This ride was one for the books. The rain and stormy mountain passes on many days of my ride made me detour several times but did not affect my mood and motivation. In the end, I crosses the (imaginary) finish line with the biggest smile and proud. Knowing that this was not only a personal journey around my 40th birthday, but a ride to raise money for two charities kept me motivated even in darker moments while riding hungry in the rain or being passed too closely by truck drivers.

I would like to thank everyone who contributed to this project and donated to one or both of the charities I had selected for this fundraising ride. Thank you so much! You are the best!

Here are my total stats for this ride: 1,189 km, 10,694 m, € 1,326.

Thank you!

After crossing the border from Italy to France at the end of stage #7, I followed with a relatively short but beautiful final stage #8 into the French Alps, over Col du Lautaret and Col du Galibier. While I had Alpe dHuez in my mind as final destination, it turned out that my family stayed in Valloire, on the other side of Le Galibier. Since I already had to change my route twice due to bad weather, I was happy to change it again in favor of a famous mountain pass. After all, Alpe d’Huez, being a relatively low ski resort, seems overrated as cycling goal anyway, at least compared to le Col du Galibier.

In Valloire, I enjoyed an American Pale Ale called Galibier from the local mountain brewery to celebrate the finish of my fundraising ride.

I will write about this in another post, but wanted to thank you all for your support and contributions which means a lot, not only for me but for the people who will benefit from it. Thank you!