Paris to
Geneva

After the enjoyable, but rather flat route to Cologne last year we were looking for a new challenge we could complete in four days, but that also pushed our cycling to a new level. After experiencing Ditchling Beacon on the London - Paris we all knew hills were our weakness, so buoyed by watching Wiggo's victory in the 2012 Tour de France, we decided it was time to tackle a col of our own.

Having already cycled to Paris, extending the route onto Geneva seemed the obvious solution. It would also give us three days to build up our legs for the final day and the Col de la Faucille, a category 3 climb of 4351 feet the tour has visited 42 times since 1911.

This trip also had an added significance as it was Chris Thorn's fiftieth birthday, but also because we decided to raise money for Pancreatic Cancer UK after Martin's wife, Kim was diagnosed with the disease. It's a difficult ride to train for in the relative flatlands of Essex, so we spent a lot of time climbing Essex Way and Vicarage Hill which links Canvey Island and the 'uplands' of Benfleet.  It's not the Jura mountains or the Alps, but ten climbs provides  2496ft of climb, so it's a start.

Day One: Paris to Sens:  84 miles. Total Climb: 3502 feet.

Day Two: Sens to Saulieu: 107 miles. Total Climb: 6583 feet.

Day Three: Saulieu to Pannessieres: 91 miles. Total Climb: 4600 feet.

Day Four: Pannessieres to Geneva: 77 miles. Total Climb: 12955 feet.

Day One: Friday May 17th - Paris to Sens:  84 miles. Total Climb: 3502 feet.

Caught the Eurostar to Paris, arriving just after 9.15am we then followed the Seine out of the city, not the most picturesque route out of the French capital and certainly not the best sign-posted, but  Stayed at Premiere Classe Sens Nord-Saint Clement. 2 rue des Fondrieres, SensOur last day - and the one we have all been looking forward to - and dreading - in equal measure! A quick look out from the window confirmed our worst suspicions - the weather was grim. overcast, cold and raining. Climbing a mountain would be bad enough - but without the encouragement of some fabulous views on the way?

But under these circumstances there's no choice - so an early breakfast and we were off into the rain, although sadly one man down after