|
 |
|
 This section will grow with time. Below you can read about training progress, other Fireflies events and news live from the ride. Consult the archive on the right to view archived messages. |
 |
| Day Five - Rest Day The Rest Day! After recovering from numerous serious hangovers and rising from mid-afternoon naps, we went off and had another of Jake's great barbeques and I, somehow, ended up doing the washing up. I'm afraid it was a day off for me also, and a chance to catch up on some editing, so there is no video evidence. You'll have to take my word for how good the food was! (it was great!) Posted by joe marcantonio on . |
|
| Day Four - Part TWO When you climb you try to wear as little as possible but we were all cold and wet and never thought we could get warm again, so had on more than we should have when the climb started just a few minutes after we left the restaurant. After the first kilometre the sweat is too much to bear so you start stripping and when the van comes you throw as much as possible inside. Once the clothing thing is sorted you get into a rhythm trying not to push yourself too hard but not letting anyone pass you if you can help it. L'Alp D'Huez is one of the more famous climbs on the Tour de France and each of its 21 corners is marked by a sign stating the number. You start with 21 and work your way down while climbing up. There is also a sign that says that the gradient is up to 14% which must mean steep because it is. It is a very beautiful climb too with the road cutting through the trees. From the bottom you think you can see the top but once there you realize that there is more to come. Surprisingly, I think we all found the infamous L'Alp D'Huez quite easy after what we had been through that morning. The rain had stopped so the temperature was perfect for climbing and we just did what we had to do and conquered yet another big mountain. The pain came later. Once we had gathered at the top and congratulated each other on our achievement we had to make the decision on which way to go down. Chris, our local mountain expert, has become the unofficial guide so he suggested the road less travelled. By going this way we would cut off 20 km's of busy road leading into La Grave. What we did not realize is that we would have to climb again and that is when the grumbling started. We were dressed for downhill travel, not up and by now we were all getting pretty exhausted. Despite the pain we all reached down and managed to make it to the top, yet again. Then the rough downhill started, fords and potholes. It became more of a track than a road and towards the bottom it became gravel. Surprisingly, we only had two flats. Finally, the bottom and a sign pointing towards La Grave. It wasn't that far, but after what we had been through the last 15 km's seemed like a lifetime and it was uphill. I think the only thing that pulled us through was the thought of a warm shower, beer and food, lots of it. And we made it and we did eat and drink lots and the pain was forgotten and the beauty of the Alps reigned supreme. Good on ya Fireflies. BRAD dayfourparttwo.mov Posted by joe marcantonio on . |
|
| Day Four - Part ONE It all started so innocently. We gathered for breakfast, as per usual and tried to fill up on Croissants and Muesli while discussing sleep patterns and passing trains. There were a couple of new additions and we all offered our words of encouragement. Mark and Alfredo flew in from London the night before just to climb the infamous L'Alp D'Huez. After the usual fluffing around getting bags to the van and sorting out bikes and gear, we were off. It was warm with no hint of what was to come. The Col de Grandon was our first destination. At 1924 meters it is nothing to laugh at, but we were all thinking it would not be as hard as the second climb of the day, L'Alp D'Huez. Grandon had other ideas though and about halfway up the wind began to pick up and the clouds started rolling in. By now we had spread out all over the mountain, the faster ones were near the top with the others lower down. The cloud cover was nice at first because it was cooler instead of the intense heat we had had the previous days. It started sprinkling which still was not too bad, but then finally the rain came and this mixed with a cold wind made the riding very uncomfortable. It is funny how the brain works. One minute things are just fine and the next it goes into survival mode. If you are climbing with someone you only speak when you have to - car back - car front - this sucks. The van came by, but the bags with our jackets had been left at the top. Near the top the switchbacks began. Wind in your face, tailwind, wind in your face, tailwind. I'm freezing the top has to be close, but my odometer says 3 km's. There is no way I am going to climb L'Alp D'Huez if this weather keeps up. My clothes are soaked and I am freezing why the hell aren't we there yet. And then it's over, you are there and you stumble into a cosy little mountain cafe filled with other wet bodies, but they are laughing because they are now inside and not still riding in the miserable weather. The problem with coming in out of the rain is that eventually you have to go back out in it and then it seems twice as cold. We had to get down though, so we put on everything that we could find including the sports page from a newspaper left in the cafe and proceeded down the mountain. If you think coming up a mountain in the rain is cold, it is worse going down. By then we were numb, though and to be honest it was beautiful despite the weather. If it had been dry it would have been a very fast descent. Due to the conditions we took it easy and finally made it down all in one piece. In France they stop serving food at 2pm sharp so we were lucky to find a place that was willing to serve us at all. The Madame reluctantly agreed when it was only 10 people not realizing that the numbers would increase, however, to her credit she took us all and we ate a well deserved meal while trying to warm up, dry our clothes and get ready for the next climb - L'Alp D'Huez. BRAD dayfourpartone.mov Posted by joe marcantonio on . |
|
| Day Three - Diary and Video Hello all, Very sorry for the delay between these postings. I'm afraid that the Alps are not quite as close to civilisation as I would hope... Internet connections are rare. Day three was a long one. We rose early for a sorry excuse for a breakfast (A roll and a glass or orange concentrate) and then realised that we had an afternoons worth of sitting around to do. My father, along for day four of the ride, needed picking up from the Airport, Mark Nunnely needed picking up from the Train Station and Luke, of course, needed transporting from The hospital. Due to all this only one thing sprang to mind: Barbeque! We headed down to the stream with some borrowed garden furniture and Jake cooked up a storm. We sat around, relaxed, did a spot of swimming and attempted to forget the Day before's woes. Unfortunately for everyone, once Luke returned it was time to "get on their bikes" and head off into the mountains. The fact is that we have a mission to accomplish and money to raise. I missed most of the climb as Fuzzy and I were picking up Luke's bike from the welders. When we did reach the riders on the top of Col de Madeleine, 2000 meters in the air, it was cold. Real cold... It was also very beautiful, but it was mostly cold. After another hell-raising descent, and getting a little lost, we made it into our hotel in time to watch the last ten minutes of the Italy game. The hotel was interesting. Rather than advertising beds or air conditioning outside, it mentioned "Sound-Proof rooms". This claim, I'm afraid, was not true. There was a wonderful industrial train line outside. nice. All in all, I had a good day but I can't tell how the riders were feeling. They mentioned something about "pain" and "horrible climb" but I can't remember any specifics. I tried to get one of them to write this report but after Day Four, they were put into a mild state of shock... Watch the movie for today and move on to tomorrow... It was a Marathon... JOE daythree.mov Posted by joe marcantonio on . |
|
 Your donations are important to us. There are different ways to make one. You can either fill out a form and send it out with a cheque, or you can make a donation to Leuka online. Read more first Download the donators form Make an online donation |
|
 This year we are hoping to raise a minimum of £100,000 and whilst we recognise individaaul donations as given above integral to this cause, we also consider corporate sponsorships as key to achieving this goal. Unprecedented interest in the Fireflies offers sponsors an exciting platform for promotions and branding. See who is currently sponsoring us and find out how you can become a sponsor. |
|
 The Fireflies' arrival into Cannes has generated great support from the advertising industry and culminates with a hero's welcome at the Palais des Festivals. |
The Fireflies c/o RSA Films Limited
42-44 Beak Street London W1F 9RH