June 2011: The London-Paris, What an Event!
What were you up to last weekend? We sent a team of six therapists to work at our favourite partner event: The London-Paris (L2P). It’s the second year TheTriTouch manages Sports Massage for The L2P: this event keeps getting better and better for us. There were sweat, tears, many overwhelming laughs and wonderful memories.
Watch the 28min Eurosport Programme Here!!
It started on Thursday 23 June with 365 riders. Three days, rolling roads closures, Mavic support crew, tons of Sportique creams 291 massages and 520K later, the riders arrived at the Eiffel Tower, on closed roads, Tour de France style.
HotChillee manages to pull this off with a herculean effort on the logistic side: the entire event crew is worth its weight in gold.
This year’s L2P was extra special for us as our Charity of the Year, UK Youth, had a team of riders including its Chief Executive Charlotte Hill who we sponsored on her way to Paris (from complete novice to seasoned cyclist). Well done Charlotte!
The event required our best time management skills so that we could attend to as many riders as possible. We had 15 hours sleep in 3 nights, massaging from 7am until past midnight (when riders should really have been asleep!). We did our very best to look after everyone and knead, soothe, ice, bandage, stretch, tape, advise and share the riders’ ups and downs.
Below is our team’s feedback, if you rode the event and have any comments, please email us:
Aurelie Almeida: “I’m very lucky to work with such skilled sports massage therapists. Despite the sleep depravation and amount of driving, we absolutely loved every minute of it. It’s hugely rewarding to have the skills to help someone who is sore and in pain from the exhaustion and effort of riding. Well done to everyone who rode to Paris. I hope to see many of you next year, the planning as already started.”
Elena Ward: “Being part of an event like The L2P puts us at the heart of what we are aiming for as therapists… our clients achieving their goals. It’s really incredible to see it happen in front of your eyes and so rewarding. Can’t wait until next year!”
Mike Peters: “Back for another year, excited to know its going to be hard work but the emotion you feel, when they set off everyday and arrive in Paris is awesome. Massaging people from all walks of life and all with their own challenge is one to be proud of.”
Sam Wattie: “It was a pleasure to work at The L2P. Hard work but great to be a part of such a well run event. From a massage point of view it’s nice to help people get to Paris just to see their faces at the end.”
Dan Scott: “Thank you to everyone for welcoming me to my first L2P as I just joined TheTriTouch team. I enjoyed every minute of it and even though it was long hours and hard work I loved every minute of it. I was glad to fit in some treatments with the crew as well, as they deserved it after their fantastic performance each day.”
Tierney Maude: “The L2P is everything and more that you can hope for from an organised cycle event – an incredible spectacle, impeccably organised, with a great atmosphere. Bringing together some fantastic individuals, The L2P was an unforgettable experience for all involved.”
You can view all our photos from the event online on our facebook page, as well as the videos for day 1, day 2 and day 3. If that wasn’t enough The L2P will also be broadcasted on Eurosport on Saturday 2nd July at 9.15pm after the Tour de France highlights, and again on Friday 8th July at 9pm. Don’t miss it, you can even spot us in the footage.
The next HotChillee event we will attend is The Alpine Challenge 2011.
From left to right and top to bottom: Dan Scott, Sam Wattie. Mike Peters, Elena Ward, Aurelie Almeida, Tierney Maude
