Eiffel Tower Deathmatch

As per the request from Simon yesterday and using the inspiration from Ali's original idea, here is our first sponsored 'challenge'. Si suggested that this was worth a pledge of £10, but given that we had to hire two extras, employ Maria as cameraman and purchase two baguettes and all of this on a Sunday, we reckon that £20 is closer to the mark. If anyone else would like to suggest a challenge for Zeina and I to complete, on video, with a cash pledge for WDCS International can let us know.

N.B. The value of each challenge will be determined by the Whale of a Ride team.

Day 4 - Midnight in Paris

After the bottom-punishing 113 miles we cycled yesterday, we were left with a very civilized 53 miles today to get to the centre of Paris and the Eiffel Tower. The route we took was long, straight and fast and we seemed to ge to the city in no time. En route, we stopped for a picnic lunch in the town where Van Gogh spent his final years. In an attempt to impress Zeina with my cultural knowledge, I took her to a lovely park, with a huge bronze statue of the Old Master taking pride of place. After I announced that this was the final resting place of the famed artist, she gave the statue a cursory glance and then said: "Is this where we're having lunch?" Well, I did try.

We lunched by a river and we're both loving stinky cheese, various cured meats and baguettes as our staple diet. We really pushed the boat out today and had a dessert after our sandwich (a Magnum and a Cornetto). Riding by the Seine, into the heart of what I must say is the most beautiful city I've visited, was very memorable. We finished up by the Eiffel Tower at 4pm and then went to meet some of Zeina's friends and family to celebrate completing the first leg of our ride. Everybody was very welcoming to the pink-faced Brit' and I want to say thank you to Maria for putting us up for the night and for letting me use her iron and to Jenny for telling me things about Neil Young over dinner that I never knew.

Things we learned today:

1. When cycling through rural France, you can play a great game called 'How many cows?'. The rules are simple, when you cycle past a field of cows, one of you shouts "LES VACHES!" as loud as you can, then you count how many cows actually stop what they were doing (chewing the cud, sleeping, having a wee, licking each other's faces) and look over at you curiously. I scored a massive six interested bovines this morning, whilst Zeina trails behind with a paltry four.

2. Even with liberal use of SPF70 sunscreen on my face, I still end up looking like a cross between a rare steak and a beef tomato by about 2pm every afternoon.

3. After a few hours of hot & dusty riding, these gorgeous French nectarines taste like an angel crying onto your tongue.

We also got our first photo of Estuary the Humpack Whale by the Eiffel tower. Estuary is a cuddly-toy representation of a real Humpback that was found entangled in Boston and then rescued and is accompanying us all the way to Marrakech. He/she has been very well behaved and remained in high spirits, despite being tied to the back of my bike for the last four days with a bungee rope. We're in Paris until Monday when we'll begin the next stage of our ride to the Atlantic Coast. Hope you all have a good weekend, see you on here again soon.

Day 2 - 54 miles.........Day 3 - 113 miles!!!

Goodbye England, Hello France. Yesterday, we left the comfort of Ron's Littlebourne cottage and made our way to the white cliffs of Dover to hop on the ferry to Calais. No surprises there, just getting used to riding on the right hand side of the road again. After a pretty short day, we just had to stop. We set up the tent and made some pasta on our little butane grill and fell dead asleep. We awoke to another beautiful day (and a good as a bird had left its good luck on my handle bars in the night) and started our journey, anticipating getting 70 or 80 miles out of the way. The first 20 were the most picturesque so far (see photo below). Wheal fields, streams running through villages, friendly old ladies tending their garden, waving to us as we go by. And cows! Lots and lots of cows. We stopped to have our first croissants and they were little crescents of heaven. We arrived in Grandvilliers around 8 with 91 miles on the meter and decided there and then that we were going to bust it to Beauvais before dark (another 25 miles). After a meal of Doner Kebabs, we hopped back on the bikes and just rode...and rode...and rode, until we made it, right before dark. Neither on of us has ridden this far, so it's a bit of a milestone for both of us. We'll be arriving in Paris tomorrow and will be spending a couple of nights there.

Lessons learned:
- Keep my mouth closed when going down a hill lest I want a yummy meal of flies.
- Big lesson learned today: The hills are less steep on the country roads, as they were probably developed for horse and cart. We're keeping away from the A roads because they tend to just cut over a hill and the less hills the better.
- Howard might need a tad more sunscreen.
- The money is in the pigs, not the goats and sheep (according to Farmer Steve)

Day 1 - The kindness of strangers

Yesterday morning, Zeina and I left Ladbroke Grove in West London at 6am to begin our 2,900 mile journey to Marrakech. The first couple of miles saw us stopping to make minor adjustments to our bikes and luggage, before crossing Battersea Bridge and getting a great view downriver of the Houses of Parliament and the London Eye. Making our way through London at rush hour was pretty straightforward (I'd had nightmares of lorries and irate Monday-morning drivers knocking us off our bikes!) In fact, we found the car drivers to be very considerate and so we were able to start the day confidently and with big smiles on our faces. Finally leaving London, we hit the outskirts of Kent to follow the route notes kindly donated by one of my ex-colleagues from the days when I led London to Paris charity fundraising bike rides. It took us through tiny villages and some beautiful countryside and with almost perfect weather conditions and a belly full of ham and eggs from breakfast, it was almost too good to be true. Then of course I did a very silly thing, called my best mate Ali at the 45 mile mark to tell him how great it was all going and promptly missed a turning (sorry Zeina!) It took me a couple of miles to realise my error and by then we'd done a lot of downhill, so didn't fancy climbing back up it all to find the right turnoff.

It was at this point when we began to experience the kindness of strangers that continued the rest of the day. I stopped at a busy BMW dealer to ask directions and the salesman spent about ten minutes on Google plotting us a route and then printing it out for us, what a star. We detoured a few miles and got back on track, then just as we were getting our first hunger pangs and beginning to feel a bit weak at the knees, we entered the village of Harvel and saw a sign for the 'Harvel Farmhouse Shop' which promised pies and homemade cakes! Alas, when we pulled into the farm we found the shop to be closed. But then a gate to the farmhouse opened and out came Steve the farmer who was immediately friendly and also turned out to be an all round top bloke. Steve asked us what we were looking for and we hesitantly replied: "just a bit of cake or something?" To our surprise, he opened up the shop for us and came out with four slices of delicious homemade cream cakes leftover from the weekend. "Help yourself to these and make yourselves a cup of tea inside". We chatted to Steve and discovered that he keeps free-range pigs and makes a range of delicious sounding sausages that are very popular with the locals who visit his farm shop at the weekends. We nabbed a photo with Steve before continuing our journey and want to say a big thank you to him and also that if you're ever in the area at the weekend, drop by and check out the shop, his cakes are amazing!

After that stroke of luck we carried on and the miles increased, when we got up to 75 miles we realised that is the furthest we've done together since beginning the training. Around the 75 mile mark we had a couple of little sections where it was clear we were no longer on the right route, but the countryside was so beautiful and the weather so nice that it didn't seem to be a problem. But by the 85 mile mark we were feeling pretty exhausted, very hungry and realised we'd been cycling for nearly eight hours, not including the breaks we'd had. Also, my backside felt like someone had been smacking it with a cricket bat and I was very, very sore. Stopping in Petham, we chatted to a mum and her little girl who not only gave us quick directions to get to our destination, but also filled up our empty water bottles. Into the last stretch, we pushed ourselves on and when we finally saw the sign for Littlebourne, where my friend Ron was putting us up for the night, I can't tell you the relief we felt. We managed to drag our bikes into the cottage and then scavenged for food like two feral children, chomping down boiled eggs, a protein bar we found at the bottom of our bag and whatever else we could find. We'd cycled 95.2 miles and had been on the go for twelve and a half hours, I couldn't sit down as I was so sore, Zeina had got some dust or something in her eye earlier in the day, which had worsened and was now swollen badly. I was very happy to be there and we are looking forward to picking up the rest of our bike kit tomorrow morning and then pushing on to France on Wednesday morning.

Things we learned on Day 1:

1. Eat, eat and then eat some more, even if we don't feel hungry
2. People we meet are really interested in what we're doing and very friendly
3. Let Zeina navigate
4. I need a new bike saddle, or I risk ending the ride as a eunuch

SEA LIFE opens new Fiji display in London

Congratulations to Paul Hale and his team who have set up an exciting new Fiji display at the London Aquarium. The new display will help inform visitors to the Aquarium about the important conservation work being supported by SEA LIFE. In particular the funding they have given to South Pacific Projects to help establish Marine Protected Areas in Fiji. SEA LIFE is one of our sponsors and we are delighted to be working with a pro-active Company who are dedicated to supporting genuine marine conservation and research projects around the globe. Zeina and I were just invited to the Aquarium, along with a group of local schoolchildren who'd been invited to check out the corals, fish and Giant clams. They had gone to a lot of trouble to get hold of some Fijian orchids to weave a beautiful flower-curtain in front of the tank and Zeina was nominated to cut the ribbon to officially open the new display.

A special thanks must go to Paul who has championed this new MPA project from the beginning (and an early Happy Birthday shout out for Sunday Paul if you're reading this!). Also thanks to Toby Forer, General Manager of the London Aquarium who has been so enthusiastic about the work being done in Fiji by us with the local community. We will be announcing a fundraising auction soon with some great items up for grabs, like a beautiful limited edition print of Spinner dolphins, free annual entry for a whole family to the London Aquarium and and amazing two week Spinner dolphin research holiday to Fiji.......

Visit to WDCS International Head Office

This week Zeina and I caught up with Cynthia Walsh and Stine Bang at the WDCS International headquarters in Chippenham. We discussed how the MPA is shaping up at Moon Reef and our plans for fundraising efforts when we return to Fiji in October (cycling around Fiji to add to our 2,900 mile European/African ride). Stine and Cynthia have very kindly organised some 'Whale of a Ride' cycling shirts for us and we'll be taking delivery of them just in time for our departure next week and we shall wear them all the way to Morocco!

We want to thank everyone at WDCS International for supporting our event and we both look forward to arriving back at Moon Reef in November to meet with Dr. Cara Miller and Jay and all of our other friends and project partners in Fiji. We're off to the London Aquarium next to open the new Fiji display which has been put together to raise awareness about the Aquarium's sponsorship of Marine Protected Areas in Fiji.

My Impressions of England

We just spent the last 4 days in a village called Littlebourne, right outside of Canterbury in Kent. We’ve been very kindly hosted by Howard’s Uncle Ron, who lives in a cozy cottage, covered in ivy. I’ve been drinking my tea with milk and the very first night I was finally introduced to the famed cider of Kent that I’ve been hearing about for the last month (mainly due to the lack of such ciders back in the states). Our first night, we went to the Rose, a pub in a neighbouring village, Wickhambreaux, that’s been around since the 1300s. Hops hanging from the ceiling and with 5 ciders on draught, I knew why Howard loves coming here. For the next 5 days, we filled our time with eating pub food, drinking lovely cider and training in the rolling fields of Kent.

-One night we found ourselves in a village of 200 people, drinking cider with a group of Ronnie’s friends. They had been there all afternoon and we found them with 5 or 6 empty wine bottles on the table. We got to speaking and after 10 minutes I let fly that I was originally from Lebanon. The 4 wine drinkers of the group all looked at each other in disbelief. One of them grabbed one of the empties and showed it to me. Chateau Kefraya, a bottle of wine from Lebanon. How strange to find Lebanese wine in a teeny tiny English village.

-We had heard of a good French movie playing at the cinema and every night we tried to go see it, but every night we found ourselves in a different 15th century pub, speaking with locals who were curious about my accent (one person mistook me for a Polish person), curious about the Fijian flag on Howard’s shirt and generally interested in our ride. We’ve gotten so many words of support and good luck, the day we actually start can’t come quick enough.

-The countryside of Kent is very enchanting. Fields and orchards, old villages, buildings that have been around for hundreds of years, but unlike many historical buildings I have seen, they are still inhabited. There is a barn next door to Ronnie’s that still has its original wood work. It was built in the 1100s and is used for weddings and receptions.

-A very heavy Texan accent coming from behind me in the Rose on my first night in England. Where did he come from, I wonder? Texas, I suppose, but what is he doing in a random pub in a random village. Sigh, the world gets smaller and smaller.

The next week will find us very familiar with the English rail system, as we’ll be doing a bit of hopping around to visit a bunch of Howard’s friends. I hope the weather holds up as we’ve had a 50/50 mix of sunny to cloudy days. Next stop is London for a night then on to Havant, then WDCS International’s Head Office in Chippenham, back to London for the Aquarium Fiji display opening ceremony, Hastings, back to Canterbury to see Ted and back to London then the ride starts.

We’re picking our bikes up on Monday and I can’t wait to get back in the saddle. Soon the cider will cease and the long rides will commence and I’ll say goodbye to England. In the meantime, I’m enjoying seeing the different parts of this country and getting to know Howard’s friends and family. They’ve been very inviting and I thank each of them for hospitality and support.

Goodbye USA

We have just finished our training period in the US and arrived in England this afternoon, with two more weeks of training to look forward to before we set off on our challenge. We both want to thank Zeina's friends and family who have all been so supportive during our recent stay in Oakland and New York: Nathalie & James, Theo & Raven, Zeena & Mark (thanks for the hats and water bottles Mark!) Namir, Zach, Noura and the rest of Zeina's family and friends. We will be picking up our bikes in London early next week to begin the final phase of training with fully-loaded panniers and plenty of long days in the saddle.

As of today, we have raised nearly £1,500 in donations. Thank you to all the people who have already donated, it is your kindness and generousity that will inspire us to complete this difficult challenge when the going gets tough in a few weeks! We'll have some more updates early next week after we visit one of our sponsors, the SEA LIFE London Aquarium and have attended the unveiling of their new Fiji display to promote the Moon Reef MPA.

San Francisco photographer donates work to Whale of a Ride

We had a fantastic day to mark the end of our training period in San Francisco. First we cycled over the Golden Gate Bridge (an experience in itself for me!) and happened to meet Misty and Janius, two cyclists who were just arriving in the City themselves having travelled all the way by bike from Vancouver! It was great to get some top tips from them about spending weeks in the saddle, camping every night and how to pack light. After crossing the bridge we dropped in to see a friend at the Hotel where she works and to see a small art exhibition she'd told us was about to start. Wandering through the two small rooms set aside for the exhibition, we admired the mounted surfboards that were canvasses for some stunning images of turtles, sharks and big waves. As well as the boards, there were some beautiful shots of surfers and marine life. One of which in particular caught our attention as it was of Spinner dolphins. There were two guys unpacking the boards and we were lucky enough to meet the man who had created them, San Francisco resident and photographer, Brown Cannon III. Chatting to Brown for a few minutes he told us about his trips to Fiji and we shared some stories about the surf spots and the islands. We also told him about our upcoming fundraiser for WDCS International and I asked if he would be willing to donate one of his Spinner dolphin images so we could auction it at the end of our bike ride. To our genuine and very pleasant surprise he agreed and so we will be including a print of one of Brown's dolphin images in a charity fundraising auction to be held at the end of our ride to Marrakech. Thank you to Brown for his kind generosity and we hope to see him again soon as we've invited him to Fiji to see the Spinner dolphins of Moon Reef next year!