Dear All,

As most of you will know, I have for some time now been
using cycling as my pastime of choice for enjoyment, fitness and challenging
myself on the odd occasion.  This year I
fear that I may have bitten off more than I can chew….

With ‘thanks’ to my good friend Rob Diver from TAG Heuer, I
have been ‘persuaded’ to attempt the Haute Route Alps.  This is billed as ‘the highest and toughest
cyclosportive in the world’. I will try to cycle over 7 timed stages from Nice
to Geneva over 21 of the very highest mountains that the French Alps has to
offer.  During this week, I will ride
over 800km, climb over 65,000 vertical feet (equivalent of riding up Everest
twice) and will be in the saddle for something like an average of 7 hours per
day.  I will burn about 5,000 calories
per day during the week, so should at least come back a little bit lighter than
when I start!

Please check out this short vide that gives you a very small
taste of what lies in store for me:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLd3IzCwuYU

James Golding who you see in this video was part of the inspiration
behind me agreeing to put myself through all this.

In preparation for this week I have ridden over 5,000 km
already, spent countless hours training on my Wattbike in the cold and damp of
the garage and this week will be finalising my prep with a training camp/family
holiday in Majorca, where I should ride something like another 1,000km to fine
tune things.  Whilst doing this, I have
shed 2 stone in weight and hope to lose a little more before arriving on the
start line at Nice on 28^th August. 
I am clearly not a Chris Froome in my build so, I am not built to climb
mountains over 7,000 ft high but I love a challenge.  I must add that I am not looking for a specific
time – I just want to finish if I can. 

TAG Heuer are the official timekeeper for the Haute Route
and Rob has very kindly allowed me and some friends to participate on behalf of
the brand this year.  I owe him a huge
debt of thanks (although I might disagree at times during the week) for the
entry.  It was the motivation I needed to
say ‘yes’.

I thought long and hard about whether I should try and raise
money for charity whilst undertaking the Haute Route.  A lot of people supported me five years ago
during my L’Etape du Tour adventure and thanks to a huge amount of generosity I
raised nearly £20,000.  I figured that if
I am putting myself through 7 consecutive days of pain and suffering then I
should do it for a worthy cause or two. 
With this in mind, I will be raising money for Cancer Research and also
Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in Liverpool. 
Both are very close to my heart for a variety of reasons and they both
do some amazing work to help the most poorly in our society.

I have attached a link to my page if you would like to
donate anything at all:

https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Karl-Irwin