Luckily no oversleeping and after a hurried kiss goodbye to Cress, I was out of the door at 4.30am in a taxi to St Pancras International. The last time I took the Eurostar it left from the terminal at Waterloo - St Pancras was a lot more impressive.
The taxi driver was a beast of a man, so had no trouble manhandling my huge and heavy bag into the car. He was a real salt-of-the-earth type, good honest hardworking Londoner who had brought up his 3 kids alone after divorce, working night shifts in a taxi so he could get his kids off to school in the day. Good bloke and a nice start to the day.
I received a lovely email from Dad overnight, telling me of his pride in what Clare and I are doing. Given he's not reknowned for hyperbole or excessive display of emotional content, it really meant a lot to hear that from him. So thanks Dad!
Lots of time to think on the train journey to Rotterdam - I'm embarking on one of the most demanding things I've ever asked of myself, both physically and mentally I expect. I'm sure there are going to be some dark moments over the next 3 weeks, but I feel that through my training and preparation in the last 6-12 months I've given myself every chance of succeeding. And I hope that pushing through and conquering the dark moments will be the making of this special challenge. I also intend to have a lot of fun while I'm about it. The support from friends, colleagues and family will drive me on too, although the very generous levels of donations has left me with some pressure to succeed as well!
I arrived at the Rotterdam hotel at about 1pm, to be met by Jake and Sandy, who'd travelled by plane. Alas without Jake's bag, which had been left in Gatwick by their dodgy sounding choice of airline. Ooops. Poor old jake, what a nightmare. Frantic phone calls ensued as can be imagined.
With plenty of time to kill before the England World Cup game this evening, we went off in search of some lunch, to be joined later by Rick and Steve. On our return we were pleased to see the Classic Tours people fully occupied sorting out all our nutritional needs for the following day. And we were even more delighted to see that our bikes had all arrived safely - would have been an interesting start to a bike tour if those hadn't arrived! They will be transporting all our kit and manning all our feed stops along the way, in their smart TdF vans. Indispensable.
We've got a team briefing over dinner tonight before expected departure at 8am - given it's the first day of the Tour and most of us are fresh faced multi-day riders, there are sure to be some hiccups in the morning. I hope it's not me...
The taxi driver was a beast of a man, so had no trouble manhandling my huge and heavy bag into the car. He was a real salt-of-the-earth type, good honest hardworking Londoner who had brought up his 3 kids alone after divorce, working night shifts in a taxi so he could get his kids off to school in the day. Good bloke and a nice start to the day.
I received a lovely email from Dad overnight, telling me of his pride in what Clare and I are doing. Given he's not reknowned for hyperbole or excessive display of emotional content, it really meant a lot to hear that from him. So thanks Dad!
Lots of time to think on the train journey to Rotterdam - I'm embarking on one of the most demanding things I've ever asked of myself, both physically and mentally I expect. I'm sure there are going to be some dark moments over the next 3 weeks, but I feel that through my training and preparation in the last 6-12 months I've given myself every chance of succeeding. And I hope that pushing through and conquering the dark moments will be the making of this special challenge. I also intend to have a lot of fun while I'm about it. The support from friends, colleagues and family will drive me on too, although the very generous levels of donations has left me with some pressure to succeed as well!
I arrived at the Rotterdam hotel at about 1pm, to be met by Jake and Sandy, who'd travelled by plane. Alas without Jake's bag, which had been left in Gatwick by their dodgy sounding choice of airline. Ooops. Poor old jake, what a nightmare. Frantic phone calls ensued as can be imagined.
With plenty of time to kill before the England World Cup game this evening, we went off in search of some lunch, to be joined later by Rick and Steve. On our return we were pleased to see the Classic Tours people fully occupied sorting out all our nutritional needs for the following day. And we were even more delighted to see that our bikes had all arrived safely - would have been an interesting start to a bike tour if those hadn't arrived! They will be transporting all our kit and manning all our feed stops along the way, in their smart TdF vans. Indispensable.
We've got a team briefing over dinner tonight before expected departure at 8am - given it's the first day of the Tour and most of us are fresh faced multi-day riders, there are sure to be some hiccups in the morning. I hope it's not me...
Chapeau et bon courage old boy
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