After getting a fairly good nights sleep, once the singing had died down, the Bike Europe team were keen to get going and get over the channel. We were booked on the 7:40 ferry and we had to check-in by 6:55 so the aim was to leave the campsite at 6:30. This meant the alarms were set for 5:00.

To help us on our way and get into our routine Clive was with us and this was his first opportunity to impress us with his culinary skills. Unfortunately nerves must have got the better of him as the porridge really wasn?t good ? it was definitely hot and wet but any other resemblance to porridge ended there! It didn?t stop us eating it though, we are going to need all the energy we can get.

By the time we had all washed, eaten, toileted, packed, toileted again, and then again, it was 6:45. Just 10 minutes to get from Langdon, about 8 miles out of Dover, into the port. The van said they would lead but by the time we got to the village that we came through on the way in last night they were nowhere to be seen. The choice was either go down the road that we knew would get us to Dover or go down the road that we no idea where it led. We assumed as the van had rushed off they must have gone the way we came in last night so we went that way ? little did we know we wouldn?t see them again until France!

It was basically downhill all the way into the port and we got to check-in at about 7:10. Despite being late no one seemed to mind and we were sent through to lane 161 ready to board. We were in radio contact with the van at this point but we couldn?t really work out what they were saying, we assumed as we still hadn?t seen them they must have boarded already and that was why the signal was poor.

Just as we were sent up the ramp we got the message that they were in the driver?s reception building and wouldn?t be getting on our ferry. This wasn?t a major problem as it would only be an hour delay ? the main issue was that we were all dressed in our kit with no change of clothing or shoes and we had to spend an hour on a ferry with no bikes to provide an explanation for the bizarre attire.

Once on board there were several funny looks and walking on the polished wooden floor with our cleats (shoes) on is an experience I wouldn?t like to repeat to soon!

Once in Calais we rode along the coast a bit to Sangatte where we had a good view of the port so we could watch the support van disembark. An hour later we spot the beautiful machine roll off the ferry and radio our location through to them. We are finally reunited with all our kit and more importantly some drinks in the car park of some warehouse by the port.

We made the most of the shade in the car park and prepared for the second stage of our expedition. We had to change 3 of the standard tyres on the bikes (Hutchinson Kevlar) because they had faulty sidewalls. For no reason at all they would fray exposing the inner tubes. That?s 4 out of 12 in total now that have done that.

Once the tyres were changed we filled up our drinks bottles and smeared on some ?anti-chaffing? cream to the areas that mattered. Quite a sight for the locals!

We didn?t leave the car park until 12:45, a good 5 hours later than we plan to leave for the other stages. This was going to be a long hot day.

The Calais coastline was also a lot hillier than we were expecting, nothing too difficult but definitely not flat. The route was very scenic; lots of rolling hills and sea views ? very nice. There was one long climb in particular that was rewarded by an Alps-esque winding descent that was our first ?wow? moment ? first of many hopefully.

About 30 miles in we stopped at the top of a hill to get something to eat and try to get in touch with the elusive support van. A minute or so after we stopped a German car pulls up with two young women in the front. They ask for directions in French (we obviously look French now) and we apologise for not being French so we both revert to English. We couldn?t really help them and I did wonder what they found so funny. It wasn?t till they drove off that an embarrassed looking Kevin pointed out that they might have been laughing because he has used the stop as a toilet stop and had been facing the traffic when they pulled over! That?ll be why then?

The roads in France are really smooth and they have excellent cycle lanes, made the journey a lot easier and safer than it would have been back home. Another good thing about cycling in France is the supportive shouts and applause from the public, much better than the repetitive ?Tour de France was weeks ago? shouts back in England.

By the time it was 16:30 we were getting pretty tired and just wanted to stop and set up camp and to make matters worse we were having trouble getting in touch with the support van. Out of radio contact and they weren?t picking up their mobiles ? hopefully not a sign of things to come as this will only get worse once Clive returns home.

Finally we get in touch on the radio using the last drop of battery and find our way to a campsite ? relief!

Campsite was basic and full of loud French people but you can?t have everything. At least there were showers.

Clive again attempted to impress in the kitchen and this time succeeded with a fantastic meal of spaghetti bolognese. After dinner we had cocoa then it was off to bed without the singing this time.

Daniel

Distance: 68.53 miles
Time: 4:39:00
Average Speed: 14.74 mph
Weather: Warm in the morning, Hot in the afternoon