If you are planning to cycle from London to Paris for a charity challenge fundraiser, you are in for a big adventure. This amazing ride will be a physical challenge as well as a mental one, but when you arrive at your destination you will feel incredibly proud of yourself for what you have accomplished. Also, by doing the London to Paris cycle charity challenge you will have raised a lot of money to support a good cause.
So how can you make sure that cycling from London to Paris goes as smoothly as possible? Here are some helpful tips that you should keep in mind:
- Start training your body as soon as you find out that you are going on a long distance London to Paris ride. Get yourself into a good state of physical fitness, so that you will be able to tackle the challenging ride.
- Give your bike a thorough inspection and make sure that it is functioning well. It should be adjusted to the right height for you and all of the gears and wheels should be clean and well maintained.
- Make sure that you are eating a healthy and balanced diet in the days leading up to the bike ride and that you are avoiding heavy food, nicotine and alcohol.
- Get the right safety clothing for your cycling trip. You should always wear a helmet and bright reflective clothing and you should have lights on your bike if it is dark.
- It is also important to think about the temperature and whether you will need arm warmers, gloves and a hat while you are cycling.
- Make sure that you get plenty of rest and recovery when you are training and that you get at least 8 hours of sleep per night. Without this rest it is difficult to train effectively.
- Take enough food and water on the ride with you and make sure that you are keeping your body fuelled. If you start eating when you are already hungry your stores of carbohydrates in your body will have fallen too much.
- Stay hydrated! It is very important to drink at least 0.5 litres of water for every hour that you are cycling so that you do not run the right of dehydration when you are on the long distance bike ride.
- Prepare enough spare change in both pounds and Euros and make sure that you have a bank card so that you can withdraw more cash if you need it.
- Take a supply of adequate clothing for the number of days that you will be travelling. Bring layers so that you can adjust your clothing to the weather conditions.
- Bring along a puncture repair kit just in case you need to make a repair to your bike when you are on the road.
- An extra bike chain might also come in handy, you never know when you might need it.
- It is also a good idea to have a first aid kit with you, which includes cold compresses, heat packs, sterile gauze, scissors, pain killers and bandages. If you hurt yourself on the road you can patch it up until you get to the next town where you can wash it carefully and get better medical care.
- Proper route planning is important. If you are riding on a charity cycling journey from London to Paris you will likely be travelling with a large group and the route will be already laid out for you – but if you are attempting the trip on your own you will need to plan out the best route for getting there safely and efficiently.
- Make sure that you factor in enough time for taking appropriate breaks and stops. This allows you to drink some water, eat some food, inspect your bike and catch your breath so that you don’t get too exhausted on the trip.
- Bring cream for saddle sores – the rubbed raw skin that develops on your bottom and thighs when you are sitting in a bike seat for too long.
These are just a few very important tips to keep in mind when you are taking on a long distance charity event challenge ride from London to Paris. It’s a long and difficult journey, but with the right preparation your trip will go as smoothly as possible. Of course, the most important thing to remember is to have fun!