Ride Report: Help for Heros P2L Big Battlefield Bike Ride 2013

Was sent this ride report by someone that was on it. Great read.

Help for Heros Paris 2 London Big Battlefield Bike Ride 2013

Well I, or should I say we, did it.From Paris to Compiegne to Amiens , to Le Touquet ,then Calais , Chatham and finally to London with weather conditions in France some of the worst for years with the wind straight into our faces with serious hills along the way.Getting up at 6.00 am to be ready to cycle when it is 45 degrees is a touch interesting.Fortunately by the time we hit England the sun had come out.Still cold but not raining .They promised 380 miles but it was closer to 450 miles .

There just about 300 of us on the ride from all over the UK along with a large contingent of Americans and Canadians from their Wounded Warrior Programmes as well as the USA Operation Comfort Group from Texas.Along with them were Marines from Camp Lejeune, and Marines from their rehab units ,nurses from Walter Reed Hospital and soldiers from the recovery operations in San Antonio Texas.
Amongst the riders there were many without one , two or three limbs .Those with a prosthetic leg rode their bikes, those missing two had hand bikes and used their arms as did one Paratrooper missing three limbs who did the whole ride using one arm.They were unbelievingly inspirational .No complaints, just , as they said "Rock On"

We started in Paris having traveled by train from London.With an early start we rode out to Les Invalides, a French Military Hospital in service since the 17th century .We were met in the Courtyard by a French Military Band and having lined up with the injured in their hand bikes in front , the French General in charge of Paris brought in a surprise guest , The Duchess of Cornwall.She was careful to speak with every injured rider. From there , in the now pouring rain we we up the Champs Elysse , round the Arc de Triomphe and of North West into France.I had already had a flat tyre requiring a new tube , a split tyre needing replacement as well as a busted spoke .French cobblestones are hard on a bike.

Along the way we stopped at Battlefields and Cemeteries where were held memorial services , laid wreaths and always with a bugler to play Sunset and Reveille ,a Piper to play a lament and the Jesuit Priest , an ex soldier, making us think about why we were there .These were really emotional moments .I was chosen to read at the cemetery at Etaples Cemetery where 11,000 were buried as Grandfather's(Past Master Sir Ambrose Keevil) Regiment, the Royal Munster Fusiliers had been there and many of his soldiers lie there .It was hard not to shed a tear at these moments.

We stopped at the Memorial at Thiepval where 72,000 names are on the wall , their remains never having been found.However on the Thursday there was a touch of levity as costumes were encouraged.We four from the Pipemakers were dressed up as the Four Musqueteers.There were Crusaders, Dorothy and the Scarecrow from the Wizard of Oz,Jesters, and many other imaginative costumes as we cycled to Agincourt , made famous by Henry V and his Band of Brothers.It was really funny to see all these characters out on the roads of France.However it must be remembered our ancestors walked through those muddy fields for freedom as their descendants did in WW1 and WW11 and as the modern solder has done in Iraq and Afghanistan.

We now headed to Calais for our final night in France and then on the ferry to Dover .As we headed in there was a wonderful moment as we backed into the docks,all lined up, with the White Cliffs of Dover behind us singing Jerusalem.

We cycled off the boat and were back in England .As we came off we went though an avenue of Policemen clapping as we went by with all the truckers in the port hooting their horns.Everywhere we went people stopped and clapped.Next we headed to the RAF memorial in Capel Le Ferne and as the wreaths were being laid a WW11 Era Spitfire flew low over our heads performing a victory roll .Another emotional moment .Grinding up through the South Downs , that were a lot hillier than I remember ,we reached Chatham, a famous Royal Navy Shipyard.We had our End of Ride dinner there but everyone was concerned about the 6.00 am ride to the outskirts of London in the morning.

Final day the weather was perfect .A quick ride to Blackheath above London where we were then joined by hundreds of other riders from all over the country both able and disabled.Then on to London .They allocated us shirts to wear , Red for Army , Blue for Navy and light blue for the RAF.UP front the Gold shirts were reserved for the injured .It was truly sad to see how many Gold shirts there were.We peddled in to London stopping at the Cenotaph to lay a wreath , this time the Trumpeters were the Trumpeters from the Life Guards and again the Piper played the final lament and the Padre said his final words.
We could see the end in site .Round Parliament Square , up Birdcage Walk and on to the Mall where pictures were taken that were on the National News and the Papers today.From there into Horseguards to hear from people on why they had done the ride and then we were done.

The injured headed on for their continuing rehabilitation , with the Americans and Canadians heading back across the Atlantic tomorrow.

An amazing experience especially to see how the injured participate fully , just getting on with it .

The Ride raised over one million pounds with another million donated from the UK after the loss of the Soldier in an Help for Heroes T shirt.But as the Padre reminded us ,they need the funds now and in the future when Iraq and Afghanistan are but a memory.In US dollars it works out at around $3.2 million .

Thank you for your support

Julian Keevil

If you wish to donate: https://securetrading.net/authorize/form.cgi

And loads of money raised for X-boxes For Murderers. Kudos.

If you can't say anything nice don't say anything at all. It's a ride report dick.

Ben, so good to see this happen..

you know that for 4 years i have been planning/talking about a bike ride from Gibraltar to Whitehall with 12 disabled servicemen, visit all the military sites on route pay our respects. i have contacts at 1st and 3rd para and other regiments

one day it'll happen
Al