Folding Bike Challenge - About the Event

London to Paris 9-13 September 2009

For the inaugural Folding Bike Challenge™ what better journey to embark on than the iconic London to Paris cycle ride. We have chosen a great route to suit folders and have kept the miles down with not too many muscle busting hills, and some great watering holes along the way. A more relaxed style with a few unscheduled café stops may be the tempo for many.

Our challenge begins early on Wednesday morning at the London Eye, where en masse we pedal to Waterloo, fold up our bikes and take a short train ride to the official start line at Hampton Court. Then it is off through the Surrey countyside and on towards Portsmouth with an over-night sleeper ferry to Caen. For the next two days we cycle through wonderful Normandy countyside with hotel stops in L'Aigle and Chartres, before our final leg takes us into Paris from the south west through Versailles. Here we will celebrate in style and on Sunday there will be the chance to enjoy a bit of sightseeing before catching the Eurostar home.

The cycling will be fairly tough – if it wasn't we couldn't really call it a challenge, but there will be plenty of support close to hand. Teams and groups are more than welcome on the challenge and for any would-be folders keen to sign up, we can organise bike rental, or point you in the direction of some great deals for outright purchase. You may even become a convert to these versatile machines!

Make 2009 a year to remember and do something really special. Come and join us on the first ever Folding Bike Challenge™.

»CLICK HERE to download a brochure for London to Paris 2009.

For 2010 the Folding Bike Challenge™ will start with a Cambridge to London day event for, hopefully, a few hundred riders, and a new European event in September. Full details to be posted soon!