Yes. It is official.
Mark of the Mountains works here.
After months of training, bad B&Bs and countless missed social engagements, on 18th July, Mark got up at 4am to join 10,000 other riders in taking on on the Etape leg of the Tour de France.
The first 80km passed in a blur, followed by two very steep mountains, Marie Blanque and Soulor at which point, temperatures hit 36C and Mark had a bike chain failure.
Luckily some unnamed French legend sorted him out and after 7 hours pedaling, Mark took on the big, bad Tourmalet...
And won.
In Mark’s own words‘It was carnage up there. People were passing out on the side, grown men were crying with exhaustion and over 3100 riders didn't finish'.
However, after the toughest 2 hours of Mark’s 32 years, he made it to the top of the Tourmalet, completing the race in 9 hours and 15 minutes (which incidentally puts him in the top 30%).
Best of all, Mark and his team mates raised over £60k for the Julian Starmer-Smith Lymphoma Fund in memory of the brother of Charlie (one of Mark's fellow racing buddies).
Truly awe inspiring stuff.
Fans of Mark will be pleased to know he suffered no chafing injuries whatsoever and is now available for after dinner speeches and puncture repair lessons.
Awe inspiring stuff! Congratulations to all involved... Inspiration to all of us in the process of raising money for charity
Posted by: Graeme | July 28, 2010 at 11:23 AM
Great work! Is he single?
Posted by: Catherine | July 28, 2010 at 11:56 AM
Mark, you look faster on a bike than you looked in a tuk tuk in Sri Lanka. Hope you're well and congrats!
I am Paul
Posted by: Paul | July 28, 2010 at 12:05 PM
This is real stuff - not pretend fundraising - amazing!
Posted by: alex | July 28, 2010 at 12:35 PM
Just awesome - what a fantastic achievement.
Posted by: Fliss | July 28, 2010 at 12:58 PM
You no doubt have queues of ladies wanting a bit of the new look bod you are supporting...
Well done Marky, huge achievement.
Veronica x
Posted by: Veronica huntington | July 29, 2010 at 01:05 AM
Mark is currently single, and in the shape of his life. All enquiries welcome.
Posted by: dan at innocent | July 29, 2010 at 11:45 AM
So good to see such an achievement, well
done. I do tend to see the danger in these rides but then I am a mother of a
son who does similar events.
Keep going.
Posted by: Josephine Lambourne | July 29, 2010 at 01:58 PM
Beautiful Effort, 'nuff said :).
Posted by: Lauren | July 29, 2010 at 08:22 PM