One year, one hundred climbs. Thanks everyone. CASCAID is well on its way to raising £2 million for Cancer Research UK.

I did it! On 12^th November I rode up the 100^th and final hill of my challenge, Cheddar Gorge in Somerset.

The UK asset management industry has now raised nearly £2 million over the course of this year through CASCAID.  All this money will be going directly to Cancer Research UK.  The target was £1 million, so a huge thanks to all those who have donated to the huge variety of different events and challenges that have taken part so far in 2017.  We’re still a few quid short of £2 million though, so if you haven’t got round to sponsoring me yet, there’s still time to donate…

Here’s the link.
http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-web/fundraiser/showFundraiserPage.action?userUrl=JimLeaviss&faId=772830&isTeam=false

The challenge.

I set myself the target of riding up 100 hills, mountains, or kops over the course of the year, roughly two per week.  Most of the hills came from Simon Warren’s excellent series of guide books, starting with “100 Greatest Cycling Climbs”.  I also allowed myself to cycle up steep things that aren’t covered in any of his guides if they met the criteria of being very steep and horrible; this let me ride climbs like Sa Calobra in Mallorca, and Tabayesco in Lanzarote too.

I rode my first hill of the year on New Year’s Day – Swain’s Lane in Highgate, London.  It was raining, setting the pattern for virtually all of my UK climbing days (it was generally nice in Kent, but that was a rare treat for me).  I moved on to the Chilterns, then a work trip to Hong Kong gave me a chance to ride up The Peak.  Next were the Surrey Alps, some lumps and bumps in Oxfordshire, before heading out east to the short, sharp ascents of the Downs in Kent.  My favourite day on the bike of the year was in Flanders, Belgium where I ticked off a number of cobbled climbs like the Paterberg and Oude Kwaremont (I also got to see Paris-Roubaix live the next day).  Then up to the Midlands before a trip to Mallorca with my oldest friends.  I did not achieve a PB on Sa Calobra.  Boo.

West Sussex, Hampshire and “un jour sans” on the Isle of Wight where I bonked into headwinds, got lost, and made the ferry home only by throwing myself under a closing barrier.  The Lake District threw up the hardest hill of my year – Honister Pass, which directly after Newlands Hause, had me seeing stars by the top.  The hardest hill was followed by the funniest – a client meeting in Bristol gave me a chance to ride up Vale Street, the steepest residential road in the UK.  On a hire bike and in suit and leather soled shoes which kept slipping off the pedals, it took me many attempts to get to the top.

Rides in Gloucestershire were followed by a day in the Manchester Peaks.  None of us managed to even get 5 metres up The Corkscrew on another rainy day, but we did tick off five great hills that day, including the Cat & Fiddle. Kent again with a chain-gang that was a stretch to hang on to, before more trips to the south coast, including the nasty Ditchling Beacon which will be familiar for anyone who’s ever done the London-Brighton bike ride.  A family holiday to Lanzarote let me ride up Tabayesco, the Ironman hill climb in the incredible volcanic landscape.

And finally this last weekend I did a couple of Bath hills, and ended up riding up Cheddar Gorge.  Not the steepest of the year’s efforts, but long, beautiful, and for somebody with a 1989 vintage Geography A Level, somehow very familiar.  I got a cheque from the Royal Geographical Society for £25 that year, such was the beauty of my exam paper – I’m not sure I have ever mentioned this to my friends and colleagues.  You can see all of my climbs on Strava (follow Jim Leaviss).

Thank you.

Firstly thanks to all of you for the superb sponsorship support I’ve had over the year, and for encouragement from friends, family, and colleagues here at M&G.  Thanks to Helen and all at CASCAID for running a fantastic effort, and nearly doubling the amount we all raised for Cancer Research UK.  Finally thanks to Isobel and the kids for putting up with me disappearing off on the bike at weekends – it’s much appreciated.

See you on top of a hill.

Jim

The list of hills.

1. Swain’s Lane, London
2. Muswell Hill, London
3. College Road, London
4. Chinnor Hill, Chilterns
5. Kop Hill, Chilterns
6. Whiteleaf, Chilterns
7. Kingston Hill, Chilterns
8. The Peak, Hong Kong
9. Mount Austin, Hong Kong
10. Mount Butler, Hong Kong
11. Deepwater Bay Road, Hong Kong
12. Mount Davis, Hong Kong
13. Combe Lane, Surrey
14. White Down Lane, Surrey
15. Box Hill, Surrey
16. Barhatch Lane, Surrey
17. Leith Hill, Surrey
18. Coldharbour Lane, Surrey
19. Britwell Hill, Chilterns
20. Dudley Lane, Oxfordshire
21. Combe Gibbett, Berkshire
22. Streatley Hill, Berkshire
23. Whitchurch Hill, Oxfordshire
24. Chalkpit Lane, Surrey
25. White Lane, Surrey
26. Toy’s Hill, Kent
27. York’s Hill, Kent
28. Hilltop Lane, Surrey
29. Kattenburg, Flanders
30. Volkemberg, Flanders
31. Molenburg, Flanders
32. Leberg, Flanders
33. Berendries, Flanders
34. Valkenberg, Flanders
35. Ten Bosse, Flanders
36. Kanarienberg, Flanders
37. Oude Kruisberg, Flanders
38. Oude Kwaremont, Flanders
39. Knokterberg, Flanders
40. Paterberg, Flanders
41. Blowingstone Hill, Oxfordshire
42. Dragon Hill Road, Oxfordshire
43. Whichford Hill, Warwickshire
44. Edge Hill, Warwickshire
45. Mirador de la Creuta West, Mallorca
46. Formentor Lighthouse, Mallorca
47. Mirador de la Creuta East, Mallorca
48. Pepperpot, Mallorca
49. Coll de Femenia, Mallorca
50. Coll des Reis, Mallorca
51. Sa Colabra, Mallorca
52. Coll de sa Batallia, Mallorca
53. Miland Hill, West Sussex
54. Harting Hill, West Sussex
55. Harting Downs, West Sussex
56. Stoner Hill, Hampshire
57. Down Lane, Isle of Wight
58. Newlands Hause, Lake District
59. Honister Pass, Lake District
60. Whinlatter Pass, Lake District
61. The Struggle, Lake District
62. Kirkland Pass, Lake District
63. Vale Street, Bristol
64. Oakridge Lynch, Gloucestershire
65. Bear Hill, Gloucestershire
66. Owlpen Hill, Gloucestershire
67. Forcester Hill, Gloucestershire
68. Swiss Hill, Manchester
69. Brickworks, Manchester
70. Blaze Hill, Manchester
71. Pyms Chair, Manchester
72. Cat & Fiddle, Manchester
73. Hollingbourne Hill, Kent
74. Boxley Hill, Kent
75. Castle Hill, Kent
76. Vanity Lane, Kent
77. Brasted Hill, Kent
78. Star Hill, Kent
79. Row Dow, Kent
80. Exedown Hill, Kent
81. Vigo Hill, Kent
82. Birling Hill, Kent
83. Cob Hill, Sussex
84. The Wall, Sussex
85. Ashdown Forest, Sussex
86. Firle Bostal, Sussex
87. Holywell Zig-Zags, Sussex
88. Butts Lane, Sussex
89. Bopeep Bostal, Sussex
90. Ditchling Beacon, Sussex
91. Femes, Lanzarote
92. La Geria, Lanzarote
93. Tabayesco, Lanzarote
94. Beacon Hill. Hampshire
95. Butser hill, Hampshire
96. Quell Lane, West Sussex
97. Shaft Road, Bath
98. Weston Hill, Bath
99. Burrington Combe, Somerset
100. Cheddar Gorge, Somerset