On 8th March, our Design Director, James Dixon, set off for MIPIM by bike. Over the course of seven days, James cycled 1,438km from London to Cannes as part of Club Peloton’s fundraising ‘Cycle to MIPIM’.
James documented his journey each day:
London to Folkstone — 118km
It was an unfortunate start to Cycle to MIPIM, with much of the UK waking up to snow, making conditions for cycling incredibly tough. The first day ended up being called off and the group were forced to travel to Calais by bus instead.
James reflects, “due to snow it was cancelled and we got the bus to Calais. Total whiteout on the route with 30cm snow on some rural roads”.
Calais to Soissons — 260km
Although the weather was still quite not on their side, it was possible to complete this leg of the journey by bike as planned. The group headed out at 6.30am for 170 miles (260km) from Calais to Soissons. It rained for a lot of the day, with heavy crosswinds.
“We travelled as One Peloton with all our roads closed off to cars, by French motor riders playing dodgy rock music, we swept through the Northern French landscape. We stopped at village halls to refuel. With tired legs, we arrived at 7pm for a massage and huge cyclists dinner to look forward to”.
“A 219km ride through the rolling hills just east of Paris. The 70mph blowing crosswinds and rain made this a tricky stage. A lot of very expensive bikes were being blown around the place. The skies cleared at the end for a ride in the dark straight into Auxerre, a beautiful city with 2 cathedrals set on a large river.”
Auxerre to Chalon sur Saone — 196km
“The temperature dropped to minus 1 and did not get above 7 all day. My eight layers of cycle tops kept me warm. We left the rolling hills and headed into valleys and gorges with climbs and then some really long descents through well-manicured forests. We stopped at Château de Sully before descending into Chalon. We made the mistake of watching the England rugby match with our French motorbike support crew!”
“Day 5 was the day the skies cleared and we started to get into the hills. The whole alpine range, with Mont Blanc in its centre, was our skyline as we did about 3000m of climbing in the foothills with some incredible descents. The final descent was 35km in the dark surrounded by our own motorcade leading us into Valence.”
Valence to Gregoux Les Bains — 216km
“Brutal day in the mountains with 3,600m of climbing. We set off as the sun came up over the foothills of Valence and made our way into Provence. The team car let us loose today to ascent some serious mountains, 10 – 15km ascents with beautiful downhills. The skies cleared and finally our legs had got used to the 11 hour daily cycle routine.”
Gregoux Les Bains to Cannes — 162km
“Our final day and only 162km today with 2,700m of climbing. We climbed the mythical Gorges de Verdon today, with it’s glacial lakes and incredible mountain passes. It was a long 20km climb up and then a beautiful descent down to Cannes through the lavender fields, olive groves and vineyards of Provence. The sun was shining all day and we landed west of Cannes for a processional (and emotional) Peloton into the Palais at Cannes. It was an amazing experience.”
Congratulations to everyone who completed Cycle to MIPIM. If you would like to donate, please follow the below link.
