Nick Livesey
Nick's Tenth Fireflies Ride
Fundraising for Leukaemia UK
Story
Thank you for viewing this page. This year I have so far raised £1700 in cheques offline, and donated a footprint of Ronaldo which sold for £1000 at Harriet's beach auction on Friday.
If you are inspired by our efforts to combat this horrible disease then you could donate right here right now!
Over ten years of crossing the alps I have raised over £30,000 personally, and raised an extra £13,000 by selling my book 'Mountain / Machine' : http://www.nicklivesey.com/thebook/index.html It can still be
bought here: http://www.rapha.cc/mountainormachine-a-book-about-the-fireflies-by-nick-livesey/
To mark the tenth time we have ridden over the alps five of the original 2001 founders rode
from London to Portsmouth, took the overnight ferry to Le Havre. Then cycled Le Havre
through Normandy to Versailles SW Paris on the second day. Then four
more days through Burgundy until we reached Lake Geneva. 600 miles in
6 days through cross wind and buckets of rain. 70 more FIREFLIES
riders then arrived on the Monday to assemble bikes in Evian, before
departing over the Le Route Des Grandes Alpes on last Tuesday.
One of these riders, John, checked into the Catherine Lewis centre four years ago and had to say goodbye to his four children. He heard about the Fireflies whilst he was there. He since recovered and rode with us this year. For me this brings it all back home, why we are doing this.
Difficult days and many tears. Above Val D'Isere we were all caught in
a sudden drop in temperature and heavy snow storm on Col D'Iseran at
2770m. Pretty trecherous to say the least. Only a handful managed to
descend as the snow was sticking to the road, and my foot cleats
became frozen and blocked with ice, so i could not get my shoe
attached to the pedal. My most difficult descent, ever! About 55
riders took shelter in a tunnel and had to be scooped up by van
support. My fingers felt like they may have been damaged
by frost bite, sooooo painful.
To see part of the snow storm descent click on this link:
http://www.thefirefliestour.com/news/day-3-val-disere-to-valloire-106km/
The FIREFLIES website is live and the routes are constantly being
twittered and tweeted etc. Each day there was a video update, so have a
route around and enjoy the videos and pics. www.thefirefliestour.com
Many injuries occurred due to the severity of the ride,
mainly very sore knees because of the cold affecting the joints,
some broken fingers (still riding!), grazes and dehydration, but with a medics and two masseurs travelling
in the convoy these are perpetually resolved. The riders pay for the support themselves, and the
hotels etc. So any donations go 100% to The Catherine Lewis Centre
(where we departed from in London) at the Hammersmith Hospital.
We aimed to raise £1m the first year we rode in 2001, a little ambitious for the first year, but as of a few days ago, we broke the £1m mark, so we have achieved what we originally set out for.
Ten years riding, and it has been one hell of a journey. Thank you!
Fireflies motto: 'For those who suffer, we ride'.
If you are inspired by our efforts to combat this horrible disease then you could donate right here right now!
Over ten years of crossing the alps I have raised over £30,000 personally, and raised an extra £13,000 by selling my book 'Mountain / Machine' : http://www.nicklivesey.com/thebook/index.html It can still be
bought here: http://www.rapha.cc/mountainormachine-a-book-about-the-fireflies-by-nick-livesey/
To mark the tenth time we have ridden over the alps five of the original 2001 founders rode
from London to Portsmouth, took the overnight ferry to Le Havre. Then cycled Le Havre
through Normandy to Versailles SW Paris on the second day. Then four
more days through Burgundy until we reached Lake Geneva. 600 miles in
6 days through cross wind and buckets of rain. 70 more FIREFLIES
riders then arrived on the Monday to assemble bikes in Evian, before
departing over the Le Route Des Grandes Alpes on last Tuesday.
One of these riders, John, checked into the Catherine Lewis centre four years ago and had to say goodbye to his four children. He heard about the Fireflies whilst he was there. He since recovered and rode with us this year. For me this brings it all back home, why we are doing this.
Difficult days and many tears. Above Val D'Isere we were all caught in
a sudden drop in temperature and heavy snow storm on Col D'Iseran at
2770m. Pretty trecherous to say the least. Only a handful managed to
descend as the snow was sticking to the road, and my foot cleats
became frozen and blocked with ice, so i could not get my shoe
attached to the pedal. My most difficult descent, ever! About 55
riders took shelter in a tunnel and had to be scooped up by van
support. My fingers felt like they may have been damaged
by frost bite, sooooo painful.
To see part of the snow storm descent click on this link:
http://www.thefirefliestour.com/news/day-3-val-disere-to-valloire-106km/
The FIREFLIES website is live and the routes are constantly being
twittered and tweeted etc. Each day there was a video update, so have a
route around and enjoy the videos and pics. www.thefirefliestour.com
Many injuries occurred due to the severity of the ride,
mainly very sore knees because of the cold affecting the joints,
some broken fingers (still riding!), grazes and dehydration, but with a medics and two masseurs travelling
in the convoy these are perpetually resolved. The riders pay for the support themselves, and the
hotels etc. So any donations go 100% to The Catherine Lewis Centre
(where we departed from in London) at the Hammersmith Hospital.
We aimed to raise £1m the first year we rode in 2001, a little ambitious for the first year, but as of a few days ago, we broke the £1m mark, so we have achieved what we originally set out for.
Ten years riding, and it has been one hell of a journey. Thank you!
Fireflies motto: 'For those who suffer, we ride'.