Our Cycle to COP21 [Part Deux]: Bonjour Paris!
April ’15 Associates Riya Pabari and Andy Smith made it to Paris last Friday!! Riya tells us the story of their three-day adventure.
So our attempts of live blogging during our Cycle to COP21 failed somewhat miserably, in part due to lack of WiFi and in part due to sheer exhaustion. However, now that we’re off the saddle, firmly on Parisian soil with chocolat chaud in-hand, it’s time to share some stories from the ride.
Each day had its own distinct personality, its own challenges and its own highlights. Here are just a few snippets from our 3-day adventure…
Day 1: 105km from London to Newhaven
Up at the crack of dawn, we headed down to Clapham for the most important part of the day: breakfast. Carb-loaded, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, we set off for the coast in the winter sunshine. We had certainly lucked out with the weather. However, the sun set soon after our lunch break and we were left to contend with the final 40km in the dark of the night. We needed a leading light, and that’s when Hermione, founder of Do Nation, stepped up to be our CNO (Chief Navigation Officer). She led us, her band of merry climate cyclistas, fearlessly through the twists and turns of the South Downs like a ninja in the night. But, as with all great leaders, she yielded herself vulnerable. Vulnerable to the petulant potholes, and alas she had a rather spectacular, 007-style tumble, to the detriment of her collar bone. Sadly, we arrived at the ferry one woman down.
Day 2: 80km from Dieppe to Gournay-en-Bray
After a 4-hour snooze on the ferry, we set off from Dieppe at 5am, with 40km between us and a hot croissant for breakfast. For much of this part of the ride, we were cycling alongside a doctor who had attached a glow-in-the-dark globe to the rear of his bike, lighting up our path. A pretty cool visual reminder of why we were putting ourselves through this gruelling ordeal. We arrived at The Farmhouse to a fridge full of French cheese, courtesy of Jean Claude Van Man (Nick from Do Nation), had a feast by the fire place, played a game of French Monopoly, and retired to our beds by about 7pm.
Day 3: 125km from Gournay-en-Bray to Paris
The last hoorah! But oh no, the weather Gods weren’t going to make it that easy for us! Heavy downpours and blistering gales meant that 20km in, we were very wet, and very cold. However, the rolling hills through the Normandy countryside were truly spectacular, even through our raindrop-covered cycling glasses. As soon as Paris felt closer, our legs knew to pedal harder — we could see the Eiffel Tower glittering on the horizon. Our first view of the Eiffel Tower was just perfect — as we approached, it read CLIMATACTION in bright, bold letters.
With any feat of endurance, the challenge is as much mental as it is physical. When you are soaked to the core, can no longer feel your toes, still have 100km ahead of you, and your phone navigation dies, you really have to dig deep to find the motivation to pedal on. It was in those moments we thought of all you Do Heroes — Loes on her cheese hiatus for #CheesedOff; Mathilde encouraging her fellow colleagues at Clarity not to overboil the kettle for #TeaTime; Sophie and Pasha making meat a treat for #VegOut; Valeria and Silvia pledging to #WalkOn; Faustine putting her Winnow values into practice via #EatUp along with Scott, Camilla and Georgie; Saira giving up buying plastic bottles to #TapIt instead; Louka turning off his computer screen in between his viral tweeting for #ComputerSaysNo and many more of you. Thank you for getting us to Paris!
Together, through our pledges, we have collectively saved 33,541kg of CO2. That’s the equivalent of 572 flights from London to Paris. It really goes to show that small actions can indeed add up to make a big difference.
It’s still not too late to pledge an action in support of our cyclists — their pages will continue to be live until the end of December. A New Year’s resolution, perhaps?
