After last weekends trip to Paris as well as a sea swim I was pretty tired so took tuesday as a rest day. There is, however, still a lot of work to do before I am ready for arch to arc so carried on with my swimming and running during the week but had a rest from the bike.
I stocked up on new goggles so that when I do my 4 hour swim off the boat this weekend I will have no excuse.
Last weekend I travelled to Rosie and Jasons to train on the South Downs. Saturday morning I did a 2 and a half hour run and followed it with just over 4 hours on the bike. The cycle route was planned by Jason and he came along for it all while Rosie did half of it. I reckon there was more hills in that route than 100 miles of the Calais to Paris route, I was certainly cursing him for picking such a route (think he was cursing himself too). Both of us were pleased to finally see the sign for the town they live in.
Sunday morning we headed off to norman's bay for a swim - well I would swim and Rosie would walk the shore. The intention was to head to a certain point - basically to where a couple of their friends lived by the beach. I have to say I was not in the mood to get in and was dreading it as the wind was bitterly cold. Once I got in all worries were gone, the water was a bit choppy which is how I like it and the tide was fairly strong but it was running with me. I had expected to cover the distance in about an hour and half but thanks to the strong tide I did it in 45 minutes (basically I had managed a decent walking pace) and was feeling great to carry on although had a little bit of cramp, . Unfortunately Rosie was feeling a little worried that I was being swept out a little far for her to keep a safe eye on me especially if I got a cramp attack. To be safe we finished the swim there (at the point we had intended to anyway). Next time I do a swim with them we should hopefully have a kayak which can come alongside me which would solve this problem.

Awesome swim, I am really getting into this sea swimming lark and am looking forward to this weekend.

The intention this weekend will most likely be to do a long run on friday eve, then get the train to weymouth first thing sat and travel back after the swim rather than staying in bournemouth as bloomin' rail replacements make taking the bike down for training a pain in the a*s. This way I can do a late cycle when I get back and possibly have a lie in (I can vaguely remember what one of those is) on the sunday

Myself and two of my arch to arc crew thought it would be a good idea to recce the cycle route from Calais to Paris, so easter weekend we caught the ferry over the channel.

In order to remember the route as clearly as possible we did it in 3 sections. Friday afternoon we set off from Calais and cycled the first 60 miles of it. I had Jason cycling with me for this section of it while Rosie drove and supported us. It was a little hiller than I had expected and was not enjoying it for the first 45 miles. The wind was against us for most of this section too. However, the scenery was prett stunning which made it all worth it. As the miles ticked off I started to enjoy it, it must say something about my mind that it has to go over a normal mileage before I start to enjoy it!

Saturday was the longest stage, 100 miles. The aim was to get to just outside Paris and stop for the night. Most of the route was fairly easy to follow and apart from one little hiccup in Beauvais we did not get lost. I was slightly amused at the 130(ish I think ) mile mark when we passed through a town called Achy - you're not bleeding kidding are you? I was also very impressed with the French drivers attitudes towards cyclists. They were cheering me on and waving rather than the typical reaction that occurs in the UK who are mainly just annoyed that there are cyclists on the roads at all.  Rosie and Jason took it turns to cycle parts of this with me apart from any parts that had tricky navigation when they both were in the car. Both Rosie and Jason will be with me for a2a along with Eddie and 2 of my friends and I honestly don't think I could have got a better crew.

Sunday morning was an early start as we had hoped to miss all the crazy Parisian drivers. It was busy enough but the drivers didn't seem to be as crazy as I expected. Maybe they were chilled out as it was a sunday. Cycling through Paris was quite an experience, the outskirts are not that picture-esque but as soon as you get into the centre it is beautiful. The cobbles on a road bike after doing 180 miles are a little painful though but are worth it to get to cycle up to the Arc de Triomphe.

There was no hanging around sightseeing however as I had to get to Weymouth for a swim on the following morning. The swim went ok, my goggles started leaking the minute I got in and I had forgotten to take a spare pair stupidly. I did the 2 hrs I had intended though while Julian Crabtree did 3 hours as he is doing a channel swim race later this year, luckily it was a clear day so could make out where the boat was as a white blur through my watery goggles. I am planning another swim next weekend, Rosie and Jason will walk the shore while i do a couple of hours and the following week I will step the time up to 4 hours, weather permitting.