« 366km, 11 000m D+, 19h 51 min

The ride that makes me say "life is incredible" and "j'arrête le vélo" in the same sentence. 7 mountain passes all above 2000m of altitude in the French and Italian Alps, each one reminding me how beautiful the world is and how lucky I am to experience all of this on two wheels.

My key takeaways:
. Altitude watts are real. When 250 watts feels like 500w (and 150w feels like 800w near the end lol) there's a problem.
. Eating on the bike at altitude is a real challenge lol, +10bpm every time trying to chew and get oxygen at the same time
. Climbing for 2hrs for a 25min descent is oddly SO worth it. The descents were INSANE.
. Finishing Les 7 Majeurs on the highest road in Europe (La Bonnette at 2802m) is the ONLY way to finish. Amazing.
. Marmottes are adorable, we saw over 20 of them!
. Despite being "easier", the second day was the real challenge. Les 7 Majeurs is not to be underestimated
. I've never done anything that pushed me that far, both physically and mentally. It was such a fulfilling experience.
. I've caught the bug, I want to do more of this type of shit.

Beyond grateful.

What's more important is that I managed to raise nearly 1700$ CAD for the Canadian Spondylarthritis Association in memory of Joël-Denis Bouchard, the father of a friend of mine who decided to accept medical euthanasia to end the unbearable pain he had been suffering from for much too long.

The Canadian Spondylarthritis Association is to provide support for patients, move along research and educate about this disease that I unfortunately share with about 1% of Canadians. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, to every single person who contributed.

A huge thank you to Nicolas Dalaiden who is always up to follow me in my madness (although in La Bonnette, I'm the one who was doing the following). Le GOAT compagnon de vélo. Thanks. »

Michelle Gagnon, facebook, 6 juillet

Note du webmestre : Pour en savoir plus sur Michelle Gagnon : De culturiste à cycliste, le parcours atypique d’une Nord-Ontarienne

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