Do you like bikes?.......

As with most things, this story - and it is a story, started with a phone call. I remember it vividly. It was March 2011, it was raining and it was not overly warm. I was just leaving work and heading home to a dilapidated house with rubbish heating, a leaky roof, and a number of walls that "needed painting" and gutters that needed emptying, according to my wife.

So, this phone call was a good thing. It was a phone call inviting me to a pub. A nice pub. A pub I hadn't been to for a long time - since college in fact. This was the perfect excuse not to go home and clean gutters or paint walls a delightful shade of magnolia whilst wearing a coat.  It was a phone call from a friend, Matt, asking me to go to a pub that I liked so that we could have a catch up and talk about an idea whilst drinking pints of local beer. This was a much better plan that painting and guttering. I was sold,
even before I was given the hook.

"Do you like bikes?"

Now, anyone who knows me, knows that I like gear. I like things that are shiny, I like things that are light - if they're made out of Titanium or Carbon Fiber, you can guarantee that the next thing that will happen when I'm around them is that I'll be handing over a fat wedge of crisp banknotes to a very smiley shopkeeper.

My younger brother has a bike. He bought it as apart of the cycle to work scheme. He's very fit. He runs marathons in deserts and does a regular marathon in 4 hours. Therefore it must be good for you. And they come with loads of gear. Shiny gear.

I went to the pub. I ordered a pint and sat down. I finished my pint and still no Matt. I ordered another pint and waited. Matt arrived. He was late. He did however make up for this by walking in with James. Now, I've known Matt and James since school. James is one of the earliest friends I remember from primary school. I have pictures of him from skiing trips when we were thirteen, but that's another story altogether...

They walked over and sat down, Diet cokes in hand. Both were smiling. Matt looked me in the eye and said:
"Let's cycle to Paris."
"I don't have a bike" I replied
"Me neither" Matt said "and James doesn't either "we could buy some......"

So it was decided. We would cycle to Paris on bikes we didn't have on an undecided route and no real experience cycling since we were thirteen (18 years ago).

What could possibly go wrong?


Oli