Myself, Karl Royer and my neighbour Simon Smith planned a 1,200 mile ride around Europe for Diabetes UK starting on June the 12th 2023. I has been living with type 1 diabetes for 49 years, diagnosed in 1974 just before my eight birthday.
Treatment has changed vastly in 48 years research and help is still needed to support people living with type 1 diabetes. Diabetes UK manage vital research and support services for diabetes across the UK.
See the blog of our 1200 mile ride which we completed in 13 days on Sunday June 25th June, travelling 1,150 miles and climbing a total of 44,000 feet – equivalent to climbing Mt. Everest 1.8 times.
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Our story
Late 2019 I decided it would be a good idea to raise some money for diabetes by cycling. With the outbreak of Covid-19 things were put on hold, but on VE day, whilst talking to my neighbour Simon, who said he would join me the idea has grown.
We talked about riding to Austria, as I had driven a number of times to ski, at 750 miles it was feasible with a lot of training.
But as we continued planning I wondered “How many principalities can we visit?” and by choosing a suitable route we managed to include 9:
- UK
- France
- Belgium
- Netherlands
- Luxemburg
- Germany
- Switzerland
- Lichtenstein
- Austria
So we rode 1,200 miles crossing the Alps twice before climbing to the top of a mountain at Zauchensee.
Earlier in 202 Olaf Thronsden decided to join us “virtually” by rowing “virtually” on a Concept 2 Rower 1,200km by road – View Olafs epic row and follow his progress joining us on the 29th of June in Zauchensee.
Follow us on instagram as we chart our progress – Or click Posts to see our progress….
Karlos! You and Simon must be mad (no change there then?) but I wish you the very best of luck on your journey. You can do it Mr L! 🤔x
Cheers Tim – Mr L is still pedling!
Well done karl. Keep going. A wonderful thing your doing fir diabetes.
Keep going you guys!! You can do it😀
(Just to cheer you up – it’s raining here…🙄)
The weather was amazing – so lucky – even when 37 degrees the humidity was low so fast cycling kept us cool. Although the second from last day it rained from 7:30am till 11:30am and as we climbed it got very cold – but at midday we were high and dry!
Last day lads, well done.
Looks like you’ve had a great ride with great weather . Keep on peddling
Thanks Tony