With the stormy weather on the Thursday we were forced to travel under rather than over Mt Blanc. We crossed the border to italy in rain arriving in the beautiful Aosta valley in time to restock calories with Italian cuisine.

We zigzagged up a thousand metres to the Chabod mountain hut, taking in the stunning alpine scenery as we climbed. The evening was spent relaxing outside the hut, overlooking the mountain stream.

After a brief sleep, we donned headtorches to commence the ascent of the moraine leading up to the glacier. Below us, in the valley, was an impressive cloud inversion, whilst above us a thin layer of cloud hung onto the nearby summits. We moved onto the glacier as the sun was rising and navigated our way between a number of crevasses. Reaching the col, a couple of hours later, we could see the final section of steeper snow leading up to the rock ridge and summit. We pushed hard to climb that last section of snow, then scrambled on the rock to reach the summit. Gran Paradiso has two summits and some of the team watched from one as Maddie hula-hooped on top of the highest mountain in Italy! It was a fantastic feeling to have achieved the second aim of the Cycle Summit challenge and to have climbed our first 4000m peak (after 3 other training peaks between 3500 and 3700m).

We began our descent to the Vittoria Emmanuel hut, down the glacier and across the vast moraine, spotting a family of Ibex amongst the rocks. After a brief stop and some welcome pasta dishes, we headed back down to the valley where a couple of bottles of champagne were waiting for us.

We said goodbye to the guides and started our drive across to France, stopping for pizza and coffee on the way. Our accommodation for the night was a gite in Argentiere run by an extremely friendly English couple. We went out for a night cap with some of the guides before bed.

The next morning some of us returned our hired mountain equipment to Chamonix and did a brief bit of souvenir shopping. At midday we all met in the park to toast a final celebration with champagne and to say goodbye to the very fabulous Maddy and Neil (who were staying in France for a well earned rest and anniversary holiday). We all donned our official Cycle Summit t-shirts, posed for a few photos for the massing press and then departed Chamonix shortly after midday. We made our way over to Troyes where, after a slightly bizarre meal in a local bistro, we settled down in a Formula 1 motel for the night. A 6am start, to allow plenty of time for the slightly lethargic van + trailer, saw us arriving in Boulogne at 1pm. After a brief lunch at our first night’s camp site, we retrieved Ollie’s car and made our way to the ferry.

Back in England exhausted and elated with friendships and memories to last a lifetime. It has been a fantastic journey and a huge thank you to all of you who have supported us and encouraged us from the beginning! See you next time…

The disappointment of poor weather scuppering our attempt at the summit of Mt Blanc was soon put to the back of our minds by what turned out to be the most extraordinary day. We headed up in the Aiguille du Midi cable car from Chamonix at 1050 metres up to the top at 3842 metres. Stunning views awaited us all.

Now with 6 guides we split into 5 groups of 2 with Greg as an experienced rock climber was able to go by himself with a guide to do a technical rock climb that none of the rest of us could have even contemplated.

From the top of the cable car we headed down a knife-edge ridge with 2 slopes dropping away to thousands of metres either side, our nerves were immediately put to the test.

Lucy and Neil headed on one route up the Pointe Lachenal, with Nathan and Heidi heading up the same peak via a different route.

Laura with Maddy, Jess with Allison and Felix with Dan headed across the glacier of the Valley Blanche to the bottom of the Cosmiques Arrete. Unknown to any of them ahead was the most challenging and at times extremely scary experience of their lives. They climbed up an exposed ridge of approx 350 metres back to the cable car. They were some hairy moments where leaps of faith were required to get up sheer rock faces or abseils over cliff edges. It took all our physical and mental powers to complete what for novices was an extremely tough undertaking.

In the evening we headed out to celebrate and refuel our tanks with a delicious meal with lashings of French wine.

Everyone is excited about heading off to Italy tomorrow with the hope of submitting Italy’s highest peak, the Gran Paradiso.

The good the bad and the Vuvuzela.

On Sunday we met up with our guides and headed up into the mountains proper, making good use of the telecabine at Le Tour to get some altitude under our belts. After a 2 hour trek we dropped our mountain gear at the Albert Premier refuge and then set off onto the nearby Glacier du Tour for training in crevasse rescue and ice climbing. Team morale still as high as ever and this was brilliantly illustrated when Laura fell waist high into a crevasse and most everyone wet themselves laughing and took the opportunity to get the cameras out. She took the fall and the ribbing with aplomb. A wet team returned to the refuge and after a good shakedown settled down with a huge appetite, all very excited about the feast we were soon to enjoy. First course, first culinary disaster and fish soup sans fish but avec suspicious fishy smell didn’t meet expectations. Second course and after a thoroughly unenjoyable  round of ‘guess the meat’ we knew we were on the wrong side of a losing battle. 4am start the following morning and with minds full of mountain know how and stomachs full of mountain delhi belly, we set off across glaciers and up snow peaks to the summit of Le Petit Fourche, an exposed rock climb necessary to achieve the top. Taking into account Heidi is terrified of heights, it would be impossible not to admire her courage. The descent was even more hazardous, followed by a 50 foot abseil into Switzerland. A beautiful vista welcomed us and an enormous plateau stretched out before us. We could see the Matterhorn and the Eiger in the distance and we all experienced the true calm and tranquility that only the high mountains can offer. A calm and tranquility that was abruptly shattered by a South African [insert your own expletive here] honking a [insert another expletive] Vuvuzela. Rich took the opportunity to dress him down and fisty cuffs at dawn were only narrowly avoided. Peace temporarily restored we crossed a beautiful plateau with only a few more blasts to interrupt our thoughts. The Swiss know how to do refuges. Comfortable beds, homemade apricot pies and toilets you could eat the pies off. Some took the chance to catch some rays on the terrace and some went with the guides for more training, neil taking the full force of Felix’s not insubstantial weight when he jumped into a nearby crevasse. The thought of the Vuvuzela was preying on the groups thoughts, what to do? Ollie recalled some of the training he’d had from some of his clients and put it to good use. After scouting out the suspects rucksack and biding his time till the coast was clear, he struck and lifted the offending item and surreptitiously hid it in the third floor linen closet. End of the Vuvuzela and one nil to team cycle summit. We then hot footed it back to France the following morning and out of the jurisdiction of the swiss gendarmarie. Another peak bagged in the form of the Aiguille du Tour, we then enjoyed the quietest of long hard journeys back to Chamonix and thunderstorms forecast means that Mt Blanc is not an option, so it’s through the tunnel to italy and weather permitting the 4000m Gran Paradiso will be climbed on Friday, so everyone get your raindancing shoes out.

After a good rest from the previous days drenching, we awoke to a blue cap misty morn. We were a bit scarred from yesterday’s extreme cold and all dressed up in our warmest clothes, ready for the exhilarating 15 mile decent into Geneva. We whizzed around hairpin bends with big drops overlooking Lake Geneva.

The next 40 miles before lunch consisted of a lot of singing of ragga tunes as we weaved our way around the streets of Geneva, with one little slip from Allison, but luckily she only came away with a few funky shaped gravel scrapes.

As we reached the foothills of the Alps before Chamonix and Mt Blanc, we were met by Rich and Ollie with another glorious lunch time spread out in the sun, which we promptly devoured, psyched for the climb ahead.

The climb was hard and beautiful, with all of us climbing the hills at a fast pace with the inspiration of the snow topped Mont Blanc poking through the clouds. We made our way into Chamonix on a steep old road full of pot holes, led by a local gnarly old dude who showed us the way after we had taken a wrong turn into the motor way!

We rode into town two by two, applauded and cheered by the locals as we did a triple roundabout in a celebratory parade in front of a pub in town.

We ended the day with a celebration dinner in town with Dan, who had arrived that day with all our mountain gear to join us for the next stage of our adventure.

Distance: 85 miles

Dick of the day: Jess for letting a little wee escape onto our map during a road side stop (twice!)

(NB: Completion of Cycle Section, Day 7, as recorded on Twitter)

We’ve made it to Chamonix! Day started with a big descent. Then navigated through Geneva and finished with a few big climbs. Now sorting all kit in bunkhouse. Planning to-dos for tomorrows rest day. Cloud on the mountains but weather is looking good for next week.

After an overnight thunderstorm, the day started with Lucy wearing the ‘wild thing’ leopard skin pants, having received them for ‘dick of the day’ believing as she did until recently informed otherwise, that humans have one stomach for solids and one for fluids!

Anyway we left Genlis early for our first stage in the mountains. We made good early progress and cruised along for 60km until our first climb in Poligny. Ominously this is when the rain started. The team wound its way up the side of the valley with lightening speed before a refueling stop at the top.

We jumped back on the bikes after lunch with the rain soon increasing and the temperature dropping. The second climb came just in time to warm us up. All were soaked through very quickly but these fantastic riders just pushed on through before an ice cold, toe numbing decent into Morez.

Following in the tyre tracks of this year’s stage 8 of the Tour de France, we started the big final climb up into Les Rousses. This was a long tough climb and although the legs and lungs were saying stop we all powered up to the end of this absolutely epic day.

What an incredible journey! Today’s route took us through farmers’ fields and forests. We did 87 miles of undulating hills, fields of sunflowers and small French villages. People have started to have to work through aches and pains, but the team has really come together to help each other out. This was evident when Allison took a spill (it was minor – don’t worry mom!) And everyone got involved changing the inner tube, offering sweets and making sure she was ok. It is amazing to see how a group of relative strangers can become such a solid team. We spent much of the day in a peleton, with Felix leading the way. Jess did a great job navigating, including climbing over a trench amongst some roadworks! Lunch was another great spread by the boys. We are staying tonight in Genlis, near Dijon, and calling it an early night in preparation for a big day tomorrow – hilltastic!

So, another 80 miles under the belt! A spectacular day spent peddling across rolling Roman roads, soaking up the Champagne scenery. Lunch was another hearty spread laid out by the boys enjoyed in a shady glade by the river. We reached our destination in time to enjoy a tour of the local champagne factory. After which we were obliged to taste a few glasses of their finest! And so, it’s curry a la Spinxy and Neil for din dins and off to bed to recharge those batteries…

This morning started with a broken bike lock resulting in a permanent attachment of one bike to a tree. Having located an angle grinder, two of the support team stayed behind to free said bike while the rest set off. The morning ride consisted of a number of steeper climbs through forest, eventually leading to stunning rolling countryside with the smell of recently harvested corn and barley in the air. We stopped for lunch after 50 miles, in a village square.

After lunch, we made the most of the quiet roads to get some filming done with numerous passes of the van + camcorder sticking out of the window. The wind had dropped completely, added to the midday sun, made for a rather hot continuation.

We finally descended into the vineyards of the Champagne region, following along a river in the valley. Despite being a main road, the traffic was light and we made good progress. The campsite proved to be tricky locate, but we eventually arrived, more than ready for protein shakes and rice + soy sauce. Another smooth day, bar a lycra shorts malfunction incident, and good to get a further 100 miles under our belts.

Last night we went to a ‘floro’ party at the campsite, children and grandparents alike were raving wearing white clothes and glow paint with a truly French DJ!!! The French really know how to party as a family!

This morning we set off at 8:30am. The ride started through the Somme region – field after field of corn scattered with poppies. It was impossible not to think of the fallen. Felix did a cracking job of keeping us as a tight peleton- it was so fun riding in a long cycling snake pedalling as one and sharing each others effort to power us along. We managed 77.5 miles in 5 hours – 15.5mph. We were really chuffed with that. We surprised the boys in the van at lunch by being 1 hour early. They were at a beautiful viewing point looking over sparkling lakes called Belvederve de Vaux. We rocked up to the two boys sitting around a camping table covered in a blue and white checked tablecloth with 12 glasses waiting to be filled by a bottle of red wine – we knew this trip would be special, but the thought that Rich, Felix and Ollie (and Jen at home with baby bump) have increasingly apparently put into it, is making this a phenomenal experience for all. A glowing Virgin Mary statue (at least in the picture Ollie took) housed an A4 sheet of beautiful French, translated by Greg and Maddy – it was so cool. It said ‘Sons and daughters of France! Come out of your caves and walk in the light of a new day. Your celestial mother loves and cries for you. Waste no more time.’ I feel like we are ‘all  sucking the marrow out of life’ this week – plenty of sucking on each others wheels into slipstreaming heaven as well- susse ma roue!
We rode through villages where French dogs, men and old ladies greeted us and willed us on our way – Allez, allez, allez! One lady exclaimed as she punched the air. We passed one old dude on his bike fully lycraed up with a baguette perfectly balanced across his handlebars – it’s hard not to fall in love with France.

We arrived at 3 o’clock at the campsite with food all ready for us. We literally ate as we stretched. Then lots of fun, games and laughter in the sun finished off by a killer chickpea curry cooked by Greg and Allison. We then went onto la pub for beers. Life is good!