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Mike Cotty unveils 666km trans-Alpine epic challenge + VideoMike Cotty Alps madness 15783_000015782

Mike Cotty unveils 666km trans-Alpine epic challenge + Video

17 cols and 16,000m of climbing beckon
by John Stevenson
Mon, Jul 29, 2013 18:12
41

Mike Cotty, former Cannondale marketing bloke and quietly insane ultradistance road cyclist has finally admitted what he’s been training for all summer: a 666km non-stop traverse of the Alps featuring 17 cols and over 16,000m of climbing.

Here’s a bit of a teaser video:

Mike will start on August 5 in Evian Les Bains and over the following 36 hours will cross many of the most famous cols of the Tour de France: Col de la Colombière, Madeleine, Glandon, Croix de Fer, Télégraphe, Galibier, Izoard, Vars, Bonette and Madone. The journey is equivalent to four consecutive mountain stages of the Tour de France and the ascent is almost equivalent to climbing Mount Everest twice.

Scared yet? You should be. Here’s Mike’s nominal schedule:

And here’s the elevation profile:

You'll be able to follow Mike's progress here and on his website's event page as there will be a live tracking device on his support vehicle. 

We look forward to vicariously suffering with him, starting Monday.

Mike Cotty
Alps
John Stevenson

John has been writing about bikes and cycling for over 30 years since discovering that people were mug enough to pay him for it rather than expecting him to do an honest day's work.

He was heavily involved in the mountain bike boom of the late 1980s as a racer, team manager and race promoter, and that led to writing for Mountain Biking UK magazine shortly after its inception. He got the gig by phoning up the editor and telling him the magazine was rubbish and he could do better. Rather than telling him to get lost, MBUK editor Tym Manley called John’s bluff and the rest is history.

Since then he has worked on MTB Pro magazine and was editor of Maximum Mountain Bike and Australian Mountain Bike magazines, before switching to the web in 2000 to work for CyclingNews.com. Along with road.cc founder Tony Farrelly, John was on the launch team for BikeRadar.com and subsequently became editor in chief of Future Publishing’s group of cycling magazines and websites, including Cycling Plus, MBUK, What Mountain Bike and Procycling.

John has also written for Cyclist magazine, edited the BikeMagic website and was founding editor of TotalWomensCycling.com before handing over to someone far more representative of the site's main audience.

He joined road.cc in 2013. He lives in Cambridge where the lack of hills is more than made up for by the headwinds.

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41 comments

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notfastenough | 11 years ago
0 likes

That's bonkers! I'd love to do it over 6 or 7 days at a decent pace though.

Good luck Mike.

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jijiandnoah | 11 years ago
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I have to say the money would be the least of my worries - as much as I'd love to I couldn't envisage myself even getting through a quarter of this. The statistics alone are pretty mind-boggling...

Wishing you all the best with this amazing ride Mike, and I'm looking forward to hearing how you get on. A Chapeau in advance!

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andyspaceman | 11 years ago
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Fabulous - an absolutely nuts challenge. A very similar parcours to the Route des Grandes Alpes.

I rode that last September (very reasonably priced and a fantastic trip with cycle-high.com) - the difference being that I took 6 'leisurely' days!!

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billyman | 11 years ago
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I liked his helmet

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ScotchPoth (not verified) | 11 years ago
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Fantastic itinerary,id have a go myself if i had the money,could do without the earnest intent voiceover and ludicrous melodrama of the video,its like an advertisment for some over priced Volkswagon
I bet the cost of the video would cover pretty much all the kit you would need and the airfare/hotels
Smug and pretentious springs to mind but what do you expect from a marketing executive

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Mike Cotty replied to ScotchPoth | 11 years ago
0 likes

Hi ScotchPoth,

I could never compete with a Volkswagen advert, especially after their Darth Vadar commercial which may be getting on a bit now but is still going to take some beating.

If you're serious about giving it a go sometime then I'd be happy to help you out with any advice and with a bit of careful planning it can certainly be done within a very sensible budget, although I have to say don't make the same mistake as I did and plump for an Ibis Budget Hotel (sometimes it's worth paying a few euros more for a room that you can swing more than a gerbil in and a bed that offers you more than 2 hours of uninterrupted sleep)...cyclist needs and all that.

Sorry that the teaser isn't to your liking. It came from my heart and not my head so I obviously wasn't thinking straight. Please accept my apologies.

Ride safe,

Mike

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andychat replied to Mike Cotty | 11 years ago
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Nicely put Mike. We are all different but all cyclists 1

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Colin Peyresourde replied to Mike Cotty | 11 years ago
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Mike Cotty wrote:

If you're serious about giving it a go sometime then I'd be happy to help you out with any advice and with a bit of careful planning it can certainly be done within a very sensible budget, although I have to say don't make the same mistake as I did and plump for an Ibis Budget Hotel (sometimes it's worth paying a few euros more for a room that you can swing more than a gerbil in and a bed that offers you more than 2 hours of uninterrupted sleep)...cyclist needs and all

Just returned from the Raid Pyrenees and can totally agree. 30C + heat everyday and not so cool nights (with the potential for a local mosquito invasion through open windows) meant a few sleep deprived nights. To be honest the velominati need to come up with some rule about degrees of hardness increasing for every metre climbed, for every centigrade above 20. I won't hold my breath, as someone will quote rule #5

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bfslxo replied to Colin Peyresourde | 11 years ago
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Colin Peyresourde][quote=Mike Cotty wrote:

To be honest the velominati need to come up with some rule about degrees of hardness increasing for every metre climbed, for every centigrade above 20. I won't hold my breath, as someone will quote rule #5

Love it - completely agree - every two degrees about your area's average monthly summer temp should earn you more points - trying to jog in salou last week in 30+ heat when i'm used to a standard 18/20 degree july in northern ireland was just not funny!

Mike - your about to cover all the climbs I hoped to scale over the next ten years of quick breaks if I am really really lucky - best wishes to you what an amazing achievement to put in the memory bank for future years.
Look forward to watching your progress

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Sentral replied to ScotchPoth | 11 years ago
0 likes
ScotchPoth wrote:

Fantastic itinerary,id have a go myself if i had the money,could do without the earnest intent voiceover and ludicrous melodrama of the video,its like an advertisment for some over priced Volkswagon
I bet the cost of the video would cover pretty much all the kit you would need and the airfare/hotels
Smug and pretentious springs to mind but what do you expect from a marketing executive

Douche.

Avatar
mrchrispy | 11 years ago
0 likes

thats one long strava segments I wont be going after!

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