“Storms draw something out of us that calm seas don't.” - Bill Hybels
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13 December 2016, 0849hrs, en route to the South Pole.
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We would be up, out of our tents and ready for go for 0900hrs every morning, religiously. No one wanted to be late and hold everyone else up in this weather. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Similarly no one really wants to drag their tired, battered bodies out of warm tents and face this weather, but this is what adventures in these difficult conditions are all about. Facing up to the adversity and getting through it. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
I’d have it no other way. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
#antarctica #expedition #spear17 #storm #adventure #getoutside #tbt #snow #ice #cold #explore #exploremore #polar #travel #travelphotography #sun #adversity #overcome #adaptandovercome
Tour du Mont Blanc - day 3 - Courmayeur 🇮🇹 to Champex Lac 🇨🇭.
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48km; 2,484m elevation gain.
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Beautiful weather all day as we hauled our heavy legs up & out of Courmayeur, then loved running the ridgeline running to Arnouva, via a Refugio dopio espresso ☕️.
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A steady 750m climb up to Grand col Ferret before we split for the 20k of descent deep into the valley. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
As I passed La Fouly google maps told me that was the last supermarket until Champex Lac, which closed at 1700...in 2 hours 🥴... I didn’t fancy hauling our dinner+ breakfast all that way so took the risk of not being fast enough and gunning it for Champex. It was a tough & pretty emotional 2 hours hard effort on very tired legs, flying up the last 500m climb from Praz-de-Fort to Champex Lac, arriving at 1658, moments before our chances of food vanished. Or so I though...the shop was actually open for another hour. Thanks google😂! Good bit of training. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Champex Lac - stunning - pricey!
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#running #trailrunning #mountains #journey #exploremore #exploring #getoutside #naturephotography #nature #exploringeurope #runsteepgethigh #tourdumontblanc #montblanc #fitness #fitnessmotivation #fitnessjourney #trails #activity #europe #bluesky #happiness
MCC.
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40km. 2,300m elevation gain. 4hrs 39. 21st overall.
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Martigny Combe - Chamonix via Col de la Forclaz, Col de Balme, Le Tour & Argentiere.
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I had a fantastic time during this race. Felt a bit ropey heading into the race with some man flu which I couldn’t shake in time, but the race atmosphere got me in the groove and I had a brilliant time pushing myself and going pretty hard from early on.
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A big thanks to @G for popping out en velo during the route and for the photos, and to everyone who came on to cheer us on during the race. Now time to enjoy the UTMB race festival atmosphere!
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#MCC #utmb #chamonix #trailrunning #getoutside #running #mountains #runsteepgethigh #exploremore #runningmotivation
Dot watching...
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Waking every hour during the night to check on progress....now at 5am only 68k straight line distance to the finish, or in reality a few Km for the final parcours, an est. 75km section of road into the finish where we’ll be waiting. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
A big push through the night with over 24hrs in the saddle, with absolutely awful weather last night, I can’t imagine how cold, wet, knackered but tantalisingly close G must feel!
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Hopefully only a few more hours to go! Please may sunrise bring some sunshine!
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#TCR #tcrno7 #bikepacking #dotwatcher #europe #europetravel #endurance #enduranceriding #respect #femalecyclist #inspiration #fitnessmotivation #journey
*TCR UPDATE*
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For those of your wondering how G is getting on, she is now making her way up through France having gone through the final control point up Alpe d’Huez. Taking a longer, but it seems faster route further north through Switzerland took her from 4th woman through CP3 to 3rd through CP4. Still, she put in a 390km day for that!
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She sounds healthy in herself and is still problem solving & puncture fixing to keep that momentum up, despite the fact she’s been on the go for 11 days and covered roughly 3,400km so far...
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This is a hugely inspirational ride; I’ll be wishing the best mechanical luck for this final push through France! 📸 1: Burgas, Bulgaria.
📸 2: a screenshot of G’s strava!
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#TCR #tcrno7 #endurance #bikepacking #inspiration #travel #europe #europetravel #sunrise #fitnessmotivation #igdaily #iphoneonly
