News — Chamonix

It seemed like a good idea at the time! My younger (much fitter and significantly less chubbier) brother and relatively new to the cycling thing started smashing ultra-endurance events, and 2 years ago successfully finished the 330 km (205 mile) 8,700 m (30,000 ft) Tour du Mont Blanc Cyclo. Since he completed this wee jaunt I have, whilst drinking his wine, politely nodded enthusiastically whilst listening to lengthy narrations of the day. Until this year, the 7th iteration of the event only 1300 people had made it to the finish line with an attrition rate of more than a third,...

Col de la Forclaz (1,527 m), Col des Montets (1,461 m) Last night potentially the worst mechanical of the adventure struck Phil's machine... Snapped rear gear cable. For those uneducated in the dark arts of derailleur setup, when a rear shifter cable goes, the chain is put straight into the smallest cog, which obviously, is not great if you're planning on doing 3000m of climbing that day. Phil turned to the most generous, dexterous, mechanically minded, methodical, strongest, handsome and humble member of the group and pleaded for help. I was only too happy to oblige.Rising early, I sorted Phil's bike. The...

I’m having a bit of a moment. At 4.45am in a dark, chilly car park in Les Saisies, high in the French Alps, I’m getting ready to descend to Megeve with 500 odd other riders and I have a broken zip on my jacket. Any hopes at remaining “tranquilo” before I begin the world’s toughest one day bike race look to be scuppered as I struggle with the stubborn little piece of metal and unfairly growl at my girlfriend. A couple of deep breaths, some brute force applied to the zip and I recover my senses and make my way...