So what is a Col?

A Col is a pass over a mountain and as such they are usually quite high.

With my mate, Jim (the Salty Pigeon), I am hoping to cycle 19 of these passes to travel from our home near Geneva all the way to Nice. Some 800km away.

We set off on Saturday 6th July and hope to be in Nice for Friday 12th.

So that is 19 of the most famous Cols in Europe, over 20,000m of climbing, over 800km and all in just 7 days.

That is no mean feat for an overweight 41 year old, with sore knees and a sorer arse, who has not trained anywhere near enough and has never before cycled big days in concession.

If you would like to follow my journey then I will be recording the trip on my blog page http://19cols.blogspot.fr/