Summit for Scholarships

While my legs and body were sore on Day 6, and the consistent heat accumulated, I realized that I was 5282 feet short. So I steeled myself for a 5295 climb up the Lac de Cap-de-Long, a 13 KM, switchback climb up the side of the mountain. Unlike the previous climbs, which were Tour de France routes, the Lac de Cap-de-Long is a dead end climb up to an alpine lake above the tree line, right below a glacier. The road was gravely and the streets were not lined with spectators. The climb took around 2:30 but was beautiful, peaceful and protected from the sun.  When I reached the top, I had an immense sense of gratitude for the more than 200 donors who had supported students scholarships. As of Tuesday, July 14 - Bastille Day - we have raised more than $165,000 for student scholarships and our content from the ride had been viewed more than 300,000 times across social media channels.

Thanks to all for tuning in and for your support. It will change young people's lives.

Today we climbed the Col du Tourmalet, a 4,000 foot climb over 17 miles. It is one of the most iconic climbs on the tour, rated HC, or beyond classification, harder than the category 1-4 climbs throughout the tour. Most of the climb was at an 8-10 percent grade. At the top of the mountain we were able to watch the Tour de France race go by.

It is hard to believe that the best rider in the world, Tadej Pogačar, is only 5'9" tall and weighs 144 lbs. He is perhaps the best rider ever. His race today will be written about for years - he attacked the second best rider in the world with about 7 miles to go on the climb and won the race by 2:30.

Tadej Pogačar is as good as LeBron and Michael Jordan combined. A fun fact - if he gave me a hour and forty minute head start today climbing the steepest 10 miles of the Tourmalet, he still would have beat me.

We have almost raised $100,000 thanks to 129 donors. Please give!

I have now climbed 23,617 feet, or about 81% of Mt. Everest. Stephen Burwell, who is in a different universe than me as a rider, has climbed 30,109 feet - he made it.

We are not sure if we are riding tomorrow or going to the start of the Tour. If we don't ride, I will donate at least $6000 for scholarships.

A challenge - if we get to 200 donors tomorrow, I will donate $10,000 for student scholarships.

Please donate to help our students.

Challenge unlocked! We are halfway to our 200 donor goal, unlocking a $50,000 gift from Dr. Mehdi Heravi, SIS/PhD '67 in support of AU students.

And President Dave just checked in and has climbed 19,539 feet so far! Stay tuned to see if he reaches 29,000 feet.

Today was a wonderful day to ride - except for the heat. 100 degrees in the valley.

We rode up three categorized climbs. First, the Col de Val Louron-Azet, a 6 mile, 2510 foot climb at an average 8% grade, which has been featured in the Tour de France 10 times. Second, a Category 2 climb, coming in at 2605. Third, the Col d'Aspin, a 1296 foot 5 mile climb. The Col d'Aspin is the second most frequent climb in the tour, appearing 71 times, second only to the Tourmalet, which we will climb on Thursday. 

We now have more than 75 donors for more than $30,000 in scholarships for students. If we get 30 more donors, we will add $50,000 to our total courtesy SIS alum Mehdi Heravi. Special thanks to donations from Richard Birnbaum, a Kogod alum who used to run Circuit City; Sarah Marie Martin; Stacy Swann, an alum and adjunct professor, AU Trustee Victoria Harker, and David Cohen, an alum who runs an arts logistics business. 

Tomorrow we have an easy day - 43 miles and 2000 feet since we will be traveling to Pau to watch the finish of tomorrow's stage in the Tour de France. Excited to see the race for the first time. Go Eagles!

Challenge accomplished! President Dave met the challenge by completing an HC climb (HC, or Hors Catégorie, refers to mountain climbs that are "beyond categorization”), prompting Peter Siegel, Kogod BSBA '90, MBA '93, to give $10,000 in support of AU students.

Glorious but very hard day 2. We started with a warmup ride in route to the Port de Bales, a 5000+ peak in the Pyrenees which has been featured in six Tour de France routes. It is categorized an HC. HC stands for hors catégorie, a French phrase that translates to "beyond categorization" compared to the normal categories 1 - 4 rating for climbs. During Stage 15 of the 2010 Tour de France, race leader Andy Schleck suffered a dropped chain immediately after launching an attack on the Port de Bales. His primary rival, Alberto Contador, capitalized on the mechanical failure by counter-attacking and gaining a decisive 39-second advantage. This ignited a fierce global controversy over sportsmanship, as it violated the Peloton's unwritten rule against attacking a vulnerable Yellow Jersey.

We then enjoyed a 7 mile downhill to start our second climb, the Col de Peyresourde, a 6 mile, 2400 foot climb. The afternoon sun was brutal - and it was 90 degrees plus. I climbed around 800 or 900 feet and started to feel dizzy, leading me to the fateful decision to get in the van for the final four miles. After cooling off, I completed the remaining 15 miles of the ride. The downhills were incredible - top speed 45MPH.

Today's ride seeks to raise funds for SIS students in honor of Mehdi Heravi who issued a $50,000 match pledge if we hit 100 donations.  So far we have 50 donations totaling $13,000+ with several $5,000 and $10,000 match pledges for the remaining days of the ride.