<p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>La Route des Grandes Alpes</strong></p> <p>Why I can't sign up for some gentle plodding around Holland I don't know, but in late June I'll be riding a 565km four-day epic tour from Chamonix to Nice following La Route des Grandes Alpes. What that means is that I'll be dragging myself up eight classic (i.e. huge) cols and a host of not-classic-but-daunting-nonetheless hills, racking up 11,000m of vertical ascent along the way.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>The Lily Foundation</strong></p> <p>Once again I am raising money to help <a title="The Lily Foundation" href="http://www.thelilyfoundation.org.uk/" target="_self">The Lily Foundation</a>&nbsp;reach its aim to find a cure for Mitochondrial Disease. To reach this goal the Lily Foundation has a three-point mission: to fund research and testing, to train medical staff and to support families with sick children. To date the Lily Foundation has handed over more than &pound;170,000 and it aims to donate a total of &pound;400,000 to fund the Gene Research Unit at Guy's and Saint Tomas' Hospital.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>Mitochondrial Disease isn't something you catch, it's something you're born with. It i is often deadly and many of its victims are children and babies, just like Lily Merritt. There is no cure. Yet.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>We began to support The Lily Foundation because we know Lily's family. These days Abby is a director of the charity and M&amp;M are fund raisers, so we're more involved than ever. Let me assure you that you can be 100% confident that this is a very worthy cause run by highly committed people who are making a difference. Money you donate will be well spent and will make somebody's life better.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>Drop me a line if you want to know more, or have a look at&nbsp;The Lily Foundation's web site where you can <a title="The Lily Foundation" href="http://www.thelilyfoundation.org.uk/where-your-money-has-gone/" target="_self">see what this terrific charity has achieved so far</a>.</p>