They say 3 is the magic number…

This August will be my third time cycling 550km back home to the UK from Gamescom in Cologne, a route which has always been a test of this amateur rider's physical and mental strength - tho that might have just been meeting strange football mascots and attending random beer festivals along the way!

Anyone who has seen my efforts as a long-distance road cyclist will tell you hills are my absolute nemesis. However, despite utterly hating and being rubbish at cycling up anything steeper than a Mothercare playground slide, in the hope of raising more money than ever for GamesAid, I am also going to be one of 9000 riders heading to Italy this July to take part in the Maratona dles Dolomites where (with much cursing and sweating no doubt) I will attempt the four passes of The Sellaronda course:

• Passes:
  • Campolongo Pass: 5.8 km, Gradient: 6.1%
  • Pordoi Pass: 9.2 km, Gradient: 6.9%
  • Sella Pass: 5.5 km, Gradient: 7.9%
  • Gardena Pass: 5.8 km, Gradient: 4.3%
• Total distance: 55 km (34 mi)
• Total altitude difference: 1,780 m (5,840 ft)

Adding extra climbing to my summer of cycling seemed like such a good idea at the time… but this challenge is nothing compared to what faces hundreds of young people in the UK who need support from GamesAid, and is why every penny you give is worth the pain of every steep kilometre.

Thanks for reading and sharing my story. Please visit www.gamesaid.org to see how your money will truly save lives, whilst I find some cream to save my butt :D