Training ( The chronology goes from the bottom of the page to the top)
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On our way
Tour de France Day -1,
Well finally packed and caught the train from Norwich ok, a rapid change in Cambridge platforms couldn’t be further apart but made ok. Train to Gatwick all good and self service to check in and get suitcases sorted, all ok.
Paul going through checks with his hand luggage, now the fun starts.
X-ray Machine stops, red lights flashing, have to get senior staff to check the scan. Bags searched after questioning.
Top tip don’t have bike pump, looks like a cylinder, battery pack, cables in hand luggage. Ratchets on cycling shoes they don’t like either. But having a tiny multi tool is the last straw, confiscated. Then I set off X-ray as I walk through but eventually all sorted.
Had something to eat to now find flight is delayed, approximately 20 mins at the moment but we will see 
Neil is so glad he is travelling with me and we are the only two people masked up. No chances being taken this end!
When we landed, actually on time we went through passport control and our baggage was just waiting, fantastic. Go to walk through nothing to declare and Customs official guided us to the , lets have alook and see what you have. Was it because we were the only two wearing masks. Any way we got through ok, ordered an Uber. It went from 5 mins and 25 Euro to 25 mins and 51 Euro as Neil paid, they knew were were not Spanish. However, we got to the air B and B, better part of Bilbao as the graffitti was spelt correctly. It was 5 floors of stairs in a dilapidated staircase to the room, where we are greeted by Maria, very friendly. Only issue is only 1 bed, do we top or tail, or use the fellow room mate as a barrier. We both slept well anyway.
June 2023
Last long training ride was the around Norfolk 200 miles. I rode with James (Ride Harder) He was a little late to the start and we started off with a 3 up time trial to catch the group we wshould have been riding with. 37 Miles later we caught them just before the feed stop. We ended up doing the first 100 miles in 4 hours 51min, only my second time under 5 hours for 100 miles and my first on open roads, crazy as we still had a 100 to go and it was HOT!!
I decided to have a beer at the final feed stop, or rather in the pub next door, obviously the choice of a highly trained athlete but boy was it welcome.
Tour of Wessex
It was a last minute call but I went and rode 2 stages of the Tour of Wesses again this year. Meeting Ceri, Andy and Rob. Lovely weather, some nice climbing and doing back to back days of centuries. I rode the two stages there and had to go home for a big 60 celebration with Sally :). I still rode another 100 that day and two days later ended up riding anothe rcentury with Neil who is riding the first half of Le Loop. We rode out and did some miles with Ruthie (Check 2022 training to see her and her lovely dog. She isriding 6 days this year. Legs were feeling it towards the end and Neil towed me back, rather than sitting on my wheel as we normally ride.
April,May 2023
Training as last year, only difference instead of riding in Yorkshire I had 3 days riding in Wales with Ceri Stone. A fellow looper and the guy I sat next to on the long transition from Copenhagen to Dunkirk. He was sent home 5 days after me, boy did I feel guilty.
Riding in Wales up some nice climbs but in the rain and mist, couldn’t really see the top of the climbs but incredibly useful training and great to ride with someone who has completed a full loop previously. I spent alot of time picking his brains for help and support and generally having my confidence increased. Look for Ceri’s book @How to ride the Tour de France’, he wrote this after his 2019 ride, an interestnig read and not just about cycling.
February/March 2023
If you read my training from 2022 on this blog page, this year has followed the same pattern. Good to link up with Marshall Crowe again in March as he personalises my training. He has kindly offered to train me for free this year after the diappointment of the last 3 years. Top man, incredibly knowledgeable and helpful. Check out Foremost coaching.
January 2023
Completed the Rapha 500 over Christmas period, so some descent base miles even if it was inside on hoe trainer most of the time, cheat miles as some of my club mates would say.
December 2022
4 weeks of training and going well then I get shingles, 3 weeks out again. Better now than later. I have signed up with James Walsgrove again to do the Ride Harder Academy over the winter. Zoom rides for the difficult sessions always pass easier when other people are suffering as well.
A delayed start to training this year, still having a tight chest, I rang for Drs appointment end of August to see if ok to start training. Long story short is was the beginning of November before I got the all clear to start training. Two months behind where I would want to be,
August 2022
‘So don’t disappoint us, draw breath, take stock, and get back up and do it all over again!! Draw on us, we are willing you on, and just IMAGINE the feeling when you do it.’
So thank you all, thank you for putting up with my ramblings, thank you for the support and belief in me. So, I will leave it here until my next adventure whatever that may be.
That was how my blog finished in June 2022 when I had the major disappointment of being sent home ill with Covid after 3 years of training and trying. Well after lots of thought and conversations with Jayne I am having another ago. Another year of training, more weight watching and balancing training with work. Hopefully this year I will get to ride all of the Tour de France. Decision made, deposit paid, BRING IT ON!!
The Grand Loop- Paul Andrew 