Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

It's been a long time since I've tried to raise money for anything, so I'm hoping you'll humour me...  That picture above is of me and my mate Tim, taken in 2010.  We've just cycled up a mountain (hence I look terrible, while Tim looks great) - I wish I could remember which mountain it was - and we went on, in that same trip, to cycle up Mont Ventoux, as part of an epic cycle trip from Geneva to Avignon. Tim had got me in to cycling in 2007, when some friends and I formed 'Les Veloistes Gentils' to cycle from London to St Emillion - 'it can't be hard' I thought at the time, 'you're sitting down the whole way'...how wrong I was. Despite Tim dragging my sorry arse around the Kent lanes every Sunday morning at an un-Godly hour for 'training'...I suffered...but was hooked and still cycle today.

Unfortunately that 2010 trip was to be the last that Tim and I took together, even though we always planned to 'get back on the bike'.  Tim's life was cut tragically short in January this year when he finally succumbed to the extremely rare form of bowel cancer that he had been battling.

In honour of his memory and that of fellow Veloiste Edward 'Nuts' Rikard-Bell, who sadly passed away last year, Les Veloistes Gentils have decided to don the lycra and raise some money in their names by attempting to join the Le Club des Cingles du Ventoux. Le Club is an exclusive band of people who have cycled up the Giant of Provence three times in one day... I have done it once and it's bloomin difficult..standing at approx 2000 metres high, the last few km are like cycling across the moon; there is no shelter from either the blistering sun or the howling wind (if you're really unlucky, you'll have both at the same time)..it's going to be a challenge.  Fortunately I'll have my mates around me to keep me going...

So, the date is set for 12th July and I'm desperately trying to get fit for it...which is where you come in please...

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