9 April: Day Four

Liseux to Dieppe: A long, long day! 

Today was a huge day. Despite Will's confident predictions that it would be flat, easy cycling, the terrain was, by some margin, the worst we had encountered (the early morning session alone saw 4kms of vertical climb). You can also throw in a bridge that was higher than most skyscrapers (corroborating photo to follow). Then of course, there was the obligatory headwind for the entire journey that made it impossible to freewheel at any point - all of that said, there was not a drop of rain so that was a huge positive.

It started well, again, as, notwithstanding the freezing cold weather, we gained revenge on the huge hill to the hotel by speeding out of Liseux. We then cycled into the first of nineteen villages starting with the word "val". Once, the lactic acid had flushed out of our legs, we headed through the first of twenty three villages starting with the word "mont". You get the idea! Rhys' french is coming on well.

By the time we stopped for the early morning coffee, we were shattered and making alternative plans in case we missed the ferry.

After some determined speed work and another fall from Leon, we stopped off for our first well deserved lunch break. All two restaurants in the town were closed (obviously - it was 1.30pm) and we were left with the prospect of three frozen pizzas and two frozen croque monsieurs from a tiny bar with one microwave. It was at this point that Giles completely lost his sense of humour. The helmet joined the gloves he had thrown at the van yesterday. He then kicked his waterbottle across the road in a move he had obviously learnt from his three year old son. To be fair, he had reason as Leon had wound most of the party into a fury by walking off to find a michelen star restaurant in the ghost town of a village.

The decision was then made to try and cycle the further 10k to the next town for lunch. Seb must at this point apologise to any french farmers who heard him swearing his way up yet another hill about the lack of tunnels in northern france and the french in general.

So we arrived at the second lunch station. Again, all the restaurants were closed (it was now 2.15pm) but we found a little pub that had seven microwaves and truck loads of lasagnes. This was obviously not good enough for Leon so he went off on his own mission and turned up with some grilled chicken pieces, sweetcorn and a handy dessert. Roberto made his way around the tables yet again, inflicting severe punishment wherever he went.

We then set off for the final 20 mile push to Dieppe with time in the bank. Neil marshalled us well and despite the extra time available, was not allowing anyone to dilly dally. He had obviously seen the terrain "down" to the sea.

The pain felt as we made it up hill after hill was agonising and excruciating. We finally made it through Dieppe when we realised we were hopelessly lost and heading for a motorway. Leon, the star of the day, performed a four lane left manoeuvre in front of two trucks through the medium of an extended left arm and lacking any sight. The move took us straight into an industrial park but still with no sight of the port and one huge mountain between us and the sea - obviously, because all seaside venues are surrounded by mountains.

The strategy from Seb was to take the bags out the van, load the cycles and either walk the mountain or catch cabs. Rhys and John D bought heavily into this idea before the news came that the final trip to the port was flat. The news made all eleven of us completely delirious and as we arrived at the port, Conrad stripped off completely naked in a public car park to change into his craghopper relaxation trousers. Cries of "ou est" were heard from the local cafe.

And now we sit on our ferry home back to Blighty and a day's riding closer to home. Only the small matter of Brighton to London tomorrow...

Finally, a special diary thanks to Angus, Neil and, especially, Will. The cycling duo of Angus and Will have shepherded the team superbly, with the tireless assistance of Neil, whose technical brilliance and no-nonsense approach were invaluable. To Will, the thanks of all the team for Columbus-like navigational skills and true patience (especially with constant questions about how far, how high, how long etc etc).

For more pictures see our Photo section