Andrew Burton’s ride across France from the Channel (Caen) to the Med (Nice).
Congratulations Andrew on your achievement. 14 days of consecutive cycling – the longest number of consecutive days he has ever been in the saddle – covering 1,400 kilometres and, once again, Andrew intended to do this on the same bamboo bike used at John O’Groats.
The route took in the Massif Central, the gorges of the Verdun and the Ardeche and the iconic Mont Ventoux, scene of many an exciting stage in the Tour de France.
Whilst Andrew regards this as a holiday, he is also wishing to raise money, again split 50/50, between The Princess Alice Hospice, who provide palliative care often to late-stage cancer sufferers and The John King Brain Tumour Foundation (“JKBTF”), who work to improve outcomes for patients with brain diseases and disorders.
JKBTF was the chosen charity of our dear friend Richard Sullivan who sadly died in March this year from his aggressive brain tumour. As he rides, he will also be thinking of Lee Adamson, a fellow singer who died from a brain tumour in 2021, another good friend diagnosed only a few months ago with a similar condition and his son, James who, thanks to a wonderful team at Addenbrooks’ NHS Hospital, survived a brain tumour when he was only seven years old.
Andrew’s fundraising target this year is £1,533, as this gets him to reach a grand total of £50,000 (before gift aid) across all the rides and runs he has done for charity over the years since his son’s tumour. It also works out at roughly £1/kilometer so will keep him motivated to keep those pedals turning! Any help you can give towards his target would be greatly appreciated.
Here are Andrew’s trip highlights:
High Point: the gorge of Verdon in glorious sunshine on day-13.
Low Point: toss-up between the lunch-stops on day-9 and day-10, both on the Massif, where we arrived sodden and frozen in torrential rain, to change into dry clothes only to head out and get soaked all over again after eating.
Hardest Climb: probably on day-13, a 7 mile climb out from our overnight hotel, averaging 8% (we never got to climb Ventoux on day-11 because of a thunderstorm closing the mountain!)
Best Food: probably the meat feast luncheon later on day-13 of chicken, pork belly, wild boar sausages with chips and salad.
Biggest Surprise: sharing the trip with a 2-year retired major general of the British army (amazing stories….)
Worst conditions: without doubt the downpour on day-4 and in particular the 15-mile section to the hotel after lunch when I hardly could steer the bike for shaking with cold.
Greatest Gift: a tube of deep heat from a fellow rider for cramp in my neck.
Best Drink: sharing a bottle of expensive, but beautiful, Bordeaux in the hotel at Castellone after dinner on day-13 when we only had day-14 and the descent into Nice still to go.
“I’ve had some excellent support and donations. As I write, we have £2,038 on the clock, well over the £1,533 target which is wonderful as I have crossed my £50,000 fund-raising landmark. The site is still taking donations for another couple of weeks if you have contacts who would still like to help support both The Princess Alice Hospice and The John King Brain Tumour Foundation”.
For all donations, please visit here.