Credits

Group 3 role call Lee Dixon #002 Graeme Le Saux #014 Pat Brennan #110 Trevor Back #512 Andrew Bathe #541 Steve Knights #573 John Savidge #574 Steve Tarling #566 Paul Gascoyne #588 A big thanks to all the support/organisation staff, Halfords mechanics, Catermasters food, Rob Cox photography, the Discovery Channel boys & Taylor Murphy (Slam Insider). Recommend searching You Tube for Warren Smith's video blog/footage (search under "cycle slam 2012"). I use a Garmin Edge 800 and have found it invaluable on training rides, the Slam itself and actually reviewing routes/data from Sunday rides with the Evesham Wheelers. I trust you have enjoyed the blog, I'll endeavour to keep it going with various ride updates. You still have a little time to sponsor at http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/RobertNewrick

Stage 5 day 4 (18th May)

Ashford to Stratford, London (62 miles). Last day of the Slam & the rider count swelled to approx 140 today with competition winners and some previous stage riders joning us. Photo call outside the Halfords store before the start with Lawrence & Freddie. Group 3 rolled again and headed towards the North Downs via country lanes, single tracks, school traffic & the occasional climb. Nothing that compared to the climb that was Vigo Hill, now that was steep at approx 20% gradient at the top. Some of the more peaceful country lanes were home to some lovely houses and we were blessed with another dry day. Group 3 had separated on the climbs and once again I rolled alone to the lunch stop at the Skoda garage in Dartford. The excitement of the last day was really starting to build. Unfortunately for Group 3 we had to wait to get Lee's first puncture of the Slam repaired (or rather tyre replaced). Cycling to the Woolwich ferry was difficult given the number of cyclists mixed in with London traffic. Can't say I enjoyed it really. We amassed to cross via the Woolwich ferry together ready for the final few kilometres as we headed for the finish line. With the Discovery helicopter filming from above we made our way towards the Westfield shopping centre, next to the new Olympic stadium. What a feeling. Honks on car horns lead to cheers from approx 400 people at the finish. Had a looped finish and spotted my Dad with his camera at the ready. The Core Riders held back as we held our bikes on rear wheels creating a form of arch or wheel(s) of honour for them to pass through. Felt quite emotional and it was great being greeted by Sarah and my parents, big hugs all round! Needless to a glass of Champagne was not too far away! The Stage was rounded off by watching the Amlin Euro Challenge Cup final at the Stoop and a trip on the pitch at half time as Lawrence was interviewed. A great way to finish the week, even though Jonny Wilkinson's Toulon side could not overcome the strength of Biarritz, in the all French final. The stats: rode 336 miles ridden in 21 hours 41 minutes with a total average speed 15.7mph, burning 18,617 calories and rode approx 95 miles solo on a Boardman Team Carbon. Thanks to Halfords for the opportunity to raise £2,863 and experience something which will never be forgotten. Looking forward to 5th & 12th July when Discovery Channel will be showing the programme at 9pm (2 parts). What's next for me....maybe a ride up Mont Ventoux in August?!

Stage 5 day 3 (17th May)

St.Quentin to Roubaix (77 miles). Another 7am start..ouch! Roger Hammond joined the Slam today. Ex pro and Paris-Roubaix specialist. Although Welly introducing him as Roger Taylor was an obvious candidate for a fine later tonight! Group's pace was strong again and took its toll within 15kms for me. A beautiful day, albeit a little crisp to start with. A tail wind for most of the morning was greatly appreciated & loved the ride by myself. Good pace at approx 27kph, I think, til lunch at 65kms. Made a decision to take a longer lunch break and let the remainder of Group 3 go. The ride afterwards was a notch slower, although gave an opportunity to speak to other riders. 10-15 miles later, I took an opportunity to roll on again and lead a group onto the 3kms section of cobbles or pave. No sign post or warning, and not helped by a van pulling out and then stopping just in front of us! Could not have prepared for the experience that was endured for the next bone jarring 3kms! Took a bit of getting used to and even the "smoother" bits in the gutter were as rough as! Proper hard core and huge respect for the professional riders who race over 65kms of pave during the Paris-Roubaix at 40kph+! Rolled hard to the velodrome & what a 2 laps on the banking. We were privileged to use the same shower blocks as the Pro riders, each changing cubicle has a brass plaque with a previous winners name. History itself... and in my case Fabien Cancellara (2006). Had a nice chat with Roger Hammond, having admired his bike he rode on today. The coach journey to Lille was certainly memorable: Bollie, Bohemian Rhapsody & lots of head banging! A quieter transfer by Eurostar to Ashford followed. Heard Sarah's & the girls' voices for the first time since leaving, nothing fills the heart quite like it. Great to see everyone at Pizza Express as they hosted what was another great night on the Slam. Unsurprisingly another early start in the morning! Not sure how that alarm clock has survived so far! Last day tomorrow, how quickly this has passed so far.

Stage 5 day 2 (16th May)

Chalons s/ Champagne to St.Quentin (98 miles). The 2nd day brought better weather and something very different from the start....Graeme & Lee on the tandem, which they had modified to have a circular bar tray attached to the front handlebars. The tray had 9 holes drilled out to hold plastic champagne flutes! Graeme & Lee had additional attire over their cycling gear, namely white shirts & bow ties: suitable for serving Bollie I think! We were the last Group to start and not long into the morning we had the Discovery van for company, filming & providing a little shelter from the minor head wind. The pace was still quite strong this morning. We were told last night that the route would change slightly to accommodate Group shots on the steps at Bollinger, about 30kms into the ride, in Ay. Shortly afterwards Graeme cracked open a bottle of Bollie and passed on a glass to each of us in the Group. Nice touch. Although it wasn't the first bottle of the day...one broke whilst negotiating a bumpy crossroads and another was successfully distributed to some of the other Groups as we passed them on the way into Bollinger. I did say it was a fast Group! The glass went down a treat & was just finished before the biggest climb of the day. Scenery was a great deal better than yesterday and particularly when winding our way through the vineyards out of Ay. Made it to lunch with the Group intact but the first big hill afterwards, the parachute came out again! Couldn't quite hold onto the wheel in front and with less than 100m of the climb to go lost touch... Couldn't catch the tandem on the descent afterward, even when pedalling full boar. The next 50kms were spent rolling along by myself, enjoying the countryside, giving the thumbs up to passing support vehicles & still managing to keep decent enough pace to catch/pass other Groups. The food stop at 120kms allowed me to refuel & briefly catch up with my Group. However their pace was still strong, although giving them 100m head start didn't help! Caught up when the tandem had a puncture and stopped with the Group by side of road. Heard that "Limpet" had carried on. Poor John got the nickname from sticking to the tandem's rear wheel all morning. Got dropped again shortly after but rolled onto St.Quentin, catching a couple of other Groups on the way. We had stopped for about 15mins with the puncture, allowing others to pass by. Have to say that I loved today's ride. the morning with the film van was fun but managing to keep good pace by myself in the afternoon was really satisfying. Ate out en masse, with our Group sharing a table and a few glasses of Margaux! Good kitty management & Group this! Told that we would have a couple of laps at Roubaix velodrome to finish tomorrow's ride....well excited! Last night in France. Alarm set for 5.15am zzzzzzzz

Stage 5 day 1 (Tues 15th May)

Nancy to Chalons-sur-Champagne (103 miles). Less than 5 hours sleep is perhaps not the best preperation and trying to force courses of breakfast down before 6am also goes against the grain a bit! So Group 3 rolled out in relatively good conditions, not quite the same blue sky as the previous day and in the knowledge that rain had been forecast. I soon realised how quick this group might be as we rolled at a "slighter" faster pace than I'm used to and it didn't take very long to pass the first 2 Groups on the road. 2-3mph average doesn't sound a lot and it was good fun rolling through the first 40miles til our lunch stop (10am!) at around 19-20mph average. A welcome stop to refuel & the food didn't disappoint. The next 30 miles were a bit tougher as the morning's exertions were starting to have an impact as I drifted off the back on the climbs, all because I couldn't keep that pace up. Sleepy towns, some uninspiring countryside and the company of John Savidge, who was also suffering the same fate, lead the way to an impromptu coffee stop in a town (whose name I didn't even see) but at least it had people and spotting 7 bikes together on the right hand side wasn't difficult. The remaining 30-35 miles were to tell a different story as the head wind increased, the rain that was forecast became very apparent & the uninspiring countryside that typified Day 1 continued only to be broken up the occasional wind farm. Some practice of a rolling peloton helped pass the time but in truth my legs started to struggle and as soon as I hit the front of the group from the fourth time onwards, I just went backwards every time and as Graeme was quick to point out (and correctly) it was like a parachute had been pulled. Only I thought he was referring to the "boil in the bag" jackets, that we were issued with, filling with air..... So when he shouted "tuck in", he meant "stick to the wheel in front" and gave me a gentle push to assist. I, on other hand went to pull down the back of my jacket.....Muppet!!! So the nickname "Parachute Bob" was created. Not long after, on one particular climb, I felt like I was going backwards and was given 2 helping hands, literally! Lee on one side & Graeme on the other, each having a hand on my back as I cycled up in a very slow 1st gear. Weather conditions aside (the rain hurt at this point), it's times like this when you have to dig deep....very deep! It wasn't the only climb til our destination and whilst I had a chaparone to keep me company & provide moral support, the effort was all mine. I wouldn't have had it any other way. Arrived at 3.15pm and was able to shower, wash gear, find food, rest up & reflect on the day's achievements knowing that many others would be suffering more than I. My roomie for the week didn't get back til 6.15pm! Somehow, the thought of trip to the caves at Bollinger followed by dinner made the recovery process a bit easier! Bollinger is a champagne house that does not open it's doors to the public, so to have the opportunity to taste some of its wares & enjoy a delightful meal was a great privilege. It didn't disappoint. Getting the chance to enjoy the company of Graeme & Lee in a more relaxing location was pretty good too!! I only saw him at dinner but Servais Knaven (former Paris-Roubaix winner & current Team Sky DS) was the ex-pro that joined the Slam. Coach back to hotel and the thought of sleep was really welcome...albeit with the alarm set for 5hours later. Zzzzzz

Transfer time

It's only when you start to travel somewhere that the reality of the adventure you are undertaking starts to sink in. All the fundraising, training & preparation soon fall to the back of the mind, or at least they did for me as I travelled down to Heathrow with Steve on the Sunday afternoon (13th May). The thought of City gifting the Premiership title back to United also provided distraction for about 35 mins, only for that hope to disappear as quickly as it took Utd to dash Bayern Munich's hopes back in 1999 Champions League Final. So a couple of cheeky beers were had whilst overlooking T5 with the sun setting ever lower. I know it's not the most glamourous of scenes but was enjoyable nonetheless. Checked in at 6.45am and have to say that my only experience of T5 was far better than had been described in the press over previous days. It wasn't that quiet either. The flight to Luxembourg was quick and was spent talking to Andy Neill (fellow Stage 5 rider & Tweeter). Always good to put a face to a name! The sight of the team bus upon arrival put a great smile on everyone's face....as if the blue sky & proposition of meeting Messers Dallaglio & Flintoff et al wasn't enough! The sight of the roadshow that is the Cycle Slam at the hotel in Nancy started to put the logistics of managing such an event into perspective. Bid Vest lorries x 2, Skoda support cars (a few), an ambulance, Halfords mechanics big van & Catermasters' food wagon...all in the car park and that was before all the bikes were made available to check over. A meet & greet session plus the first meeting to go through the next day's route, weather & what to expect preceeded an evening meal & drinks. Never had a 3 course meal before starting with spaghetti bolognese! At the end of dinner, we were told our groups for the week; how exciting.....a group lead by Lee Dixon & Graeme Le Saux, which also included fellow Evesham Wheeler (and Halfords colleague) Steve Tarling. The fast boys...and me! Time for an early night then ready for the first 100 miles...perhaps not as early as it should have been and not helped by someone's dulcet tones giving a rendition of Cockles & Mussels at 1am out by the pool!! The only relief being that would be one more person suffering more than myself as the alarm clock was set for 5.15am! Zzzzzzzzzz

Coming, ready or not!

I made it out this weekend, albeit 50 miles only on Sunday with the Evesham Wheelers. Nice little route up Stanway and good to see that the road had been re-tarmac'ed in the last couple of weeks. Made the descent immediately afterwards into village of Ford less intimidating. Great views too. Thankful it was dry, always good on Bank Holiday weekend! Felt good to be in the saddle again having not ridden for 3 weeks and most importantly no major reaction from my knee. I did give the cold bath treatment...15 mins bbbrrrrr!! Think I may have to be doing more of that madness next week. Yes next week! Wow it has come round quickly. This time next week I will be in Nancy with a lot of other excited Stage 5 slammers, contemplating the 103 miles that follow the following morning! Pedals taken off bike ready for transportation, clothes on spare bed ready for packing and just 4 days to work (albeit with a lot to pack in those 4 days)! Less than £200 to break the £3,000 sponsorship (incl Gift Aid) and it's proving ever illusive. http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/RobertNewrick to help some great causes. Can't wait to tell you about the next bike ride I have..... :)