On the Road to Recovery team hits Mount Ventoux

Day 1 – Bedoin to Sisteron (via Mont Ventoux)
Distance: 148.72km
Estimated time: 6 hours 34 minutes
Ascent: 2495 meters
Descent: 2494 meters

THE Rd2Recovery team started Sunday at 6am with an early breakfast feast.

Croissants, boiled eggs, salami, cheese, french sticks, muesli, yogurt, coffee – the lot. And that was just for Rob Pailin. After the carbs were loaded ahead of the day’s challenge, pedals were clipped on and the team was ready to begin their epic mission.

As 8.40am approached, the heavens opened over La Garance hotel at the foot of Mont Ventoux and in true Manchester style, the South of France was drenched.

Despite such unfortunate conditions the team hit the road. It wasn’t the easiest way to start the day, with a 21km hill climb ahead, an average gradient of around 9%. As water ran beneath their wheels, the heated Sports Tours bus -carrying the support team – caught up with the team to ensure everything was going to plan.

First up was Jason Scales (National Cycling Centre),  followed by Peter Oakes (Hill Dickinson), Rob Cotton (NCC Group), Lee–J Walker (TheBusinessDesk.com), James Bilham (Hill Dickinson), Rob Pailin (RBS), newcomer James Moores, Marcello Distefano (San Carlo) and Mike Perls of MC2.

As the team approached the peak of Mont Ventoux, about 1km from the top, we passed Tommy Simpson’s memorial – the legendary British cyclist who died in the 1967 Tour de France.

At the summit, the Rd2Recovery team was elated. Spirits were high, the carbs had kicked in and it was as if all that training had paid off.

Rob Cotton said: “Reaching the top of Mont Ventoux was something that I didn’t expect to do. Did it feel good? No, it felt fantastic. That was definitely the toughest part of the day. Now we’ve got that out of the way I feel 100% better. I’d like to thank everybody so much who has donated so far. You have no idea what we’ve been through. We were physically shaking, soaking wet and riding down a mountain, so please donate some more – thank you.”

Marcello Distefano said: “By the time we got to the top of Ventoux and that sweat started to get cold, I just wanted to get off the mountain. But in terms of accomplishing it, it feels great because that was the main thing playing on people’s minds.

“The descent of Ventoux was cold, wet and miserable, but as soon as we hit the warmer climate it was fantastic and I loved the climb back up again towards Vaison La Romaine.”

Jason Scales added: “My highlight was definitely getting to the top of Mont Ventoux. It was misty and absolutely battering it down with torrential rain, but it was definitely a phenomenal climb. At the start it was very difficult and we only managed to get up to 7-8 miles per hour, but the last few kilometres of the day myself, Rob (Cotton) and Pete (Oakes) were pushing very hard.”

Rob Pailin: “It wasn’t quite what I was expecting really, and I didn’t think that in Southern France we were going to be drowned like rats climbing up Ventoux. I tried to stay with Perlsy and Cello (Marcello), but they were that slow I had to leave them behind. The toughest part was definitely the descent because once you’re at the top of Ventoux you’re ready to go for it and you’re exhilarated. But then coming down it’s freezing cold, with rivers pouring down the road – it’s not pleasant and you’re lucky if you can see more than 50 yards in front.”

Mike Perls: “We’ve had a fantastic day but I thought there was a split in the camp and there was a lot of macho behaviour. Obviously Mr Cotton was involved along with Jason and Pete, so it was left to me and Marcello to actually hang around and pick up the people who were struggling during the day. On a more serious note, today was hard and I’m nervous about tomorrow. But having done Ventoux, you kind of think you can do anything if you can do Ventoux.”

 
To donate to the On The Road challenge which is aiming to raise £1m for The Christie Hospital in Manchester, please visit http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-web/fundraiser/showFundraiserProfilePage.action?userUrl=OnTheRoad&isTeam=true

To follow the team on Twitter see: @Rd2Recovery