collecting more cash for the charities at
airports as a consequence. Cards were
printed with the weblinks for the charities
so that we could hand those out, thanks
to Sussex Print Management.
As chaps largely of mature years we did
have some contacts that we could call on
and we used those as far as we could.
If we did not have relevant contacts we
blagged. One consequence of that was
that we were sent a set of 12 helmets
from Hardnutz to complete the team kit.
In addition Zipvit not only gave us a huge
discount on protein and gel products but
also sent us small useful bits of kit like
waterproof plastic wallets.
Most encouraging though was the extent
to which family, friends and colleagues
got behind us and not only sponsored us
but also offered encouragement. Yes, it
is true that most people probably felt that
we were mad and many told us so, but
I think they could also see that we were
committed to doing everything that we
could to achieve the goal and that the
charities would benefit.
Much of this was fun and we had a huge
amount of anticipation for the trip both as
individuals, but especially whenever any
of us got together as a group. However,
that still left the small matter of the
challenge itself, which meant training.
There is nowhere in Sussex that you
can replicate the extent of the climb
we were facing. There are simply no
hills long enough. The gradient can be
matched, and in some places exceeded,
but only for short distances. One of the
34
challenges for Ventoux is the extent of
the gradient, the incline is not physically
impossible by any means, but it just
keeps going and going and going – that
is why in the Tour de France it is classed
as “HC”, i.e. “beyond category”
The nearest we could get to was at
the start of September when we rode
Sompting Hill for 10 repetitions having
got to it over the steeper Bostel Road
from Steyning. But even that effectively
builds in recovery on the downhills that
we were not going to get in Provence.
Personally I also faced the challenge of
not being a “real cyclist”. I had followed
the Tours for years as a fan, done
countless hours of spin sessions for
general fitness and even used my bike in
sprint tri races. But I had agreed to what
I saw as a physical challenge because of
the combination of timing of my birthday,
doing some fundraising personally and
wanting a target to make sure I kept
working on my fitness. Some of these
other guys though actually knew what
they were doing!
With that in mind I had to work on my
general fitness levels, learn how to ride
my bike properly (especially for the
downhill) and learn how to take it apart
and put it together. One thing we had
not blagged was a team mechanic in a
back-up car – though we did manage
a back-up car thanks to my colleague
Fiona Dodd’s father Malcolm who
had thoughtfully retired to the area
in Provence a few years before our
expedition.
So some of the preparation was fun
planning the logistics, and receiving
encouragement along the way, but some
of it was pure slog that simply had to be
done.
As departure date approached I
remember being asked several times
if I was ready. “Was I as fit as I could
possibly be”, I replied, “probably not. But
I was as fit and ready as was possible
taking into account that I still had a
family to see and a job to do”.
The families duly despatched us to
Gatwick Airport at an unholy hour on 14th
September and we were underway. With
our bikes disassembled and placed in
hired boxes, and us in our team hoodies
we set off on our adventure.
We had started out as Legs Eleven,
but had acquired a 12th rider once the
charity sites were set up and named. But
the perversity of being called “11” when
there were 12 of us appealed so we
stuck with it.
Easyjet got us to Marseilles, in more
comfort than I had expected, and from
there we traversed via an airport shuttle
to the train to Avignon. You probably
don’t want to share an airport shuttle
with 12 guys plus cases and bike boxes,
I would not recommend it – but hopefully
we did not put diplomatic relations too
far back. We tried to be as friendly as
possible all through the trip, and smiling
does still seem to be an international
language.