The final day and Paris baby... we were going to Paris. As per usual I forgot to set the tracking for the first mile or so, but tracked at just under 53 miles. Our final day was amazing, the sun was out 35 degrees, so perfect weather. The days climbs started farily early in after about 5 or 6 miles with the longest hill climb of the trip (if not the steepest) at 1.1 miles of climbing. Through the week I had cycled up the hills, but many I would stop half way to catch breath for a moment before finishing off. I was determined to try and climb this final one, luckily because of the final day and trying to keep us all together there were a lot more cyclists around, so I was following some, and I had some guy behind me for that one and every time my pedals stopped or slowed he would give me a pep talk, and he literally talked me to the top without me needing to stop to catch breath! I was well chuffed with that one.

I think being the final day everyone was pushing harder, no need to save our legs anymore, and we knew it was the shortest and easiest day... that said whoever told us it was a flat final day lied, lots of flipping hills on the final day, well for the morning at least. The first, and final waterstop of the day was Vallangoujard village. After this we left our final countryside cycling behind us as we hit the suburbs of Paris and lots of traffic lights, which for those of us with clipless pedals was a pain having to stop and unlip every few meters.

My final and perhaps most horrific fall of the trip came as we hit the outskirts of Paris. I had come around a traffic island, and looked behind me to see if Jo had come through and I stupidly mistimed my speed and the curb came upon me quicker than anticipated and smack my wheel hit it, and I think I went up and over to my side, taking my bike with me, landing on my back. I felt the thud of my helmet hit the concrete..... always wear cycle helmets kiddies!!!!! I could hear Jo asking if I was ok, but I decided to lay there for a minute or so just to catch my breath and make sure I could move all my limbs before talking lol... eventually I think I lay on my back and slowly lifted my thumb to indicate I was alive :lol:

I was cut and bruised, blood dripping down my leg, my bike was damaged, the left gear/brake lever had been pushed in, but I was too close to Paris to give up now, so I was carrying on. Made it to lunch on side of the River Seine near Quai de la Marina and I cleaned myself up, applied sun lotion as I was bright red with sunburn, and sat to eat my final cycling lunch before we did a final couple of miles to the holding point just outside Paris.

The final four miles was done in convoy for safety reasons, but it was magical, the skyline trucks were surrounding us beeping their horns, the tourists cheered us, cycle bells being pinged, chanting from us and as we cycled pass the Arc de Triomphe was amazing, but nothing compared to going under the Eiffel Tower, I did have a tear in my eye at the achievement, I really had not thought I could do it on Wednesday morning. As we then were driven around the Eiffel Tower finishing in front of the Eiffel Towere where the Skyline crew were waiting, and the family of some of the cyclists where there to cheer us in... and spray us with Champers... it's true what they say, it does sting your eyes!!!

It was one of the best things I have ever done, and I loved it, even the pain of those ****** hills!

My legs could have carried on another day or two, my bottom was done in Paris, saddle sore... ouchies, so glad it was the last day!!!

Photos on our Flick page.

So, whose up for it in 2013?

[Guest OCD-UK RSS]

300 miles in just four days, that is just what Ashley and Jo did earlier this month!  Whilst most struggled with the physical challenges, OCD-UK's Ashley Fulwood and member Jo (Northern Star) also battled internal OCD challenges as they successfully cycled from London to Paris.

Jo told us "Still can't believe I made it to Paris - OCD did its damnedest to make sure that I didn't, but between us we got there and I am chuffed to bits."

Ashley told our forums "It was such hard work physically, the sun was hot which made it much harder, but I guess that is better than pouring rain, but it was such an amazing challenge. Hard and exhausting, it pressured every bone, your feet, your legs, your hands blister, even my chest is bruised from compression of chest over four days. But it is one of the most amazing things I have ever done, and thank you to all of you for your sponsorship and good luck messages on here and in email, I really do appreciate all your kind words."

You can read both their accounts on our forums, and in our next Compulsive Reading magazine.

300 miles in just four days, is still worthy of support, so please do feel free to sponsor them for their remarkable achievements. You can sponsor Jo through her Just Giving page here or Ashley can be sponsored online via his Just Giving page here

Fancy following in theirs and Bradley Wiggins tyre tracks next year? Well you can, with more charity London to Paris cycle challenges planned for 2013, click here for more information.

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OCD-UK

Fundraising

Awareness

View the article on the OCD-UK website

[Guest Dragonfruit]

Amazing! You two should be so proud of yourselves - I know I am. You deserve every penny you get. Well done x

[Ashley]

DF, and to everyone for your kind words, support, encouragement and of course sponsorship. I really did not think I would make it beyond 10 or 20 miles of day one, and had it not be for the sponsorship I would have cried off before the start I suspect, because my calf had been hurting even the day before, so you all did your bit to get me to the start, and got me through those 300 miles, thank you guys, and hopefully we raised some awareness along the way too.

I loved it so much, I am already planning on next year. Either through Skyline again, London to Amsterdam to Brussels, 350 miles in 4 days, or if I can find people to help me and I can get the time off from the charity, maybe the length of the UK, John o Groats to Lands End over 10 days. I may do Paris again, I am trying to persuade our illustrious chair to give it a go

[Ashley]

Well, after a visit to the GP this morning it seems that during the little trip at some point, I assume my fall on the final day, I have managed to crack a rib... oopsy.. and ouchies.