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Chamonix Girls Ride for Nepal

Charity Bike Ride from Albertville to Alpe d'Huez for Nepal Earthquake Appeal

featured in News & reviews Author Alison Shayler, Alpe d'Huez Reporter Updated

Two Chamonix seasonaires are tackling a tough cycling challenge to raise money for the Nepal earthquake victims - cycling 164km from Albertville to Alpe d'Huez and finishing with the iconic 21 bends.

Impressive enough in itself, more so when we consider that neither of the girls have ever biked before! Amber Cigdem and Gemma Neath were working their winter jobs in Chamonix, Amber at Bluebird Café and Gemma for Chamexpress, when a massive earthquake hit Nepal on 25th April 2015 killing over 9000 people, with subsequent aftershocks causing yet more devastation.

The girls immediately wanted to do something to help but with so many appeals from various charities they weren't sure where to start. After taking the advice of friends in Nepal, they decided to raise money for The Mountain Trust, an established charitable organisation with a good knowledge of the needs of the local community that has been helping underprivileged people in Nepal for almost 10 years.

Amber and Gemma needed to come up with a way to raise the money though, and it was important to them that it was a tough challenge that would make them earn every donation. After a chat with Dave Astle, barman at The Pub, the idea of a bike ride was born. With a number of triathlons and ultra-marathons to his name, Dave is no stranger to endurance sports and he offered to coach the girls.

Such newcomers were Amber and Gemma to the world of road biking, that neither of them even had a bike to start with; they did their first month of training at the gym doing spin classes! Since then they have become acquainted with the world of lycra, padded pants and clip-in pedals to the extent that Dave has seen a massive improvement, "as a coach, I'm impressed - as a mate, I'm completely blown away; the determination they've shown has been unbelievable".

Their training regime has been an intense learning curve with them now packing in approximately 5 bike rides per week and making lifestyle changes to support their new hobby. According to Amber it's not just about their own goals, "personal achievement is great but it's about more than that, it's about raising as much money as we can for the people in Nepal - no matter how tough we find this, it's nothing compared to what they are going through".

The ride will start on 31st July in Albertville, covering 70km on the first day. After camping overnight in Saint Jean de Maurienne, the girls will tackle their toughest day as they push on to Bourg d'Oisans via the Col de Lauteret at 2057m and the Col de Galibier at 2645m - both frequently featured as mountain stages in the Tour de France. After another night under canvas they have the final stretch and the famous 21 bends of Alpe d'Huez to contend with; a 14km climb up 1143m of steep twisting tarmac up to the finish at an altitude of 1860m. By the time they finish Gemma and Amber will have ridden 164km and climbed a mighty 6300m. Not bad for two lasses who only clipped in for the first time about 6 weeks ago!

Gemma and Amber's bike challenge is entirely self-funded with every penny they raise going straight to Nepal, so they have been keen to keep costs down. The girls have been overwhelmed by the level of support they've received so far, not just in terms of donations but also in help with planning the challenge. Dave has given many hours of his time to coach them and friends have loaned them all sorts of kit ranging from cycling shoes to bikes - Ali Wilson of Monkey in Chamonix Sud is coming along as support driver and now all they need is a van to pack all their kit in (if anyone would like to loan them one they would be most grateful!).

So far the challenge has raised over 600€, with the goal being 1000€. You can show your support for Amber and Gemma, and the people whose lives have been devastated by the earthquake in Nepal, by donating here on their Justgiving page.