Skip to main content

Day 3

This is me getting ready to tuck into a beautifully baked chocolate fondant dessert after a loooooooo-ooooooong day! 

Standing next to me is Justine, front of house manager at the Ibis Novotel in Calais. Today Justine showed me that excellent customer service still exists and working hard with a smile is still possible! Good reminder too and just in the nick of time, after climbing a logistical Everest on very little sleep and just a few Euro! 

The event kicked off at 5:15am in London - 380 riders, some rain, some sun, a few falls, a few hundred rider questions, a few 'hoopla' cheers, and much more. I'm not quite ready to relive some of them through this blog - another steep learning curve for sure...did I win King of the Mountain yet??

I hope to always remember my first day in France! 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

That's so amazing about Grace

Scrolling through some photos this afternoon, I came across one of our friend Tarrin-Rae and her new baby girl, Isla, born last Thursday 31 October 2013. Isla Grace Graham I struggled to contain my own emotions as I observed this special moment in Tarrin's life (and new Isla's too) and thought back to my own experiences. I immediately asked Tarrin if I may use this to share a bit more of what I some times feel as a Mom... At first glance, I see relief . She's finally here! We can see her face in real life and we can say out loud "I am a Mommy!" Like my own kids, Isla was in no hurry to be born and labour was induced. What's worse than having to wait 40 weeks to meet your newest family member?? Having to wait longer still! I must confess, that this feeling was mixed with a fair dose of disbelief  on my part too - when I sat quietly resting between visitors and feeds, I had to pinch my literal self and realise - the baby was here. Then I see comfort ....

A home-made birthday

Due to the fact that we celebrated Jorja's birthday with the Weber and Wilcox families in the UK last year - over a few days and in various styles - we were a bit out of practice. In fact, if Jorja had not brought it to my attention with just two weeks to spare, I must confess that I would not have expected it to arrive for another few more weeks! But Moms could never let that seem to be the case, so we got cracking on 5th birthday celebration arrangements... On the night before, I set out every baking ingredient, apparatus and accessory that I could find and hoped that we would make it work! Aunty Robyn and Aunty Ilana arrived just in time to help us bake off the first round of vanilla cake pops and cookies with sprinkles. At this point, there was no turning back, our kitchen was already in a state of bake! The biscuit batch baked beautifully (and bountifully) and Jorja was well pleased with her assisted effort. As she head to bed on the eve of her birthday, I popped the...

Day 1

We woke up with the sun Some self-isolated under the duvet  until well after 8am We mixed chocolate into breakfast oats And we lay out our best made plans We smiled, wondering if they would be implemented today or ever? By 9.30 we were driving on new roads On our return we forfeited stockpiling  For urgent bathroom breaks But when we arrived we enjoyed the sun from inside the parked car instead After lunch the devices rang non-stop Beep! Ring! Buzz! Mail! Chat!  Real time, ceaseless demand  All those unseen germs that we swipe left and right with our dominant hand and press to our cheeks Yikes  I start a grocery list I should start with food staples and emergency supplies  I write "chocolate"  I wonder how long the internet will last under this pressure Perhaps tomorrow I'll unplug it for a while, to rest It's only Day 1