Road Cycling Challenge
Road cycling can be very healthy for children and young adults, helping them to become physically active and develop their road awareness.
If you can get youngsters interested and motivated, they may surprise you. Our 12-year-old Oliver being the case in point, who decided to go beyond just having fun on the bike and raise money for the local Alzheimer Charity.
Why Liege-Bastogne-Liege Charity Challenge?
On Friday 19th April, my son Oliver and I set off on an adventure to Belgium to ride the Liege-Bastogne-Liege a ride that would push Oliver to his limits and perhaps even beyond.
He had been training under our supervision, even though privately I had my doubts given his young age and the challenging route ahead.
The idea of fundraising for Alzheimer came about from our dear friend, David Murie who suffered from Alzheimer, passing away this year. Oliver and David shared a passion for cycling and Oliver decided to do this ride in memory of David and to raise money for the Alzheimer Charity.
Arriving and Preparation
We arrived in Brussels, collected the bikes and hire car a headed for Liege to register for the event. Then to the hotel, quickly put the bikes together, dinner and sleep before the big day. That’s when the problems started!!
I spotted an issue on Oliver’s rear mech, that if I did not fix, it would surely not last the ride and possibly cause him to crash.
A while later the rear mech was fixed but I had managed to twist the chain into loops and could not work out how to untangle the chain. So I left that to one side and got to work on my own bike. As per usual when flying I had deflated the tyres, clinchers, no inner tubes. These did not re-inflate with my track pump as the seal around the rim had been broke, and I could not get enough pressure to inflate them.
So at 9pm on Friday night I had 2 bikes that were unrideable!! Panic was setting in. All this way for nothing. How devastated would Oliver be if I could not fix the bikes.
Unsure as to where I could find an air compressor to inflate my tyres and with all the bike shops in Liege closed, I decided to use 2 or the 3 inner tubes I had brought on my bike. That fixed that issue but left me short on spares for our ride. Oh well that would have to do. Fingers crossed for no punctures!!
Meanwhile Oliver’s chain still had multiple loops in it. I knew there must be a way to untangle them and eventually with the help of Warren (a client staying in the same hotel), we managed to untangle the chain. 10.30pm, and the bikes were ready to go. Not the best preparation for the event but it would have to do. ‘It is what it is’ I thought and in the back of my mind I kept thinking that this was a sign from the universe for us not to ride. Things always happen for a reason sometimes you can’t see what the reason is and later it makes sense. Any way there was no way we were not riding.
Starting the Road Cycling Challenge
Saturday 20th April. 6am alarm. We both jumped out of bed full of excitement and anticipation of the day ahead. Breakfast, load the car, drive to the start, don’t forget to see if you can pick up some inner tubes.
At the start line it was raining and the temperature was around zero degrees. Let’s get going. One slight snag Oliver only had summer gloves and I’d left mine in the hotel. Any way we set off.
20km into the ride we could no longer feel the brakes and changing gear was a struggle our hands were freezing and the cold was seeping through the rest of our bodies. We could not generate or retain any heat!
I knew we would not finish unless we could get warm. Oliver pushed on determined as ever. I followed think how I had potentially ruined his day and still thinking is the universe trying to tell us to stop. Stopping for Oliver was not ever an option.
25km into the ride we struck cycling gold, the bike Gods had delivered into our path a bike store that was open. A quick pit stop for winter gloves and inner tubes and we were back on the road. That shop was doing a roaring business in winter kit and spares. Luckily I had my bank card. Ouch! Belgium is expensive. Our hands slowly warmed up and our hearts warmed up too, we were in a good place mentally, smiling and chatting, all we had to do is ride!
The climb & the storm!
On the 3rd Categorised Climb of the day and about 80k into the ride we were treated to a hailstorm! Yay! Stinging our faces we continued onwards and upwards still determined, still in high spirits as we had warm hands.
Small things make a big difference. The bikes were good and we were half way round. Was this the moment to tell Oliver the course had been extended by 10km or should I wait! I waited until much later.
After the rain, came the hail after the hail, came a grey over cast day followed by more rain would we ever see the sunshine again. Have I gone soft after 20 years of riding in Andalucia…..i think so!
By this stage our feet were like blocks of ice! It was shortly after the 120k marker and the toughest climb of the day, La Redoute, that I informed Oliver of our ride extension, he took it all in his stride.
The finish line
At 125k we were joined, briefly by the sun, life was good and we were on the home straight 25k to go and only 2 more listed climbs left to do. 10k to go Oliver lifted the pace and we finished the ride in 8hrs 28 minutes climbed 2700m of elevation (equivalent to 3.5 times up Las Palomas). I must say it was a roller coaster ride of emotions, doubts, happiness, gritty determination and finally the joy and ecstasy of finishing!
Summary
So proud of Oliver for conquering his challenge, for never giving up and for raising money for Alzheimer’s in the name of our dear friend David Murie. Massive congratulations to our little fella.
He got into Road Cycling at a very young age, and he has continued on to amaze us with his drive, determination, and energy.
Massive thanks to the cycling Gods for giving us gloves in our hour of need and a massive dose of luck for not getting a puncture as I had left the pump in the car!! Doh!!
Big thanks to all the riders who encouraged Oliver along the way, giving words of support and the thumbs up as they did a double take to see this young rider in full beast mode!
Oliver raise almost 3000 Euros for the Alzheimer Charity. Thank you to all those who donated.
Finally, RIP David. Hope we did you proud!