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Alex Staniforth

Alex Staniforth

Adversity Adventurer, Motivational Resilience Speaker, Author and Mental Health Activist

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Cycling Chester to Chamonix

You are here: Home / Portfolio Items / Cycling Chester to Chamonix

December 31, 2018 by AdversityAdventurer

As part of my Everest training, in August 2014 I decided to cycle 880 miles from Chester to Chamonix, France, in just 7 days self-supported. A few days after arriving I then climbed the Dom – the highest peak entirely in Switzerland.

I lost time and finished in 8 days overall. My eventual itinerary was:

Day 1 – Depart Chester Town hall to YHA Stratford-upon-Avon, 123 miles

Day 2 – YHA Stratford-upon-Avon to Rowlands Castle, Hampshire, 136 miles

Day 3 – Rowlands Castle to Newhaven, sail to Dieppe at 23:00, 80 miles

Day 4 – Arrive Dieppe 04:00, to Compiegne, 103 miles

Day 5 – Compiegne to Auxerre, 137.5 miles

Day 6 – Auxerre to Avallon, 44 miles (disaster!)

Day 7 – Avallon to Lons-le-Saunier, 118 miles

Day 8 – Lons-le-Saunier to Chamonix

  • Miles travelled: 878.41 miles
  • Average pace: 12.4mph
  • Vertical ascent in feet: 27,678ft (Everest is 29,035ft)
  • Hours in the saddle: 68.35 hours
  • Maximum calories in one day: 6,600kcal
  • Weight of panniers: Approx 10kg (bike 8.71kg)
  • Biggest ascent in one day: 9,744ft
  • Countries travelled through: 3
  • Crashes: 2
  • Flat tyres: 0 (!)

Chester to Chamonix – Part 2: The hardest week of my life…

September 4, 2014
It was in the second half of the week that things really got interesting and tested me to the limit ...
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Chester to Chamonix Update Part 1

September 1, 2014
So I’ve finally had chance to sit down and write the first blog update of EPIC7 #3- the Chester2Chamonix cycle. ...
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Chester to Chamonix: one teenager, one week, one bike

August 26, 2014
I glance down wearily at the time on the laptop and once again it’s nearing 1am. I feel nauseous from ...
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Mind Over Mountains is a charity restoring mental health naturally through therapeutic outdoor experiences.

Read more and join us at: www.mindovermountains.org.uk

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alexstaniforth_

Climbing mountains and the mind.
Charity Founder @mindomountains
🌎 The Lake District #GetOutside
Athlete @inov_8 @ordnancesurvey @ellisbrigham

Alex Staniforth - Adventurer
Back where it all began. Running with my old man! Back where it all began. Running with my old man!

Last March I got my Parkrun PB at Keswick and this weekend got my slowest at Fell Foot.

The plan was to keep my heart rate under 145bpm to avoid another crash of fatigue, which meant walking most of the hills. It took the discipline of Yoda not to set off chasing people like the good old days, especially when my dad overtook me in the first km. 

I hated exercise as a kid. On holiday in France my stepmum bribed me with €2 to run a mile with him. That was a lot of money back then... I hated every minute but dad inspired me to enter a 10km race for charity, and the rest is history. Dad came to watch every race since, as I happily claimed the family record at every distance from 5km to marathon, whilst he retired to become a Parkrun tourist. 

Never thought he'd beat me again, but never forget where you started.
.
#LongCovid #TheComeback #MatchingJackets #parkrun #loveparkrun #fellfootpark
#LakeDistrict #lakedistrictuk #runninginspiration #Fellfoot #windermere #parkruntourist #fatherson
Much-needed adventure inspiration from @mrmarkbeau Much-needed adventure inspiration from @mrmarkbeaumont on his Faster tour at Rheged last weekend. 

Mark is the fastest person to cycle around the world in 80 days (that's 240 miles a day... for perspective) amongst many other records. He's been a huge personal inspiration and kindly endorsed my 2nd book.

So much resonated, but a few favourite takeaways: 

- Trust the process, the bigger picture will always take care of itself. 

- Remove the faff. His team had to ensure he was on the bike by 4am, not 4:05am. That would have added an entire day to his record.

- Mark had 40 people working on his world record. He knew that if he failed, the whole team failed. 

- Good times won't last forever, but that means the bad ones won't either... 

Thanks Mark. Grab his books, talks and films if you're needing some adventure inspiration! 

#faster #worldcycle #ultracycling #markbeaumont #inspiration #80days #mindset #cyclingheroes #rheged #ultracyclist 
@speakersfromtheedge
214/214 Wainwrights complete! Somehow it's taken 214/214 Wainwrights complete! 

Somehow it's taken 12 years, 8 months and 25 days since my first summit, Souther Fell, aged 14 (swipe for evidence). For those who don't know, the Wainwrights are a list of 214 summits created by legendary writer Alfred Wainwright. There was no better hill to finish than the aptly named 'Great Cockup', with a great crowd of friends.

The record is 5 days 12 hrs 14 mins... If only we hadn't stopped for a sandwich 😂 

Meanwhile @thehodfather666 is currently climbing all 214 with a 4 stone hod of house bricks, to raise money for @mindomountains.

However fast you go, there's something strangely addictive about this collection of fells. It's been a fun project to explore the Lakes and maybe one day I'll start again to see how fast I can get around... 

📸@danobeaumont

#GreatCockup #Wainwrights #LakeDistrict #Hillwalking  #GetOutside #Lakes #peakbagging #wainwrightswalks
A big welcome to the first CEO of @mindomountains, A big welcome to the first CEO of @mindomountains, Ian Sansbury! 

When Chris and I founded the charity in 2020 we never imagined how big it would become. From the flagship event with @adventureuncovered to delivering 27 events last year, supporting 300+ people with their mental health, including the NHS, Police and Ambulance Service.

Leadership is about creating a vision, and building a great team to achieve it - like our wonderful trustees, team and 50+ freelance staff who continually go above and beyond. 

It’s also knowing your strengths and weaknesses, when ironically it's compromised my own mental health sometimes too. As the charity grows I'm not the right person to take it where it needs to be, so it can reach everyone who needs our help.

Feeling like a proud parent sending their kids off to start school, with less crying, but I'm super excited to see the charity grow and support even more people with Ian’s expertise. 

I’ll remain heavily involved as a trustee (and Chief Interference Officer) to support the team, tell the story and raise money through daft adventures… 

Thanks to everyone who's been part of the first chapter. Onwards!

#NewChapter #MyBaby  #MentalHealthCharity #MindOverMountains
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