Cancer fundraising, the long overdue report of #ad6

First, I know my report is looong overdue, for which my sincerest apologies.

Second, many, many thanks to our sponsors. You guys are legends and made the whole event the success it was.

Now for the event itself, many of you know this was my second time and that made it quite different from last time. Last time, everything was new and we had no idea what we were up against but this time, we were prepared :-). Same setup as last time, we ended up top of the alp at our rental place, that Sunday evening. Monday Tian (Marcel’s son) and I decided to do a relaxed training ride up the Ornon (opposite Huez). Slightly rainy but not bad. The ascent started nice but Tian (being 28 years younger) decided that things weren’t moving fast enough so vanished with a big grin in the distance. Not to worry, until probably some 300 meters before the summit a spoke broke. That ended my ride and the wheel was bent such that it was stuck completely, so no descend on that bike. Only option was to get the car, for which I borrowed Tian’s (much smaller) bike for a hairy descend.

After picking up the car, we went to the bike repair on top of Huez who 1) clearly didn’t have my type of spokes (but managed to hammer another one into submission) and 2) weren’t really into tubeless tyres so put a tube in. Only challenge was that I had no tube stuff with me at all, so cross fingers spoke and tyre would last on all climbs and descends. Only caveat: this was no spoke #2 in a few months and I didn’t really look forward of another one breaking during a descend at speed (which would basically mean getting flat on my face at high speed :-(). Luckily, everything went fine.

Tuesday was a regular working day (fun doing conference calls from a chalet in the alps :-)). Tue evening was the BBQ with all the Dutchies down in the village. Imagine 2000 participants being fed by both Fench and Dutch people, music, singing, dancing, joy, remembrance of people who were no longer there, what a magical evening. 2000 people singing as one in itself is brilliant and so much fun. This was our first and I was so happy to be there. Thoroughly recommended for anyone attending #AD6 2024.

Wednesday another working day followed by the remembrance evening. An evening broadcasted live where you hear stories of families who know dad won’t be around soon, how to deal with it (anticipating grieving), deeply impressive and making it obvious how lucky I am to be in good health surrounded by loved ones.

Then came Thursday, ‘race day’. The usual get up at 2.50am, eat (last bit of energy to add some glycogen), dress properly (as it’s cold), descend with the motors, always thrilling going down a mountain at speed in the pitch dark (hoping the spoke would last). This time, we were a little more behind in the queue which meant that, by the time we were on our way, it was already starting to get light (I think around 4.45am). That then meant that all the lit candles in all the bends were not as impressive as last time (that was just SO magical) but still pretty good.

During the first climb, things went pretty good, but I did sense that my shape wasn’t as good as last year. The second climb took way more energy and I really needed to take a rest after it. After a new set of clothes, I went for my third that ended up being the last. According to Garmin, my stamina was down to 1% at the top which was just enough to make my way over to my wife, sit on a chair and not speak for the next 15 minutes (I know, I didn't give it my 100% ;-)). That was it, 3 climbs and no more. It is what it is. Still, 7hrs of total moving time, 3369 meters of elevation, 89kms, 4300 calories burnt, 4 liters of sweat but, more importantly, we exceeded our funding goals my a large margin thanks to you guys.

This second time was even more humbling than the first. This event really underlines how fragile and strong humans are at the same time. When you witness the things people need to deal with, as a parent, seeing your child suffer and die, brothers, sisters, parents, friends, it all makes one thing blindly obvious: we have to approach each other with an attitude of kindness no matter what as you just don’t know what other people go through. Be kind and positive towards others and count your blessings.

After 2 events, I am confident that that others will pick up the baton for next year. Seeing a 70% first timers, I am sure it will be a great success. From where I stand, I can THOROUGHLY recommend it as it will make a better person out of you (I hope and think it did for me) and it’s a GREAT cause to get rid of cancer.

Thanks to all of you who supported me on my journey over the last few years. Greatly appreciated!

Thanks to all the volunteers who not just made the entire even happen but in a way that was very impressive and exceeded my expectations again. What a team and all volunteers!

Herman