Brutal temperatures, a bad crash and a pack of wolves: Shropshire cyclist's mountain epic to join exclusive club

The team were making a bid to join the Club des Cinglés du Mont-Ventoux – roughly translated to 'the club of the Ventoux crazies' – by riding up and down each of the three road routes to the top of Mont Ventoux in Provence in one calendar day.

Ollie Atkin, from Market Drayton, was one of the cyclists riding to raise money for the East Cheshire Hospice. Five had initially signed up but Ian Thomas withdrew for medical reasons while Allen Horrigan suffered a crash in one of his descents.

Mr Atkin said: "On July 6, Chris Philips, Phil Birch and myself joined the Club des Cinglés du Mont-Ventoux.

"Chris completed the three different ascents and descents, or cinglés, from Bedoin, Malaucène and Sault in a staggering six and a half hours of riding – an exceptional performance considering that just each ascent would take an average cyclist more than two hours to complete and each descent can take up to 30 mins.

"Phil Birch and myself completed the six ascents, or bicinglés, in 14 hours of riding time, but we spent 21.5 hours carrying out the challenge. Al Horrigan suffered a nasty crash on the first descent of Bedoin, sustaining torn muscles, nasty grazes and bruises.

"Unbelievably, he pushed on after the crash, completing five ascents before sensibly calling it a day. Naturally disappointed after putting so much work and effort into his preparation, Al has already booked to go back next May to give it another go and no doubt complete it. He put in a heroic effort on the day."

The group were raising money for the hospice which cared for Greg Phillips, Chris' brother, at the end of his life. The Club des Cinglés has a website which lists those that have conquered it.

Fewer than 300 have completed the challenge twice in one day – the bicinglé variant.

'Vulnerable'

Mr Atkin said: "Phil, Al and I started at midnight on July 6 – the challenge must be completed in one calendar day – and set off into the eery darkness of the mountain forest. When you are halfway up a mountain, in the middle of nowhere, in pitch black, and you are only wearing lycra and a head tor, you feel very vulnerable and alone.

"The mountain threw everything at us. On the first descent, in total darkness, travelling at above 30-35 mph, we narrowly avoided crashing into actual wild wolves. I had never seen one in the wild before and I can tell you, they are massive.

"When your light catches a pair of bright yellow eyes coming towards you very fast, it's unbelievably scary.

"When the wildlife wasn’t keeping us on our toes, the conditions were destroying us. Warm, balmy ascents in the dark turned into freezing cold descents. Then the heat got us.

"We had a 38 degree inferno to contend with and had to resort to covering ourselves in ice to bring our body temperatures down. I suffered some sort of fever in the early hours and spent a long time vomiting both while on and off the bike. Tough when you need to take in as many calories and fluids as possible!

"I pulled myself round as the day went on and felt my best for the final ascent. Luckily Phil was feeling good during my bad spell and kept me going. The favour was quickly repaid when the unbearable heat took hold of Phil later in the day as I was feeling better. Camaraderie certainly got us through the challenge.

"Even attempting this challenge without support would be nigh on impossible and we had incredible support from my mum Kim and sister Jennie from the moment we started. Our friend John Hines also stepped in to help with our support, which couldn’t have come at a better time. The cycling challenge may be classed as ’solo’ but that day was one big team effort.

"Summiting that damned mountain for the sixth time will be a moment that stays with me forever. So much work, planning, and dedication went into that day and while it feels great to be the 279th and 280th people to ever complete the Bicinglette, we know that we couldn’t have done it if we didn’t have the support that we did.

"It also would have been much tougher if we weren’t doing it for such an incredible charity and in the memory of a wonderful and very sorely-missed man, Greg Phillips.

"We rode 160 miles, climbed 29,000 feet, burned around 10,000 calories each, around eight to 10 litres of water each, three sets of kit, two bottles of factor 50, one crash, two wolves, gallons of Coca Cola and the best chips in the world!"

The group's fundraising appeal is still active. To donate, click here