From week commencing 19th June 2012 I will be attempting to Cycle up one of the biggest climbs, Mont Ventoux in France to raise money for Doctor Ted's Children's Appeal at Rotherham Hospital.

Please help me to raise £1000 my donating generously

Mont Ventoux (1,912 metres high)

Known as The Giant of Provence, The Bald Mountain, nicknamed ‘Domaine des Anges’ (Domain of the Angels), Mont Ventoux was known to the Gauls as Vintur after an obscure local god believed to be living there. It is an old volcano.

The lower slopes of Ventoux, today, are thickly wooded with an assortment of pine trees whilst the upper slopes are bare, with white pebbles (bleached by the Summer sunshine) giving the top of the mountain almost a moon-scape appearance.

The mountain has legendary status in Tour de France cycle race history. In 1955, rider Jean Mallejac (who was a very tough munitions worker from Brest, Brittany) collapsed and almost died of exhaustion. A Belgian rider fell alongside him, but was not as badly affected.  In 1967, Tommy Simpson (from Harworth), a cycling world champion and BBC sports personality of the year, did not survive the extreme heat and lack of air on the mountain. All had been taking forbidden stimulants – to excess – to cope with the immense physical demands of professional cycle racing. Taking the climb from the village of Bedoin, you pass the memorial placed in honour of Simpson’s career and of his falling there.  In more recent Tour history, the specialist climber from Italy, Marco Pantani (who himself later met an early demise) and American champion Lance Armstrong have battled each other to exhaustion on the fearsome climb up Mont Ventoux.

Here are some well-known ‘heights’ above sea level, to compare with Mont Ventoux at 1,912 metres ..

Denver (Colorado, USA) - mile high city – 1,609 metres

Mount Everest – 8,848 metres

Mount Snowdon – 1,085 metres

Ben Nevis – 1,344 metres

Holme Moss (above Holmfirth) – 524 metres

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