Carry On Up The Alpe! A blog about an attempt to cycle up and down Alpe d'Huez 10 times in 24 hours...hope to do it either Tuesday 18th or Wednesday 19th July 2018!
This entry is cobbled togeth- sorry, lovingly crafted in the aftermath of Croatia knocking England out of the World Cup. Any remorse that I may possibly be experiencing is in no way connected to the fact that I drew England as my team in my 'work' sweepstake. D'oh!
Keef & Patti as pictured before the match: glad the FA went with Southgate though!
That aside, I really thought England could beat Croatia and the players, management and staff all can look themselves in the mirror and know that they tried their best. Hell, they surpassed everyone's expectations by even reaching the last four! The future's bright, as long as they keep Southgate...
Nah, wouldn't wish that on the bloke!
On a purely selfish note, I was kinda looking forward to watching the final against France, in a bar in darkest Provence, enjoying magnificently indifferent levels of Gallic customer service, hah-hah! That aside, England may have done me a good turn inadvertently as my bike *might* have attracted a little unwanted attention from the locals if France had faltered.
Sacre bleu, zut alors, Les Rosbifs etc.!
As it is, on Saturday we'll be legging-it from Reims to Malaucene in time to see the utterly meaningless Third Place Play-Off between England and Belgium. Would be nice to see them sign-off with a win, right?
The 'plan' for Andy and myself is to warm-up for The Alpe by spending Sunday revisiting Mont Ventoux. He thought it would be a bright idea to go for The Cingles, which is the name for cycling up from all three sides in a day. The old boy must be losing it a bit because he appears to have forgotten that we've done La Bicinglette already, hah-hah! We'll just humour him, eh?
Hello my old friend, it's not all that good to talk with you again...
Dunno what the collective for a lot of different sporting events is- a shedload, perhaps- but there is a fair bit happening elsewhere: Wimbledon, ODI Cricket, Open Golf and the Tour de France of course. The spin-off for us is that any roads that Le Tour use are invariably smoothed over with fresh tarmac: it's almost worth going there just to find out what it's like not to cycle through potholes every 20 yards...
Warning the appreciate.
Okay, so that's the lead-up to the challenge taken care of. The dirty deed will be attempted either next Tuesday (start midnight Monday) or the day after, with Le Tour speeding-up it on Thursday. The good news is that the fundraising is going well with 50% of the target of £2100 met. This is a massive boost for this terrified individual, so a massive thank you on behalf the Fantastic Five causes!
Good on you!
Okay then, time to finish packing/slinging a bunch of tat in the back of the motor...I'll bother you with more of the usual during the weekend. There- that's cheered y'all right up, hah-hah-hah!
And that greeting really does expose my limits at Franglais, hah-hah! Anyway, another year and another daft cycling challenge with the aim of raising some funds for some good no, great causes...the Fantastic Five!
You might remember that on the last day of 2017's ride from Seattle to San Diego, my mate Geoff told me that he had been diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia. That was September. Well, as of January this year he has been in remission...wow! Let nobody tell you that funding research is a waste: Geoff's treatment was no cake-walk by any stretch, but the advances made over even five years ago meant a faster, more accurate and less unpleasant course of treatment. Worth my money, defo!
Blesma is the only national Armed Forces Charity that supports limbless veterans for the duration of their lives. They help all serving and ex-Service men and women who have lost limbs or eyes, to rebuild their lives by providing rehabilitation activities and welfare support. Gets my vote. Yours too?
The Multiple Sclerosis Society is a community of people living with MS and also researchers, fundraisers, campaigners and volunteers. They make a real difference but need resources!
The Royal National Lifeboat Institution is amazing, full stop! Staffed by the bravest volunteers 24 hours a day, whether it's onshore, offshore, beaches or even flood rescue. Let's support them...
The Motor Neurone Disease Association improve care and support for people with MND, their families and carers. They also fund and promote research that leads to new understanding and treatments, and brings us closer to a cure for MND. Let's send them a little help!
So why am I bothering you with all this? Well, it would be terrific to raise funds for those five Good Causes: if you can donate a little, then all of your money will be split between these five charities like this:
Bloodwise (32%), Blesma (17%), Motor Neurone Disease Association (17%), Royal National Lifeboat Institution (17%) and Multiple Sclerosis Society (17%).
Okay- so you've met the charities, now what is the challenge? Put bluntly, it's to get on the bike and climb almost 35,000 feet in 24 hours. Mount Everest tops out at a smidge over 29,000 feet, so you know that this a very tall order/big ask/mission (almost) impossible!
The hairpins countdown from 21. Or in our case, 210!
You can have too much fun, y'know!
In 2014 we (me and Andy W.) cycled up Mont Ventoux six times in 24 hours, which was a fairly big day out, so I had the bright idea of trying something similar on Le Tour's most famous mountain, the 21 hairpins of Alpe d'Huez.
Tucked away in the far corner. Handy, that.
After extensive research (well, Google) the greatest number of ascents we (in a moment of weakness Andy W. has signed-up for this jaunt) could find completed in a day was eight: you can bet people have done more, so we rounded-up the challenge to try to complete ten ascents in 24 hours!
Goes on a bit, doesn't it? Bit like me, hah-hah!
The stats not only look awful, they are awful, hah-hah! Almost 35,000 feet of climbing in 75 miles with the average gradient being 8.6%. Pretty much the same distance from Blackpool to Carlisle, as the crow wheezes. Just to compare it with the previous stupidity, this the equivalent of seven Ventouxs! Er, any idea what 'awful' is in French? There is one positive- at least it'll be difficult to get lost, hah-hah!
75 miles of climbing, almost 35,000 feet going up. Non bon!
I hope that you agree that the Fantastic Five are all worth supporting? I'll donate £50 for every climb that I complete. To be brutally honest, this challenge is a bit extreme and it's very far from certain that I can do it. The last time we climbed it in 2015, the temperature was over 40c...as ever, we'll give it our best shot!
Please click above to help the Fantastic Five!
So that's the pitch, folks. It's a good train so let's get on it...bless you!
