Nick had a fantastic week’s cycling in Provence, covering 550km on his bike and with glorious weather for almost all of it.

His intention was to join the elite group of cyclists who have done all three ascents of Mont Ventoux in 24hours. He was with a group of six cyclists, staying in a gite set amongst olive groves and cherry orchards, a lovely place, if not perfectly suited to the requirements of 5 blokes and one woman; Nick and Alan ended up sharing a bed!

Nick and Philippa set off to ride the first two routes on Saturday, before the night-time ascent organised for 2am on Sunday. But by the time they reached the top for the first time, the storm clouds were gathering, so the second route couldn’t be attempted. They did a lower level ride, had dinner and got a couple of hours sleep before heading off for the night-time ascent of the “Giant of Provence”. Breakfast was served once they’d finished and the day dawned bright and sunny, so Nick and Philippa set off to attempt the “3 in a day” challenge a second time. This time, Nick made it and Philippa did the mountain twice in the day, a feat not to be sneezed at.

For the rest of the week, the group cycled around the hills and valleys of the Provence countryside, between picking and eating huge quantities of cherries from the trees around the gite and visiting superb markets, selling local produce. Nick did the Ventoux another twice, bringing his total to six ascents in as many days.