Unveiling the race jersey

On Saturday (21st June) I was given my jersey and shorts for the race. Looks rather nice hey? (Photo courtesy if Ross Muir, MD, LaFuga)

[Me (Rob Enslin), Andrew Gill and Ian Holt]

London Paris Cycle Tour 2008

I was invited some time ago to do a charity race - London 2 Paris - 'Professional race for amateurs'.

The London-Paris Cycle Tour is a unique 3 day “Tour de France” style endurance event for amateur and cyclosportive riders. It is a professional event for amateurs and is the closest an amateur will feel like a "pro" having full support, rolling road closures and covering nearly 600km in three days followed by a rest day in Paris.

The race starts in London (Hampton Court) and finishes in Paris. The stages look like this:

Day 1 takes a new 200km route away from the Hampton Court through Kent, ‘the Garden of England’, arriving at Dover for the end of day ferry crossing to Calais. There will be no bed of roses in this garden however as riders tackle the short sharp ascents of Capel le Surn and Goudhurst Hill, the latter being familiar to race fans as a King of the Mountains climb in the 2007 Tour de France.

Day 2 provides a massive 230km route that will test the mettle of every rider as the event swings north east toward the famous cobbles of Paris-Roubaix, cycling’s ‘Hell of the North’. Wheel and tyre choice will be crucial on sections like Mont Casel, a 2.5km cobbled uphill and the challenging, rolling roads of the Collines l’Artois before arrival at Amiens.

Day 3 leaves Amiens and winds south to Paris covering 170km in the true spirit of the Tour de France, rolling into the capital, past the Arc de Triomphe and ending at the Eiffel Tower, a fitting spot at which to end the challenge of the 2008 London-Paris Cycle Tour.

The team doing this event include:

Me (Rob Enslin)
Andrew Gill (Gilly)
Ducan MacAlister
Niall Digby
Steve Calland

The team's objective:

Win the yellow jersey!

The team is kindly sponsored by:

Glasshouse and LaFuga
(please visit the team sponsors!)

Kids say the funniest things

My kids are great! The other night Kate was reading a book to James until something distracted him.

Kids say the funniest things from Rob Enslin on Vimeo.

Doddie does it again

Gary Dodd (Sigma Sport) scored another win on Sunday's Divisional Champs in Kent. Gary is truely a legend! Gary rode a very quiet race all day - hiding himself in the bunch, but saved the best for last. The finish suited the master perfectly. Not too steep, but uphill - a powerman's finish.

There's no point riding like an animal over the first few laps and finishing in the bunch. People only really remember the winners.

I started the race in no great shape. My preparation wasn't the best - in fact non-exisitent. Nevertheless I started and planned to ride 'quietly' and hope that I had enough in the tank for the finish. So during the race I stayed near the front monitoring activities should something meaningful arise. Nothing really did except for a six-man break half way through the race. That was soon reeled in and the race was together again.

I decide to mark my personal pick for the win, Andrew Bye. Andrew had just returned from the Ras (Tour of Ireland). He had a great race there and even found himself in 4th place overall on GC at one point. Unforatunaltely, he suffered on the penultimate stage with severe winds and lost touch with the leader ultimately finishing 22nd overall on GC - still an awesome result.

Anyway, it seemed (to me) Andrew was getting a little frustrated with me 'sucking' his wheel. A claim later dismissed by Andrew. Seemed obvious to mark the best rider (by far) there. Andrew later finsihed 4th in the lbreak-away group.

With this break-away group (started by Andrew Bye up the start/finish hill) off the front I tried to bridge and tried to encourage the group to chase. Unfortunately, the group dithered and all I got was a lot of wheel-followers. By the closing couple of miles the break was gone and my chance to defend the title gone with it. I managed to coast to the finish bring up the rear of the main bunch.

British Cycling's covered of the South Eastern Divisional Champs.