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The Bike
We got into Calais and saw the CSFB guys already getting their bikes ready. Both teams had agreed that we would have a 2hr changeover before heading off on the bikes, so that we could confirm routes and get all the necessary safety requirements out the way. By now, we were hungry and tired, so to then have to time-trial in the dark in a foreign country on wrong side of road, was not top of our list. The cycling order was Ben, Rachel, Luke, Wayne, Steff, James. We literally tore into the bread and cold meats, Steff eating chocolate spread straight out of the tub. We all needed lights on our bikes, and we used the rest of the fluorescent strips to strap to our helmets. The CSFB guys resembled the Discovery Cycling Team. They had ear pieces for the cyclists, so that they could communicate with the map reader in their car. We would be using "word of mouth".....open the window and shout at the cyclist. This just showed how much planning had gone into CSFB's preparation, and gained from all the previous challenges they had done. CSFB had 2hrs extra rest, and were raring to go. We were still so happy with our swim result, that we made a pact, that we get to Paris in one piece and not jeopardise safety for the sake of a few minutes. First up, Ben. He didn't say much, but when he said he was ready, I could see the glint in his eye, he was up for this. CSFB's rider, Marco (sub 11hr IM), was dressed to kill.

We had the minibus drive in front so that the cyclist could follow the tail lights, and then we had Ami & Louise in a car following behind the cyclist, so that we could use the headlights to see up ahead, and also for them to make sure we do not get rear ended by some lunatic French drivers. We were told by Eddie to use our discretion with regards to drafting, and that it would not be allowed unless going through a town where there were speed/safety limits.

As Ben and Marco set off, it didn't seem like anything special was going to happen. As they reached the outskirts of Calais, Ben took off ! I have never seen a man cycle with such brute force, let alone in the pitch dark. Tim was in the car behind and later stated that he was clocked at doing 40mph going around hairpins that they battled to keep up. Then the hills arrived, and he tore Marco to shreds. I promise you now, our bus erupted. Having had little or no sleep, this did not seem to hamper our energy levels now. We headed for the first changeover where Rach was going to take over. It was a very delicate change over, as we had to make sure Ben's bike was loaded, but the car still followed Rach for lighting. We couldn't even see the CSFB guys. Rach took off aswell, and we all agreed that although we couldn't win the event outright, if we won the bike leg, it meant we won 2 out of 3 legs.

Rach got to the first town and we lost her in the traffic, and took a wrong turn. We then had to somehow find her and get her back on route. By this stage, CSFB came past us. All of a sudden Rach appeared out of some side street, we yelled at her to follow the CSFB van. Hats off to Rach, she never panicked and just cycled her arse off for the rest of the leg. Luke was up next. The tall Irishman, was sitting in the bus, when I asked Ben how cold it was outside, to which he replied "It is quite chilly". Then an Irish accent quipped "Ya could've told me a little friggin earlier, I've just taken me bleedin knee warmers off". We erupted, Luke was alive and ready for his shift.

We knew CSFB were still ahead, but that Luke, Steff, James and I could maybe haul back the gap. Luke grinded his way up and through the French countryside. 20mins before my shift, I started getting ready. Making sure I was warm enough. When I started, I felt like I was on autopilot, I didn't know what muscle fatigue was, I just shut my brain, got into a zone and went for it. In the bus I thought that we would have to hold our speed because of the poor lighting, but surprisingly I could see about 20m ahead of me. The bus came past me to signal that Luke was loaded and I had to follow the tail lights. My legs were like jackhammers and I felt great. Where the hell were these legs at Ironman UK. Then all of a sudden I saw what looked like a cardboard box in the middle of the road, and as I got near it, realised it was a great big friggin owl !! I turned around to the car and pointed to the owl so that they were able to avoid it.

Got to a long hill and settled into a rhythm. Ami came up next to me and said "30mins to go". I felt awesome, got out the saddle and smashed the pedals. I wanted to catch CSFB before we finished our first rotation. As I dropped into a French town with 8mins to go, I saw the CSFB cyclist. Great, we had caught them and still had Steff and James to go. I cycled just in front of Adrian (CSFB) as we were going through the town, and pointed out any obstacles etc (as we do on our rides). It was just second nature for me, and even though we were racing them, it was still something I would do under any other circumstances (unless a Frenchman was drafting me in an Ironman !).

Adrian later came up and thanked for the gesture and said it just showed what great sportsmanship the Morgan Stanley team had shown from the start. Only when I stopped and got off my bike did I realise how chilly it was and how mashed my legs were. Steff managed to take some time out of CSFB as well, until a changeover hiccup meant that CSFB got in front. James then took off and his yellow Cannondale could be seen whizzing down the roads in the dark. We overtook CSFB and then James made sure we had a good gap before Ben took over. He then took the French roads apart, I think they may have had to resurface the tarmac after his ride.

It was about 3am in the morning, and we were on a high. As long as stayed upright, we had a good chance of winning the bike leg. Which in the grand scheme of things would've been a great moral victory for us, to add to the run leg. But, 30mins into Ben's shift, Eddie made an error with a turn, and we got lost. For 10mins Ben cycled slowly whilst Eddie tried to find the correct route and see where we had gone wrong. The frustration in the bus heated up, and for the first time in 3 days, a few choice words were spoken. This just proves that we were all so hyped up with our great performance, we didn't want a navigational error to lead to us losing the bike leg. We stopped and finally decided that if we kept on the same road, we should eventually join up with the original route, albeit cycling an extra 6miles. At a traffic light ahead, we saw the CSFB van pull out and head up a hill. That meant 2 things: 1) we were getting back onto the original road 2) we were behind them and had lost our 15mins lead. Although very frustrated, we were relieved to be back on route. Ben cycled like a demon and at the changeover with Rach, we were probably 6mins down on them. We now reached the hilliest part of the route, and Rach didn't flinch, she just attacked the hills as if it was her day job. This was when Luke mentioned that he was "absolutely knackered". We were not sure exactly how far we still had to go, but Luke knew he would have to do another shift. It started getting really cold now in the valleys and hills.

When Rach finished, she was applauded for her heroic effort up some hills which would fit into any Tour De France profile.

Luke set off and was pacing himself well. We realised that we were alot closer than first anticipated. We were encouraging Luke to give it one last effort before he could get his hands on his long awaited Guinness. Eddie confirmed that we were probably 10mins from the finish.

Thinking that CSFB had already finished, we accepted that we had given our all and although we were going to lose the bike, deep down we knew who the better cyclists were. We shouted to Luke that the cafe up ahead was the finish line, and as we did that CSFB called to say they had finished. 120secs later we arrived at the cafe. CSFB were there and applauded us in. We all walked around and congratulated each other, with one common point "What an awesome experience".

Eddie, stated that he had never seen such team spirit amongst two teams. We were all so tired, yet laughter echoed round the car park as we spoke of our cycling through the dark ordeals. After some photo's, we decided to head to our respective hotels for some well earned sleep.

We drove into the middle of Paris, tired, sore and very hungry. Arriving at our hotel it was decided to unpack, have a quick bite to eat and then go to bed until about 2pm. The poor restaurant staff in the hotel, they did not know what had hit them when we all turned up and ate like a pack of hungry hyenas. Some had a quick massage before we all retired to bed at about 10am. I fell into a deep sleep, and didn't even bat an eyelid until our alarm went off. James was up and we decided to walk into the centre and have a few beers. That 4hrs sleep was enough to recharge the batteries. We had a few beers and talked about what we had just accomplished.

I sat back and thought "This is why it is great to be involved in sport". We had planned a get together with CSFB at 7pm to congratulate them, have some food and drink plenty of beers. There was a small little prize-giving by Eddie, and then the drinking started in earnest. This is when a few home truths came out, where CSFB flouted the rules, and used their stronger athletes for 65mins and their weaker ones for 55mins. Funny how the truth comes out after a few beers !! At about 11pm, most of the CSFB guys, except Marco, were a little worse for wear, so decided not to head to a bar afterwards. We partied there until they closed, then headed to our hotel and drank champagne in the lobby till the early hours.

Next morning at breakfast, there were a few very tender heads, and not looking forward to the 2hr journey to Calais to catch the ferry back. Only bonus was, that we wouldn't have to exercise at all to get back to London !! On the ferry, we lay like lizards in the sun, and it then only hit us exactly how far this damn channel was. We could see 2 support boats for solo swims, one in fact was a double swim (swim Dover to Calais, turnaround and swim back). And you think I am psycho??

So to sum it all up:
They were the 3 best days of my life. I did something a lot of people will not experience, many great friendships were formed and the ultimate winners were the charities that we raised money for. Two great teams that shared the ups and downs and a great camaraderie. The Morgan Stanley team were absolutely awesome, from the training, the event and even now, we share something unique and still consider ourselves lucky to have been a part of this.

Next stop is Half-Ironman Monaco 5 days later. Where is my bed?