Story
Hello All –
Just a very quick line to all who supported me on my recent Cent Cols challenge – A HUGE THANK YOU!!!
JOB DONE & by the time the offline donations and gift-aid is counted-in, we reached well-over £2000. This will make a significant difference in supporting the THINK AORTA campaign and the Aortic Dissection Awareness work of the charity. It will help save lives – thank you.
For me, this event was a huge hurdle. And I seem to have reached the other side intact. Massive relief. 😊
• 9 years since the first failed attempt at a Cent Cols.
• 3rd attempts at completing 100 cols in 10 days (2016 – crashed out / 2019 – only managed 70 cols)
• 2 years in the detailed planning for this.
• 4 years of cardio-vascular rehab training (1,755 hours on the bike, 26,470 training miles)
Not surprisingly, safety was the main focus here. So Eddy, the e-Zimmer (aka Spesh Creo e-road bike) was pressed hard into action.
That helped to keep the heart rate and blood pressure within safe limits (for us aortic dissection survivors this aspect is essential, period!)
Scores on the doors for the 10 day event – in brief – 100 mountain passes / 950 miles / 111,000 feet of vertical climb / 68 hours on the bike, and all at a mean average heart rate of 98.6. YAY! I think the cardio-vascular team at St. Georges will be happy enough with that.
As some of the photographs may attest – the event itself was stunning & very challenging. The final day, day 10, was definitely a big day – I have included some images of that, just for a flavour.
Variously baked at 35-40 degrees on the mountain ascents and in the hot valleys, then at times, drenched & frozen on the 2000m mountains. For the remainder – the landscapes and the weather was simply glorious.
The event was superbly organised, and the other 10 riders (all on manual bikes – and very, very fit) – were incredibly patient and supportive, with the annoying e-bike buzzing around them!
In the words of my AD groups : Today IS a Good Day, and lots of Adapting, Not Quitting 😊👍🚵
AGAIN – THANK YOU ALL, SO MUCH.
Best Regards - Howard
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BACKGROUND & THE EVENT
This August 24th, I’ll be taking on my biggest challenge since surviving a life-threatening medical emergency — a 10-day cycling odyssey through the Pyrenees, climbing 100 mountain passes (the infamous Cent Cols) across France and Spain.
Each day will mean:
• 95 miles in the saddle
• 12,000 feet of climbing
• Around 8 hours of effort
It’s big. It’s brutal. And it’s deeply personal.
I’m aiming to raise £5,000 for THINK AORTA — a campaign that has become hugely important to me, and that one day could make the difference for someone you know.
WHY THIS CHALLENGE MATTERS ...
In October 2021, during what should have been a routine cardiac ablation, something went very badly wrong. I suffered a massive and unexpected Aortic Dissection — the inner lining of my aorta tore along most of its length, with additional cardiac damage. It was a terrifying, life-threatening event that is often fatal.
LUCKY ...
I was one of the lucky ones — thanks to the brilliant vascular team at St George’s Hospital in London, who diagnosed the dissection and saved my life with emergency surgery and a large TEVAR stent.
It took three days for me to be diagnosed. And that’s part of the problem.
Aortic Dissection (AD) is frequently missed or misdiagnosed — even though, in the UK, it kills more people each year than road traffic accidents. When it strikes, it does so suddenly, often with no warning. Surviving the initial event is only the beginning. What follows is a complete overhaul of life as you knew it. There is never a full recovery — just adapting to a new normal, which can be physically and emotionally overwhelming.
FOUR YEARS ...
For me, it has taken nearly four years of hard work to rebuild strength:
• Cardiovascular rehab
• Fitness training
• Weight loss
• Monitoring my heart rate and blood pressure every day — because my life depends on it.
I now ride an e-bike, which allows me to train and take on challenges safely while working within my new limits.
The St. George's vascular team, did indeed manage to "Put Me Back On, My Bike" (in Tom Simpson parlance). My Aortic Athletes group has a moto: Don't Quit. Adapt. And that's what we have to do.
“SEMI-CRAZY” ADVENTURES - A brief history ...
Before the Aortic Dissection, I had a habit of taking on big endurance tests, including:
• 6 London Marathons
• Jordan Desert Cup – 100km footrace from Petra to Wadi Rum
• Running the Cyprus “Green Line” for charity – 4 days, East to West.
• Borneo Mountain Marathon (to 14,000 feet) – twice
• 350 skydives
• Charity version of the Tour de France (2014 – 21 days riding)
• 12 years in the Army, including time in U.K. special forces
• Sailing the Atlantic
• Chase-the-Sun UK coast-to-coast cycle – 200 miles in a day (twice!)
In 2019, pre-AD, I even took on the Cent Cols Dolomites — on a manual bike — which at the time I thought might be my toughest-ever test.
BUILDING BACK - Post-AD training
Coming back from a major cardiac and vascular event has meant training smarter, not just harder:
• 2022: 450 hours / 10,400 km on the bike
• 2023: 470 hours / 12,000 km
• 2024: 570 hours / 14,160 km
• 2025: 276 hours / 6,500 km so far (target 15,000 km)
Earlier this year, I also ticked off another post-AD goal: “Everesting” Mont Ventoux — 6 ascents, 9,400m (30,800 feet) of climbing, 14 hours in the saddle, with an average heart rate of just 101 bpm. A tough day… and one I’m not looking to repeat any time soon!
WHY ... take on the Cent Cols now?
Because challenges move us forward. And because every time someone asks why, I get to tell them about THINK AORTA — a campaign dedicated to improving awareness, diagnosis, and emergency care for Aortic Dissection. Their work saves lives. Alongside them, Aortic Dissection Awareness UK & Ireland supports survivors and families through the long and complicated recovery journey.
I’m funding all my own costs for the trip — every penny you donate goes directly to the charity.
THANK YOU ...
Thank you for reading, for supporting, and for helping raise awareness of a condition that too often goes unnoticed until it’s too late. Your support means the world — to me, to this cause, and to those still fighting their way back.
Howard, Surrey, UK, August 2025.
More details about the Cent Cols event and each day's route can be found on my cycling blog : https://putmebackon.blog/
ABOUT THINK AORTA ...
https://www.thinkaorta.net/family
ABOUT AD AWARENESS UK ...
https://aorticdissectionawareness.org/
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