PEDAL TO PARIS 2018
TOP FUNDRAISING TIPS ON THE RIDE Social Media. - Post images of you setting off and throughout the ride and remind people what youʼre doing! - Post on your Facebook or Instagram story live updates - Tell people how youʼre feeling along the way - Tag your friends this way your post with also reach your friends, friends. - Post live video updates and share the journey - Tell people why you are fundraising for the Legion. Share your story.
DAY ONE London - Calais - 136km 6.15-7.15 Registration 7.20 Move to the start line 7.30 Welcome Speeches 7.40 Group 1 (17+mph/28km) & Group 2 (15-16mph/25km) leave 7.45 Group 3 (14mph/22.5km) leave 7.50 Group 4 (12-13mph/20km) leave Arrival 9.30-10.15 10.30 Arrival 12.00-12.30 12.45 Pit Stop Depart Pit Stop (latest) Lunch Stop Depart Lunch Stop (latest) Dover Regroup 15.25 Ferry Check in 17.25 Ferry Crossing 20.00 Calais arrival 20.30 Bike Storage (20 min cycle) Coaches to Hotels
DOVER Dover today is a very important port town that connects the UK to Europe. In the First World War it held even more importance being the keyhole to Europe as a major embarkation port. Dover was known as Fortress Dover, it was not only a port but also a major military base that had barracks for more than 10,000 men. Detached earthworks, trenches, barbed wire entanglements and strongpoints on high points around the town were built to protect the town and port from attack. Within this secure area, thousands of recruits were trained for war, mainly for infantry and artillery units.
DOVER Permanent barracks already existed in Dover Castle, on the Western Heights and at Fort Burgoyne. Many new camps were established in and around Dover. Dover was defended from seaborne and air attack by men from 41 and 46 companies including the Royal Garrison Artillery (RGA), The Royal Engineers and the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve. From 1914, the Dover Command of the Royal Navy was established to maintain Allied control of the vital Straits of Dover, both for effective and safe sea communications to and from the Army fighting in France and Flanders, and for merchant ships bringing food and essential supplies to Britain. It was one of the most important naval commands of the war. It grew to comprise several hundred ships known as the Dover Patrol, including destroyers, submarines, monitors and motor launches. Fishing trawlers and drifters were also adapted for clearing mines, laying mines and hunting U Boats, with many of the crews raised among fishermen and merchant seaman who enrolled in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve.
DEAN STOTT Dean Stott is a former British Special Forces Soldier. His long and distinguished career has taken him to some of the toughest places in the world. Dean has taken on Somali pirates and single handedly evacuated Embassies out of war torn countries. This year Dean broke the world record attempt for cycling the Pan American Highway knocking more than 17 days off the previous record with his time of 99 days, 12 hours and 56 minutes. Dean is a Legion beneficiary and is aiming to raise 1million for different mental health charities in the UK and one is The Royal British Legion. Dean has joined us for Pedal to Paris make sure you have a chat to him.
DAY TWO Calais - Abbeville 135km 7.00 Breakfast 7.45 Coaches Depart Hotels 8.00 Bike Storage (Collect bike + drop bag) 9.00 Group 4 (12-13mph/20km) depart 9.15 Group 3 (14mph/22.5km) depart 9.50 Group 2 (15-16mph/25km) depart 10.00 Group 1 (17+mph/28km) depart Lunch Stop 12.45 Group 4 (12-13mph/20km) depart 13.00 Group 3 (14mph/22.5km) depart 13.20 Group 2 (15-16mph/25km) depart 13.30 Group 1 (17+mph/28km) depart Pit Stop 15.10 Group 4 (12-13mph/20km) depart 15.25 Group 3 (14mph/22.5km) depart 15.30 Group 2 (15-16mph/25km) depart 15.40 Group 1 (17+mph/28km) depart Regroup 17.00 All cyclists depart 18.10 Bike Storage (Collect bike + drop bag) Coaches to hotels (Mercure to walk) 19.30 Dinner
ABBEVILLE For much of the First World War, Abbeville was headquarters of the Commonwealth lines of communication and No.3 BRCS, No.5 and No.2 Stationary Hospitals were stationed there at various points from October 1914 to January 1920. There was a large military hospital in the town to which many injured soldiers from the Somme area were evacuated. Those that made it were sent home or back to the front line; those that did not were buried in the town's communal cemetery. The communal cemetery was used for burials from November 1914 to September 1916.
ANNA POLLOCK Anna joined the RAF when she was 17, keen to take on physical challenges and keep fit. Anna met her husband while serving and she decided to leave the RAF when she found out she was pregnant. By 2013 they had three beautiful children. Annaʼs family were about to move to Gibraltar where Annaʼs husband had been transfered when she suffered a blood clot on her spine which lead her to be paralysed from the waist down. Anna became a shadow of her former self relying on her family to now look after her and to go from being incredibly active to limited activity took a toll on her mentally. In 2014 Anna was encouraged to try out a recumbent bike which changed her life, she decided to fight back and the Legion funded her a recumbent bike of her own. Anna has competed in the Invictus Games and taken on many other challenges like triathlons, Arc to Arc and now Pedal to Paris.
DAY THREE Abbeville - Beauvais 104km 7.00 7.40-8.00 Breakfast Coaches Depart Hotels (7.40 Cap Hornu, 8.00 Ibis, Mercure to walk) 8.00 Bike Storage (Collect bike + drop bag) 8.25 All cyclists depart for Ceremony 8.45 Abbeville Ceremony 9.00 Group 4 (12-13mph/20km) depart 9.15 Group 3 (14mph/22.5km) depart 9.45 Group 2 (15-16mph/25km) depart 10.00 Group 1 (17+mph/28km) depart Lunch Stop 12.55 Group 4 (12-13mph/20km) depart 13.10 Group 3 (14mph/22.5km) depart 13.25 Group 2 (15-16mph/25km) depart 13.45 Group 1 (17+mph/28km) depart Pit Stop + Ceremony Auchy la Montagne 16.30 All cyclists depart 15.25 All cyclist arrive at Beauvais Ceremony 17.30 Beauvais Ceremony 18.00 All cyclists depart Bike Storage (Collect bike + drop bag) 19.00 Coaches to hotels (Mercure to walk) 20.00 Dinner
THE SOMME The Somme lies in the Picardy region of Northern France. You will be cycling through the Somme as part of the route. Fought between July and November 1916, the Battle of the Somme was one of the defining events of the First World War. It is often remembered for the huge losses on the first day (1 July 1916) but the Somme offensive continued over the following months - a total of 141 days - and men from every part of Britain and across the Empire took part. When it was halted in November, more than 1,000,000 Commonwealth, French and German soldiers had been wounded, captured, or killed. Some 150,000 Commonwealth servicemen lie buried in 250 military and 150 civilian cemeteries on the Somme. Six memorials to the missing commemorate by name more than 100,000 whose graves are not known. The cemeteries and memorials built and cared for by the CWGC across the Somme, stand as a lasting reminder of the human cost of the fighting in this region throughout the First World War.
BEAUVAIS Beauvais was extensively damaged during World War I. Marshal Ferdinand Foch directed battle operations from the town hall in 1918. Beauvais was again damaged in World War II, during the German advance on Paris. The Battle of Beauvais was fought throughout March and April 1939. The Wehrmacht approached the south of Beauvais with the intention to drive through it and reach Paris. The Allies were hiding just south of Beauvais, predominantly French and British soldiers launched an attack while the RAF provided air support. This attack stopped the Germans and also lead them to retreat. Much of the older part of the city was all but destroyed, and the cathedral badly damaged before being liberated by British forces on 30 August 1944
DAY FOUR Beauvaus - Paris 112km 6.30 Breakfast 7.30 Coaches Depart Hotels 8.00 Bike Storage (Collect bike + drop bag) 8.30 Group 4 (12-13mph/20km) depart 8.45 Group 3 (14mph/22.5km) depart 9.20 Group 2 (15-16mph/25km) depart 9.30 Group 1 (17+mph/28km) depart Lunch Stop 12.40 All cyclists depart 15.24 Arrival at Arc de Triomphe 16.30 Paris Ceremony 17.15 Cycle to Bike Loading 17.45 Coaches to hotels (Mercure to walk) 20.00 Gala Dinner 22.00-02.00 Bar + Band
THE UNKNOWN SOLDIERS GRAVE At the base of the Arch de Triomphe stands a torch. Every evening at 6:30 P.M. it is rekindled, and veterans lay wreaths decorated with red, white and blue near its flickering flame. It burns in the darkness to recall the sacrifice of an unknown French soldier who gave his life during World War I. The idea for an unknown soldier to be honored in death in France was first initiated in 1916 while World War I was still being fought and the outcome in certain doubt. On November 12, 1919, a year and a day after the end of World War I, the concept was given formal recognition and it was determined that the Unknown Soldier would be laid to rest at the Pantheon. The following year, after a large-scale letter writing campaign, it was finally determined that the Unknown Soldier would be buried at the base of the Arc de Triomphe.
The legislation authorizing the memorial, passed unanimously, stated: ARTICLE 1: The honors of the Pantheon will be rendered to the remains of one of the unknown soldiers who fell on the field of honor during the 1914-1918 war. The transfer of the remains will be solemnly made on 11 November 1920. ARTICLE 2: The same day, the remains of the Unknown Soldier will be buried under the Arc de Triomphe. On November 10, 1920 at the Citadel of Verdun, Auguste Thien reviewed eight identical coffins, each bearing the remains of an unknown French soldier who had been killed during the Great War. Thien selected the sixth of the eight coffins, which was transported to Paris to rest in the chapel on the first floor of the Arc de Triomphe. There the coffin remained until January 28, 1921 at which time the Unknown French soldier was laid in his permanent place of honor at the base of the Arc de Triomphe. On October 22, 1922 the French Parliament declared the eleventh day of November in each year to be a national holiday. The following year on November 11, 1923 Andre Maginot, French Minister for War, lit the eternal flame for the first time. Since that date it has become the duty of the Committee of the Flame to rekindle that torch each evening at twilight.
DAY FIVE Paris - London 8.00-10.00 Breakfast 11.00 Check Out of the Hotel 16.10 Eurostar from Gare du Nord 17.39 Arrive to St Pancras Bike Collection Purchase Street, Brill Place NW1 1EL
RESOURCES - CWGC Thiepval App Hear stories of soldiers and find their name on the memorial with this app. - Remember the Somme Interactive App Historian Dan Snow and The Royal British Legion have created this app which bring to life key moments of the Somme. INFORMATION SOURCES - Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) World War One Battlefields English Heritage The Royal British Legion
EVENT CONTACTS Event Manager: Kate Coleman +44 0 7481741166 Chief Mechanic: Nigel Hill +44 0 787 664 2855 Chief Outrider France: Julie Cordier +33 0 782008316 Head Medic: Nicola Sykes +447778030127 The Royal British Legion would like to Thank our Sponsors for their support. And to the French people for their warm welcome. #PEDALTOPARIS @poppylegion Charity Number: 219279