Thee friends. Three gears. Three hundred kilometres of road.

It looked good on paper, but we had no idea how it would translate in reality.

We’d thought that the first day would be the toughest — sixty odd miles from London to Brighton on our 3 geared bikes — and the rest would be half days of cycling interspersed with copious amounts of wine, cheese and other French delicacies.

It turned out that we spent almost 5 days straight in the saddle before we got to Paris.

With no training and only minimal route planning on Google Maps, it shouldn’t have been a surprise. Our route took us through fields and forest, along muddy trails and puddle-strewn paths.

But our bikes took it in their stride, and thanks to our Vulpine clothing, we like to think we retained a little panache even when bathed in mud and sweat.

Keep scrolling to see how the trip panned out… (and then watch the Tour de Cycle Hire film).

A huge thank you to our supporters: James, Graham and James rode TFL cycle hire bikes, wore Vulpine clothing, had an Airbnb roof over their heads each night, and returned home with tickets from Eurostar. Tour de Cycle Hire was a collaboration between CycleLove and Borough.

Photography by Graham McLoughlin, James Greig and Chris Lawson

Posted to Features
by James Greig

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