Ladies and Gentlemen, I have been out on the bike again a lot recently and I think it was clear I was building towards something. On Sat 17th September James Anderson and I will be climbing the Col Du Tourmalet twice in one day from the east and the west sides to raise awareness of Neuroendocrine Cancer (NET) on behalf of Johnnie's Journey. My good friend Johnnie Meechan whom many of you will already know, had an amputation early in life after an initial battle with cancer. 7 years ago after feeling ill and reassessment it was discovered he had a neuroendocrine tumour and was given a timescale of life expectancy. With this horrendous news he decided to raise awareness of his not rare but little known condition by selflessly fundraising through several channels and helping others in return for promotion of his journey. As recently as Xmas 2020 and 2021 and during the pandemic two sizable 4 figure sums were raised to help food banks and cancer patients and charities all over East Lothian. We also had Ross Clyde do a 12 hour gym session earlier this year and several prize giveaways. All monies raised will again be donated to charities of Johnnie's choosing across Edinburgh and the Lothians.

Johnnie has had a tough year with some personal illness, his amazing mum Carol passed away after losing her own brave cancer battle on July 12th and now his lovely wife Evelyn is also currently undergoing some hospital treatment too so Johnnie is having a very difficult, busy time at present but battling on in his usual brave ways.

This year we lost a friend of the journey Amanda Verrecchia to cancer and have seen Byron Clyde, the young nephew of our team member Ross Clyde have a battle of his own with this awful disease all before the age of ten, thankfully with recent gruelling treatment he seems to be going well at present. Our thoughts are with both families.

So to Tourmalet. It is one of the most used mountain passes in the Tour de France and was first used in 1910. It has been used 87 times to date. It is the second highest mountain pass in the Pyranees. It stands at 2115 metres so we will climb 4230 metres all in for the day and a distance of around 113km. we leave Argeles Gazost where our accommodation is and cycle to the start at Luz Saint Sauveur for the climb over the summit to Sainte Marie De Campan and back again. I have attached the profiles for both climbs and a wiki link to the Col and the NET cancer info. Please donate if you can.

Many thanks for reading, Bunsen and James. x

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Col_du_Tourmalet

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/neuroendocrine-tumours/