The Cycle-Summit Team
Prior to this adventure many of the team hadn’t even cycled to work, let alone approached 100 miles in a day. The mountaineering will also be new to many of the team and with the added challenge that high altitude adds; this adventure is not for the faint-hearted. But this adventure will go to show that a combination of training, motivation and teamwork mean that people can achieve extraordinary things.
Allison Tyne, 27.
Allison is a maths teacher who loves spending time outdoors. She has done a lot of canoe tripping in Canada, her home country. This will be her first multi-day bicycle trip and mountain. ‘This being an environmentally sustainable trip only makes it more exciting!’
Greg Annandale, 25.
Greg is a web developer based in Bristol. When not at his laptop or travelling the world for work, he enjoys getting out to climb, mountaineer, ski, dive and photograph. In 2009 he was part of a 4-man expedition attempting a world-first traverse of all the Swedish Arctic’s 2000m peaks in Winter.
Heidi Hinder, 34.
Heidi is a jeweller and silversmith. Having cycled from Land’s End to John O’Groats, Heidi is now looking forward to pedalling through France with
the incentive of climbing Europe’s highest peak on arrival. She understands that preparation is the key to success; training for her British bike tour involved demanding afternoons, wheeling around Bristol Downs and stopping half way for ice-creams.
Jess Tombs, 34.
Jess lives in Bristol and works as an assistant producer in wildlife and adventure television. Having spent much of her early 20’s living in the wilderness in Africa, Jess has a real affinity for the great outdoors. She only recently discovered the cold mountain air but fearlessly tackled the 20km off-piste run of the Vallee Blanche on her second ski trip! Jess took up road cycling a couple of years ago and has fallen head over heels in love with it!
Laura Spink, 29.
Laura is an operating department practitioner. Physical fitness has been one of Laura’s daily priorities for several years. This, coupled with her love of the outdoors and spectacular scenery make ‘Cycle-Summit’ the perfect expedition to get stuck into! A keen cyclist and walker, Laura is looking forward to learning a new skill in climbing and welcomes the added mental and physical challenges this will bring.
Lucy Burgess, 29.
Lucy works as a probation officer. Lucy is passionate about community regeneration and seeing people become motivated to live life with a purpose.
She loves the mountains and is a keen snowboarder. Lucy has put her hand to many a sport in the past including fishing! She is looking forward to the adventure and all the hours in the saddle necessary to complete the Cycle Summit.
Maddy Finemore, 30.
Maddy is a chiropractic assistant, wife and friend of her wonderful dog Sniff. ‘My life mission is to work out what is required to experience the full expression of life, and commit to walk the path of what I discover.’
Neil Finemore, 32.
Neil is a wellness chiropractor. Neil is interested in living a wellness lifestyle, where we try to eat, move and think the way that gives best gene expression and health to the body. ‘This expedition seems a perfect gift to do something amazingly physical and spiritual with my life.’
Nathan Treby, 32.
Nathan Works as an accountant. He has spent a lot of time in the mountains skiing including a season in Whistler. He has always wanted to climb Mont Blanc and is prepared to leave his skis behind for a change. This will be his first experience of expeditioning and he is really looking forward to turning the journey there into a large part of the challenge.
The Support Team
Dan West, 37.
Dan is a multi-trade builder and UWE senior women’s rowing coach. As an experienced rower and cyclist, highly talented athlete and motivator. Dan will be joining the team in Chamonix with a fresh burst of enthusiasm to help get them up the mountain.
Richard Spink, 33.
Richard is an experienced physiotherapist and aspiring adventurer. Following a successful unsupported team attempt on the Geo Magnetic North Pole he’s turned his attention to more sustainable expeditioning.
Along with Felix and Ollie, Richard will be driving the van, keeping the cyclists on route and helping with motivation and any bike or muscle problems along the way. They will take turns in the saddle as well to help with navigation.
Felix Ellis, 24.
Felix has been living in Bristol for the past year and works at the Oasis Academy in behaviour modification. He spends most of his time trying to persuade kids to keep out of the detention room and to stay in their lessons. In 2009, with a couple of friends, Felix cycled from Bilbao in North Spain to Cannes sur Plage on the south coast of France. This very enjoyable experience inspired him to get involved with the ‘Cycle-Summit’ trip this summer. ‘How could I resist such spectacular scenery and great comradeship!’
Ollie Mills, 31.
Ollie is a criminal defence solicitor. He was also part of the unsupported team that reached the Geo Magnetic North Pole in 2006 (See Richard below). He’s gone on to become an accomplished rock, ice, chalk climber and mountaineer. He has some big plans in the pipeline for future expeditions.