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For the 4th year in a row, 3 Men & a Grown Up have donned the Lyrca, invested in pots of chamois cream, and deceided to tackle the 'Challenge Adventure Charities' adventure, through France, to the Vosges Mountains, as part of the Alsace Challenge 2017.

This year, we are not only raising money for Cancer Research UK & the British Heart Foundation, but also Crohns & Colitis UK.

Day 1 – Thursday 28^th September

We will ride 190 miles from Arras to Epernay, and soon will be amongst cemeteries and battlefields of the First World War, 100 years ago. A moment of reflection on the horrors they endured will help us appreciate the need to avoid repetition.We pass Thiepval Memorial, engraved with the names of 73,367 British and Commonwealth soldiers who fell during the battle of the Somme between July and November 1916, who have no known grave. The Battle of Thiepval Ridge was 26^th – 28^th September 1916 which was won with the loss of 12,500 lives, with German losses believed to have been 135,000.

After riding through the Forest of Saint Gobain (where the glass and mirrors for the palace of Versailles was made by Saint-Gobain S.A, who now own British Gypsum) we ride along the Chemin des Dames before getting into the Champagne vineyards as we approach Epernay for our first night’s rest.

We will all dine together at the Auberge Champenoise with good food, wine and certainly some champagne!

Day 2 – Friday 29^th September

An early morning ride up the Avenue de Champagne, passing Moet & Chandon, Mercier, Perrier-Jouet, Demoiselle and Castellane (remember the final dinner in 2003!) before we ascend the Montagne de Reims, through Hautvillers where the Benedictine monk, Dom Perignon in the late 17^th Century evolved the ‘refermentation’ method to create champagne.

Leaving the Champagne region we head across the plains North of Chalons towards another memorial of the First World War at Verdun.

We finish Day 2 just North of Nancy and drive into the centre where we are in 2 hotels, but dining together at the Hotel Mercure. Try to stroll to the Place Stanislas, with its’ amazing golden gates.

Day 3 Saturday 30^th September

Leaving Nancy we track the Moselle river South and then head East and soon see the Vosges mountains ahead, for a few Cols! The views are stunning as we climb through ski resorts and descend into beautiful valleys.

After our final descent into the Rhine valley we pass through Hunawihr where team vehicles will stop at Sipp Mack vineyard to collect Alsace wine and glasses to take home. Then a final climb to the Chateau of Haut-Koenigsbourg and a descent again through the vineyards of Alsace.

Our final destination is a holiday village in Obernai where we will all stay and celebrate our achievements in completing the Alsace Challenge.