Completed successfully in 99h:35m, 25 minutes inside the 100 hour deadline!
Total raised: £2,185.00
Thank you!
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Formally established in 1952 and now in its 60th season the Pyrenean Raid has become one of the landmark challenges for the amateur cyclist. Approximately 300 people a year sign up for the challenge throughout the season. The objective: to cover 720km between the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, climbing 11,000m over 18 Pyrenean mountains in 100 hours elapsed.
Or to approximate London to Edinburgh or San Jose to San Diego, while climbing over Everest and Ben Nevis, in 4 and a bit days.
In 2012 I entered this challenge with the intention of raising money for the Prostate Cancer Charity. The challenge started on Tuesday June 12 @ 09:00 and had be completed by Saturday 16th @ 13:00 in order to meet the 100 hour time cut off. Realistically this was a challenge close to the limits of my ability on a bike, and took some effort. If I succeeded I get a little badge, succeed or not I will have raised money for a very worthy cause.
Please accept my apologies if my blind appeals for support for this cause strike a particularly personal note with you.
Prostate cancer has recently become the poster child for male cancers in the same way that Breast cancer has for women. In Britain this disease is the most common form of cancer diagnosed in men with 250,000 affected, resulting in 10,000 deaths a year.
The charity fights Prostate cancer on every front through research, support, information and campaigning. While their counselling and support services are only available in the UK the results of their research activities are published for use by the scientific community worldwide. Perhaps in a lab near you.....
The purpose of this site is to provide a common source of information for this event regardless of how you got to hear about it. I hope to ruthlessly exploit my network of family, friends, colleagues and business partners, past and present, anyone in fact, in an attempt to make this event as successful as possible. However you got here, please, seriously consider making a donation as you leave. Thank you.
On this site you will find details of the route, how to sponsor me, how to track my progress and a little history of the event. I will attempt to post progress information on the Blog page but please forgive me if that is rather erratic or I have to catch up once I get home.
Ride Summary
Route Map (click on title bar for full size navigable map):
Route Profile (click for full size image):
Summary of each day's ride:
Day 1: Hendaye to Lurbe St Christau (160km with 2200m of ascent).
Day 2: Lurbe St Christau to Aste (140km with 3530m ascent)
Day 3: Aste to Massat (170km with 3110m ascent)
Day 4: Massat to Prades (145km with 3400m ascent)
Day 5: Prades to Cerbere (98km with 620m ascent)
Ride video
I will endeavour to create a short video recapping the trip if I have sufficient material on my return. In the meantime, Mike Faibisch who rode the Pyrenean Raid in 2011 has posted this video on YouTube which provides a taste of the event.
I didn't have enough material to make a video of my own as I was too busy riding my bike. However, there are other videos and links to pictures to be found on the Photo page.
Thank you for your interest, support and, most importantly, donations.
I trust this finds you well,
Nick