Photo: A leisurely stroll along the Promenade des Anglais in Nice before breakfast today.

Cartoceto – Milan – San Remo – Nice – Avignon – Bellegarde – Thonon Les Bains – Armoy.

Over the last two days I’ve travelled 1,404 km with my bike without a single pedal stroke. She didn’t even see daylight as she was ensconced in her travel bag. It’s complicated.

Drive to Milan to drop Jan off at the airport for her week in London. Then Milan – San Remo (rings a bell) and onto Nice. Overnight in Nice. Train from Nice to Avignon, another to Bellegarde then a final train to Thonon Les Bains for the hotel in Armoy.

Dinner this evening was like first day at school. So many names to learn. I can recall about half of them. I’m not going to embarrass myself by recanting them here. Suffice to say that I have two missions tomorrow. Climb both the Col de Joux Plane and the Col de la Colombiere and learn the names of the other half. Let’s see how I do.

All this just to get me to the start line for the Raid Alpine Tour 2018 starting tomorrow. From Armoy to Nice in six days, climbing every Col the organiser could fit in. The distance of 563km isn’t the problem (I can do that in just over a day). It’s the climbing. 19,947 metres (more than twice the height of Everest) that’s the challenge. The clue is in the name, Raid Alpine.

I’ve never climbed that much before and it will be my first time riding six consecutive days. By the end of the week I should either have some good climbing legs, or be completely done in, or both.

Year to date

11,139km / 96 rides / 116 km average per ride

106,869m elevation gain (12 Everests)