Star Inn Route Stats

These are taken from the GPS and apply to the touring section of the team rather than the racing snakes...

Maximum Speed: 41.5mph
Moving Time: 24’ 39”
Moving Average: 13.3mph
Total Distance Covered: 328.41m

GPS route logs now available

I’ve uploaded the GPS logs of Route 2, feel free to download them here:

http://idisk.mac.com/toby.stevens-Public

Random photos

The team is on the train home discovering the joys of a day without cycling Over the coming days I'll tidy up the blog and post up more pictures. Please send me links to any pictures you may have.

Rear of the tour

Congratulations to the Star Inn Team's nominated rear of the tour - you know who you are, and it's been a pleasure to cycle behind you

Adieu from Paris

The corks have popped, the party's starting, and we're off for a few quiet drinks. Many thanks to everyone who's sponsored and supported us, and to the AMR team for organising the event.

Gary's just proposed to Liz

Aaah...! Congratulations both of you from all the team

Hooray!

Well that didn't take long then :)

TEAM STAR INN DOES PARIS!

We're here! Just regrouping before the victory lap, then it's time for champagne!

Last lunch

We're approaching Versailles - well over 300 miles on the clock and we'll soon be at the Trocadero for the final run to the finish

BREAKING NEWS

Simon Gregory has been disqualified from Team Star Inn after failing a drugs test. Officials claim that he tested negative for alcohol after going to bed early with a rusk and a cup of warm milk. "I think it's disgraceful," said team captain Matt Williams. It is precisely this sort of sobriety that can bring the sport into disrepute." Meanwhile, team doctors are investigating the cause of an outbreak of 'Gary's Guts' that has laid low other tram members.

Paris or bust

The final day, and team Star Inn is on the road!

Star Inn Supper

Team - plus extras - is out for dinner at a somewhat dodgy restaurant, but at least the wine's good. Watch this space for reports of food poisoning and hangovers :)

Quote of the day

Gary: "If you come to France, you should have a Rod in your pocket, it's really useful"

Day 3 - 265 miles on the clock

We've arrived in Vernon and have been scattered across hotels on various industrial estates. Rod's gone into town to buy new wheels, and I've decided that sharing a triple room with Matt & Simon doesn't appeal for some reason, so I've got myself my own room. We're going out (again) because the cold buffet that is the sole offering on the hotel menu isn't going to cut it. Tomorrow to Paris!

Rod's knackered his bike - again

And this time the wheel's stuffed, so he's going to have to get on the backup bike.

New land speed record

We're 15km from the end of the day at Vernon, and we've just set a new prsonal best - 41.5mph. Knockout. Of course that means it'll all be uphill from here...

Lunch

Contrary to popular belief, we are doing some cycling between meals. Now in Le Neubourg and we've decided to abandon the official AMR lunch in favour of something more civilised (accompnied by beer). 36 miles down, same again to go.

Pit Stop

Gary gets his stump out for the ladies

This is more like it

20 miles down already, the sun's out and all is well with the world. After a gruelling climb out of Lisieux we've had a great ride on flat country lanes. Matt & Simon are probably in Paris already

Day Number ... Er ... Definitely Day

La ciel est bleu, la solle brille ect ect. Fortunately we have aching heads to distract us from our aching legs. Team Star Inn (now with FREE extra Gary for this week only) had a very jolly evening indeed. Clever money is betting that Mr Williams may see a lapse in his prize-winning form today...

Quote of the day

Gary: "Some bloke in a passing car called me a twat as he went past"
Phil: "No you berk, he was shouting 'a droite' - you were on the wrong side of the road!"

Gary says...

...honest Liz, we've been cycling, there's more to this than beer!

The Longest Day

Phil nearly got taken out by a transporter, but we all made it! Got to my room on the second floor, when I heard Matt's dulcet tones - from the bar on the other side of the road. Noisy sod's been in there doing more professional research for the past few hours...

Nearly there

15 miles to go, so time for a break. How can Rod drink beer at this point in the day?

In bits

We've reached the afternoon water stop - 65 miles down, 30 to go. Apparently Matt and Simon came through 2 hours ago, complaining that there was someone going faster than them. The rest of today is going to be hard work...

Top of the world, Ma!

Lunch, with 45 miles under our belts, so Phil and I stopped for a photo opportunity at the top of an enormous suspension bridge. Sadly, it's just started raining :(

Puncture time

Phil's got the first puncture of the trip. Rod and I would go back to help but he's at the bottom of the hill and we're at the top. So nuch for team spirit ;)

Day Two

We spent 11 hours - 11 HOURS! Sitting around yesterday before we got to bed at midnight. Slept like a big dog (grunting, scratching, farting) in a room with Matt and Richard, who then left me snoring through breakfast and in a rush at the end.

Horrible 3 miles out of Dieppe up hills, and we've now paused for coffee and upgraded Phil's bike.

Ferry boarding

Oh dear. We could be here a while.

A word from our sponsor

"He's happy because he drinks Fullers London Pride"

Race leaders

Hang on, this isn't a race, but we've tracked down the race leaders. And they even had time to catch a shoplifter in Halfords on the way. They must have made their mark, there were workmen on the other side of town who directed us to Matt & Simon even before we asked.

Quote of the day

Matt: 'Did you see those llamas on the way down?'
Phil: 'Yes'
Matt: 'Thank God for that, I was getting worried.'

Day One - Finished

We're in Newhaven - cheers!

The incredible restorative powers of tea

Lunch! 40 miles done, and Rod's already caught us up again.

Team Star Inn has the yellow jersey!

Matt and Simon arrived in Newhaven at midday. The rest of us are still at lunch...

Emergency

Rod can handle the fact that he's just buckled his back wheel in a pothole. But his fag lighters just packed up, and thats a real emergency.

Diversion

Phil & Rod have just arrived, apprently they accidentally got stuck on the A3. Snigger :)

Outwood

24 miles into the first full day, and it's pit stop time. Rest of the team naffed off like their hair was on fire, but I reckon I can catch them by lunchtime (in my dreams). Off to eat bananas and drink water now.

We're ready!

Right, we're bored now - when does it start?

Well, nearly ready

Rod's getting his drugs fix

Training Dinner

A critical prt of any serious cyclist's regime is to load up with carbs and avoid alcohol. Shame nobody told us that until after dinner at Carluccios. Matt insisted on turning this into a busman's holiday by dragging us in for 'field research' at the Fox & Hounds and the Black Lion on the way home. We're concerned that his (purely professional) interest in pubs may become a bit of a theme over the next few days. And so to bed at 11.

The team arrives

Matt, Simon & the rest of the crowd arrived at 6:30 after an eventful trip, having got lost more than once. Matt's cheery hand gestures to a passing trucker nearly got them into an entertaining moment hem-hem 'nuff said.

Simon claims to have had 69mph out of his speedo, which is probably true, but nobody's buying Matt's claim of 74mph which is just silly.

Wednesday. 5:00am.

Enough said. Whose bright idea was this anyway?

The lap of luxury

Wow - these student rooms are even smaller than the one I had at university. There isnt room to swing a mouse in here, let alone a cat...

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Day One - Made It!

Well, I've arrived at Kingston University (formerly Kingston College of Knowledge) and met up with the AMR team. Had a lovely ride here from East Horsley, la sol brille, les oiuseaux chants ect ect chiz. 49.8 miles including one wrong turn (hooray for GPS).

Now, where's the pub?

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Many thanks to BAT

Frank and Chevaun at BAT have been kind enough to provide a shower and breakfast for me - even if I have to scare their trainees by delivering my course in lycras!

First pictures are up!

Matt spotted me on my way out this morning - http://www.star-inn.com/lpupdate.htm

Hit the road!

I've kicked off my London to Paris bike ride - 39 miles from home to East Horsley this morning (left at 5:45am) in order to deliver a privacy training course for a client, then on to Kingston this evening.

It's raining, it's pouring...

...must be time for another EPG workshop. The last 'public' workshop, held earlier this year, lost a number of attendees because of heavy rain, lightning strikes and high winds. This afternoon's looks like it's going to suffer the same thing. I'm considering starting a new service - I'll host an EPG workshop in any area suffering a hosepipe ban or serious drought. Payment will be by the litre of torrential downpour.

Technorati Tags: Off-topic

When technology overtakes commercial concepts

Back in the mid-80s, Apple released a concept for an interactive phone that could be used for messaging, payments etc. Of course, in those days prior to online payment schemes, the Apple team focussed on doing a really cute design for the unit, and somewhat overlooked the possibility that cheques (that's checks for those of you who haven't lost a war against France in the last millennium) might themselves be a somewhat redundant concept.

I wonder how many iPhone users even have chequebooks?

Technorati Tags: Apple

Working for the Danes

Respect is due to the Danish forces in Iraq. As part of their scheduled departure, they've granted asylum to the locals who were assisting the servicemen there. Of course, such a move would not be scaleable to the US effort: from what I understand of the sums of money pouring in, if the US were to adopt the same policy, then it would be a case of 'last person out, please turn off the lights'...

BBC NEWS | World | Europe | Danish army evacuates 200 Iraqis

Technorati Tags: News

Banged up on a stolen passport

This has to be one of the more extreme consequences of Identity Misuse (I'll repeat that for the hard of thinking - nobody had their identity stolen here, just a passport document. That's not an identity, it's a token).

BBC NEWS | Magazine | 'ID theft left me in Slovenian prison':

Technorati Tags: Identity

An Acceptable Use Policy for the Internet

We’ve all been wasting our time. I never realised that the Internet ALREADY HAS an acceptable usage policy!

http://www.netauthority.org/

I feel so much safer now. And so does my dog.

Technorati Tags: Humour