Meet the riders: Roger Black

Creative Director, Ballymore (large residential property developer)

About to get married, two children, two step-children

Originally from Canada

“Make sure you bring lots of saddle cream” 

My partner’s a lawyer. She’s also a triathlete and competes in Ironman competitions around the world. And she’s a much better cyclist and a much better runner and swimmer than me. So there’s always somebody to keep up with. We ride quite a lot together.

This will be my third Cycle to Cannes. I started because a very good friend of mine, John Nordon, has been involved since its inception, and I’d heard a lot about it. I’d been at MIPIM and when the ride comes into town it’s quite an event. And I thought I’d like to participate in that. My motivation was on many levels. Firstly it’s a personal, physical challenge, which I like, and secondly it’s a fundraising aspect. We’re raising money for the children’s charity Coram, of which I’m a trustee. 

Coram is a very important charity, the first children’s charity, established in 1739. It sets the entire agenda for child welfare issues in the UK. It leads the field in areas of adoption, contact and so forth. And the money it raises goes into innovating new methods for dealing with some of the most difficult and gut-wrenching child stories in the country.

Coram created modern-day adoption. It’s the best adoption service in the country. A very high proportion of adoptions fail and Coram sets a standard in the way adoption services should  be delivered. So if you replicate what Coram does, you’ll achieve similar success rates throughout the country. Secondly, Coram also works at the other end of the child welfare spectrum through its Life Education programme. Life Education has mobile classrooms and visits primary schools all around the country, educating children in life skills around healthy living, saying no to drugs and saying no to smoking. So Coram works at both ends, from acute cases dealing with adoption to the macro level reaching hundreds of thousands of children all over the country. And Cycle to Cannes raises money for both of those endeavours.

How easy is it to raise funds to do the ride?

Fundraising is never easy on any level. And one-to-one requests from friends and family are the most difficult. It’s much easier to raise money at the corporate level where you’re asking for significant donations. So we’re hoping to raise our game in the way we go about raising money by taking a more professional approach this year. The potential for fundraising with Cycle to Cannes is a huge opportunity, and in particular for Coram. I’ve been lucky for the last couple of years in that I’ve been able to find one sponsor for each of the rides. The first year it was a contractor, and last year I brought Barclays on board.

Is there a connection between the property industry and Coram?

Cycle to Cannes is essentially centred around the London property industry. The charity was founded on the basis initially of a large plot of land in the heart of what is now Bloomsbury, and its location here gave rise to other child-related centres in Bloomsbury – Great Ormond Street Hospital being one, the Institute of Child Health being another. So Coram has had a very important role to play in the pattern of development in this part of London.

Coram also worked with the former Lord Mayor of London*, who is heavily involved in the London property industry, and through his auspices Coram has developed its links to the property industry, and the Cycle to Cannes connection is a logical progression.

* Coram was a lead beneficiary of the 2011 Lord Mayor of the City of London’s charity appeal.

“It’s an experience of fraternity, a brothers-in-arms type of thing”

What have been your Cycle to Cannes experiences

We’ve been lucky with dry weather in my first two years, but I think our luck will run out on us this year, I think 2012 is going to be a rather wet ride. My overriding impression is what an unexpected pleasure the ride is. The first year was the greatest thrill for me because it was such as surprise. A middle-aged property professional and all or a sudden I felt like I was a twenty-year old, living the dream of being a professional athlete. One is looked after to a standard akin to the professional cycling game. It’s a unique and very special experience for those who have aspirations to prove them selves physically through sport. It’s absolutely exceptional. You could not improve what is already an unbelievably good ride.

What was particularly good about 2011?

What’s really quite special about the ride is that everybody is defrocked from their day gear and wearing lycra and helmets and so forth. To be honest, it’s a levelling aspect so we have various ends of the spectrum from lowly consultants to chief executives of major corporations. But you wouldn’t know that until you ask. And often you wouldn’t know who they are until the end of the ride anyway.

It’s a great experience of people coming together. You know some people at the start, but generally you don’t know anybody. It’s an experience of kinship and friendship, fraternity, a brothers-in-arms type of thing. Would I say it’s like going into battle? No, but I think it’s something akin to being in a great sports team. And that’s the spirit that evolves over the course of the ride on our way down to the south of France. It’s also quite special when you actually arrive in Cannes after the ride. Again it’s a very special experience. You ride into town; there’s always a very large crowd and we’ve been greeted for the past two years by Boris Johnson. And that’s quite an experience. And after the ride it’s kind of a sad moment, everyone meets for a drink in their lycra and then all of a sudden you all depart to your hotels. And that magical spell that’s evolved and grown over the preceding six days has gone. . .

At the end of the ride everyone’s given a medal, and that’s quite interesting, because it’s not an important thing, but actually most people wear the medal. So over the next few days you bump into people with the medal around their neck and all of a sudden you see people you don’t recognise because of their suits. And the kinship is re-found, and there’s a reason to share a beer in the bar or have a conversation on the stand or wave hello. And it actually makes the MIPIM experience much better in my opinion.

So it’s a great ride, a great sporting event and a great personal challenge run in an environment akin to that of a professional athlete. And then when you’re actually at MIPIM there’s another 80-odd people who’ve shared the same experience and you have something other than property to talk about and a reason to stop somebody who would otherwise have been a stranger, and have a conversation and share a beer and go to their stand, or have dinner, and be involved in the whole MIPIM experience.

From a business-to-business perspective, I have developed business opportunities directly from being on the ride. There’s absolutely no doubt about it. Particularly for our work at Ballymore we had two very important leads that came out of the ride last year and the same again the preceding year. It’s serendipity really, meeting people you hadn’t thought you would ever aspire to meet and engaging in conversations that are often evolving over three or four days on the ride and then you can crystallize those when you get to MIPIM. So from a commercial perspective, business-to-business, it’s been very productive.

The ride itself is not about business, the ride is about riding, and the opportunity to build new friendships. The business aspect will creep in over a beer in the bar, or when we get to Cannes. But really it’s about the shared experience of having been on the bike. But actually having shared that experience, the opportunities evolve to develop relationships along business lines.

Tell us about your bike.

My bike is a Cervélo RS, an extremely light road bike, about the fifth serious road bike I’ve had. And now for me, it feels like a well-worn pair of gloves. It fits me to a tee. I’m able to ride at a level that a middle-aged chap like myself wouldn’t normally be able to achieve. The technology in cycling has really moved on substantially in the past ten years. What you can buy today you couldn’t have bought ten years ago and it’s really helped me be a much, much better rider.

Bikes are the new handbags I think. Bikes are the new Jimmy Choos. Most of the people on the ride enjoy their bikes. They love their bikes for what they are; they’re works of art; they’re expensive tools. And most of the riders take a great deal of pride in their bicycles. So they would have their day bikes for commuting, and also their expensive bike to ride out on the weekend. So it’s an opportunity to have a nice set of wheels and use it “in anger” so to speak, over a period of six days, rather than just for one or two hours at the weekend.

Favourite bits?

For me the most exciting parts of the ride are the night stages. Particularly the first day in France, it’s always very cold, and we set off from the hotel out into absolute blackness, and there’s quite often black ice on the road, and just having twenty-odd riders out on the road, just with their lights – no sounds, no cars, no motorway – and the only thing you can hear are the motorcycle outriders guiding us through our route.  They’re very special moments, those very early mornings, or the late night parts of the ride, they’re experiences you just don’t get living in a large metropolis. It’s absolutely black and genuinely is the middle of nowhere.

Worst bits?

The worst part is when you’re on that extra stage that probably you shouldn’t have done. I’ve had experiences where I’ve done my allotted stages, plus all the other stages that day and it’s the last stage of the day and sheer exhaustion has crept in. But then the satisfaction at completing that stage is therefore amplified because of how tough it was.

How do you train?

I personally don’t train specifically for the ride. I run, I swim, I cycle and I endeavour to get out on the bicycle as much as I can. Often it’s only once a week. The great thing about the ride as it’s over the course of six days is in a sense you ride yourself into fitness. So the first day or two are a little bit more difficult than as the ride progresses. You find yourself over time building up a level of capability and endurance that wasn’t otherwise there. And that comes from being on the bike, muscle memory and your ability to ride more efficiently. So for those who are keen cyclists, or keen athletes in any form, what’s great about doing Cycle to Cannes in March is that you’re riding yourself to a level of fitness that hopefully you can sustain throughout the season. It’s a bit like a week-long training camp to kick start your summer of activity and fitness.

Tips?

Number one tip for those who’ve not done it is to do the ride. There seems to be a great deal of fear amongst people who I try to encourage to go on the ride that this the impossible, that they can’t do it. But the truth is that the minimum requirement of two 50-kilometre stages each day is manageable by almost anyone. So tip number one is live the dream: here’s the opportunity to be a professional bike rider for six days. Tip number two is to bring lots of clothes because there’s no opportunity to wash them. And lastly, make sure you bring lots of saddle cream. You’ll develop saddle sores that can be excruciatingly painful if you don’t have enough lubricant on your bottom.

Interview with Richard Trillo, at Estates Gazette's offices, 9 December 2011

Meet the riders: Lisa Gunn

Valuation Services, GVA (a commercial property company)

Married, two daughters

Originally from California 

Sam Mclary, Lil Houghton, Lisa Gunn

“Lil looked at me and she said: That was rough, wasn’t it?”

I was born and raised in California and managed to bag a Scotsman. I’ve been in the UK for thirteen years now and we have two young daughters and live in London. 

Because I’d done Cycle to Cannes in 2010 I really wanted to come back and do the whole thing in 2011. I had done everything but 100 miles in 2010 and my goal for 2011 was to actually do the whole ride start to finish, not stopping at all. I’m pleased to say I did do it, thanks to Sam McClary from Estates Gazette and Lil Houghton from Deloitte. We supported each other through the ride and it was an amazing sense of achievement but incredibly difficult. One of the things that helped me get through it was the fact that I wasn’t alone and I was doing it with two other women that were determined to do the whole thing as well.

How do you find the money raising aspect of the ride?

Raising money is an important aspect. You can plan the training and everything else – we did a website and blogs and that can all be planned beforehand – but the reason we’re doing this isn’t for a holiday to France but to support Coram. I was very excited to hear they were on board with the ride, because in America I had some experience with foster kids and my family has adopted two kids, so I know how much need there is. And when you’re raising money, it’s much easier when you have a personal connection.

How was the ride last year?

If I were to compare the two years, 2010 was warmer with less wind. 2011 was colder – a lot colder! – but the new route, especially towards the end coming into Cannes, was much better, with the hills much more scenic. To cope with the cold I wear lots and lots of layers. I get really affected with my fingers and my feet as well. The first morning we woke up on the other side in Calais was  I believe minus 7ºC  and the next morning was minus 4ºC. It was hours before I was able to feel my feet again – absolutely horrendous but woolly socks and lots of layers to peel off and on are the solution. When it’s that cold, your muscles take a bit of time to warm up and the beginning of every day – usually in the dark – you usually spend about an hour warming up. But it’s not a problem.

What’s your training programme?

I was in pretty good fitness to begin with and cycling to work every day four days a week – about 15 miles every day – and I also usually do a longer ride on the weekends. Family commitments aside usually that’s 50 or 70 miles. That pretty much takes the general level of fitness to what I need.  And then I took the spreadsheet off the Cycle to Cannes website on what training we’d need to do and that’s a ten week programme. I came back first thing, January, right after Christmas and I hit it incredibly hard because then it’s very focused – I’m thinking I’m going to have to do this in ten weeks now.

How do you fit Cycle to Cannes into family life?

The first time I did the ride my youngest had just turned two. I’d only been back at work for a little over a year and I remember the ride with other new parents ­– all men pretty much – and I was the only woman to have had children and especially such young children. And the only reason I am able to do Cycle to Cannes is through the support of my partner. I also called my mom, and said Mom can you please come over and help me do this. So she comes over for two months to help me train, to stop all the stress being just on my husband.

In order to do the ride, you start off your training and it’s only a couple of hours a week, and by the time you finish you’re doing 20 hours a week. So if someone were to ask you how much free time you have, would you even say you have 20 hours to fit in cycling? No. So the first thing that goes is sleep. Now work is still expecting you to do your work and home life is still expecting home. And because it’s my choice to do the ride, the family time always had to be protected. I could never say “I need to go cycle” – unless it’s the last weekend when I need to do back-to-back rides.

Which parts of the ride do you enjoy most?

What I enjoy most is the flow of the ride. When you get there all you need to do is ride. The only decision you need to make in the morning is get up and ride. Everything else is taken care of. The staff are lovely. The other riders are lovely, and this year I was fortunate enough to it with two of my colleagues and we had a close-knit group and we really supported each other through it.

My best memories are of waking up to sunrise and seeing the sun track across the sky and watching the sun arc from right to left. It was almost Zen-like, because I’ll never be in another instance where that will happen. Just sitting, and watching nature, and it was beautiful.

Another image that I’ll remember is the mist on champagne vines and the dawn breaking. That was beautiful. Coming into Cannes, that was amazing with the anticipation. The vegetation had all changed – the vegetation on each stage is quite distinctive – and seeing all the lavender bushes when we came into Provence. Another highlight was having that region’s tipple every night – the different wines. That was one of the high points.

What about your bike?

I realised that I needed to upgrade from my commute bike which was a basic plodder, especially if I was going to be spending such a long time in the saddle. So I treated myself to a Christmas present in 2009 and got a Cannondale Super Six super six which is a carbon fiber machine. It’s beautiful, gorgeous, responsive, light. The only thing I changed from the first year was the men’s race saddle that came with it to a women’s specific saddle.

I also have GPS tracking unit which enabled me to find out how many calories I was burning,  my average heart rate, how fast I was going, the elevation. It was brilliant because I did a blog every day and I would send that day’s stats. My family in the US is big into cycling so they would understand what it meant, because you start fairly flat and it gets hillier and hillier.

What’s it like cycling with all those men?

There are a lot of men on the ride and usually only about seven or eight women.  That does mean you’re taken care of. You’re appreciated on the ride.  I had a lot of comments after the first year saying that the women added a different element.  I think – is there a lot of testosterone on the ride? – no not really. After four days, five days it’s all gotten out of them. I work in the property industry, which is mainly male anyway so it’s no different from a day at the office.

“A highlight was having that region’s tipple every night”

Which was the worst day?

The worst day on the ride this year would have to be Day 5. And keep in mind that we’d done four days of maybe 11 or 12 hours every day. In your mindset tomorrow into Cannes will be easier because all you have to do is just get there. So it’s day 5 and it starts getting hillier. And about five hours into the ride I started getting a pain in my knee and I could only cycle on one side so I’m cycling with one leg. There was wind in our faces. There had been wind in our faces all day, from the moment we got on the bikes, and the weather was okay but it was blustery. And it was just the accumulation of being tired – because you only get about five or six hours sleep a night – in addition to the 12 hours of being in the saddle. And we came into the rest stop and I was thinking I can’t make this, I can’t make this. And I’d already started tearing up and I had dark glasses on so no-one could see and I was trying not push myself over the edge and I came into the rest thinking I can’t do this, I still have five more hours on the bike. And Lil looked at me and she said: That was rough, wasn’t it? And that was just enough to break the dam. And she said: Give me a hug. So I gave her a hug and I said: You must say something mean to me, I’ve got to get back on the bike in five minutes. Got to focus: Say something mean. So she said something mean, and I said: That’s not enough, say something meaner. So she said some more mean things and I said: Okay that’s enough, you’ve crossed the line! And it just gave us a bit of a giggle, and we got back on our bikes and we carried on.

Nothing matched it the year before in toughness and I think it was just the difference between doing the whole thing, every stage, and not.

What’s it like switching from Cycle to Cannes to MIPIM mode?

So you roll into Cannes – big fanfare, big red bus is there – photo shoots, and it’s a great feeling of accomplishment. But all of a sudden you have to start thinking for yourself and it’s a big shock of: Where am I spending the night? what do I need to do? What I learned from my first year is that you need to be ready, not have your business cards buried too far down because you go over to Savill’s tent and you start by having beer and celebration food. And you continue networking, in your lycra, for the next five or six hours. You are expected to start the week like everyone else.

The great thing about it is you have this medal. Some people choose to wear it, but anyway you have this story to tell to anyone who is willing to listen about what you’ve just done. And most delegates will have seen the bikes come in and they’ll have heard a little about it. It is difficult to switch off and you are still incredibly tired and then drinking on top of it and getting even more tired. I didn’t think it was possible to do. But it is!

Any tips for female riders?

Firstly, when you train, train as much as you can with men so you get used to the speed, as it is a bit faster than if you were to train alone. Make sure that you have a women’s specific saddle. It doesn’t need to have springs or anything but it needs to be wider.  So get a saddle that is suited to your behind, and make sure that your bike is set up for you because you’re going to spend a long time in it – 60 hours or so if you do the whole thing. Also what I found really useful are these things called drop-tail shorts. They’re made for women – Pearl Izumi is probably the only make that do them. Basically you can pull down the back part only and while you're having a comfort break with the men your dignity is relatively intact. 

Interview with Richard Trillo, at the Estates Gazette offices, 7 December 2011 

Nick gets trained

On Skype, learning how to do CMS. With thanks to StudioFourFour.

Donate Using BMyCharity

The BMyCharity page for Aedas Cycle to Cannes 2012 is now live, making it easy for you to donate.

Cycle To Cannes 2012 is launched!

1st to 6th March 2012



We're delighted to let you know that the launch of Aedas Cycle to Cannes 2012 will be held on the evening of Thursday 29th September in Central London. This will be your first chance to hear about our plans for the 2012 ride, which include a new challenge for the more seasoned cyclists amongst you. Whether you're a novice or an old pro, we're certain that C2C 2012 will be better than ever. As the property industry's premier cycling event, C2C not only provides a unique riding experience but generates much needed grants for charities. In 2011 we raised in excess of £205,000, taking us over the £1million mark since we first set off for MIPIM back in 2006. We want to build on that success as we power towards the Olympics in 2012. More details will follow soon, but in the meantime make sure you put the evening of Thursday 29th September in your diary.



Chapeau!

The Aedas Cycle to Cannes Team

The Aedas Cycle to Cannes
Coram Community Campus
49 Mecklenburgh Square
London
WC1N 2QA

T: +44 (0)7958 443 129

www.cycle2cannes.org

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

BDonline Piece

There's a nice piece here wrapping up the C2C 2011 ride. Thank you BD!

Aix en Provence to Cannes - Tuesday 8th March 2011

It’s day 6 at last, arrival into Cannes and the day we’ve all been looking forward to since leaving London. We have the relative luxury of another late start too, with a 7am roll out, meaning the wake-up calls don’t hit our dreams until 5.45am.

We have the double Olympian and Commonwealth medallist Emma Davies and her co-director of Cycle Côte d’Azur triathlete Claire Scrutton riding with us today and there’s a thrusting and ebullient mood among the 83 charity riders that looks set to enhance a performance that has consistently outstripped the targets in our riders’ handbook for each stage.

Out in the hills of Provence, though, it’s a very brisk early spring morning, with a gusting headwind blowing at up to 50kph straight into the riders’ faces from the southeast: some are so tired they can hardly talk straight. Team rules are withdrawn for the three stages of this last 171km day, but the deal is that once you start a stage you must complete the ride into Cannes in the afternoon.

The sun is shining into the peloton from the east as they flank the Montagne Ste-Victoire and then snake up over the ridges towards Draguignan and east into the hills near Grasse, France’s perfume capital. With the day finally warming, there’s a couple of serious climbs before the glorious descent south to the Mediterranean and the seafront road that leads into Cannes.

Here, at a pre-arranged rendezvous, a police-escorted Mayor of London is standing by on the roadside with one of his own Barclays Cycle Hire bikes at the ready to join the peloton as it swoops east along the Croisette. He’s in town to sell London at the annual MIPIM property convention.

It’s a be-suited but very willing and charismatic Boris Johnson who hoves into view at the front of the peloton and comes to a slightly breathless stop in front of our huge red bus outside the Palais des Festivals. A mass of riders, bikes, friends, family, onlookers and press swirls around the square as we organise medals and MIPIM passes – most of our riders are delegates at the MIPIM property convention that opens in the Palais today.

Awash with endorphins, our ecstatic C2C riders need no persuading to cheer in front of the cameras. Hugs, handshakes, the odd tear and several large beers later (thanks to Savills estate agents who have an open house for the riders at their funky café by the seafront) we are well and truly finished. We need to get home, get some sleep and get in the mood to start planning Aedas Cycle to Cannes 2012.

Chanas to Aix en Provence – Monday 7th March 2011

After yesterday’s lie-in until 5.45, it’s back to an early start: up at 4.45 and departure at 6am for the first 60km stage which, including some steep climbs out of the Rhône valley, is expected to take 3 hours 13 minutes. At 8.27, though, Bluefin romp into St Marcel les Valence, accompanied by a good showing of other riders. The mood is upbeat: nobody can quite believe how fast they’ve done the stage – must be the Midi sun and rosemary notes in the fresh morning air.

There’s been a dramatic setback however – a motorbike escort has been thrown off his bike by a car pulling across in front of him. Our paramedic team are on the scene in seconds and treat him while waiting for an ambulance. He’s been whisked to hospital for a CT scan, but seems okay. His bike is a write-off: it turns up on the trailer towed by the sweeper van.

Lunch is enjoyed in full, warming sunshine in the community centre car park at Visan, shaded by cypress trees. One of our sponsors, David Phillips, has requested photos of their branded grease monkey van, so we have to grab the DP guys when they roll in from their stage and ask them to pose by the van with their bikes – which they willingly do just before going out again on the first afternoon stage.

After lunch we get the welcome news that Boris Johnson has confirmed he will ride one of his Barclays Cycle Hire bikes into Cannes with us on the last stage of the ride tomorrow. Less good is the late arrival of the bus at the end of stage 4, complete with a complement of resting Delancey riders due on the next stage. This is Neil the bus driver’s third time into Isle sur Sorgue, and he’s managed to get lost on both previous occasions. This time he was determined to avoid a repeat performance.

Nick, Richard and I set off in the Renault-office to find them and bring them back. We find the bus on the wrong side of a low bridge. Then the local gendarmes intervene. After some discussion with our motorbike escorts, the police lead us back through Isle sur Sorgue and, nearly an hour late in the schedule, we hook up with the peloton in the cane fields east of town.

Decision time: it’s too late to continue the ride unaltered. We have a stiff climb up over the Luberon hills (“Year in Provence” territory) and then a wonderful 17km descent through a gorge to the valley of the Durance. The peloton takes off with lights mounted, and we meet it at an impromptu rendezvous above the picturesque village of Bonnieux, just as the sun is going down. It’s been a tough climb, with blustery head winds and many riders are now exhausted.

They don hi-vis gilets and ride down the hairpins of the gorge in the dark. It’s far from ideal and the early night air is bitter, but most riders are too tired and instinctively forgiving to make a fuss, though we feel they have every right: stage 5 on day 5 has been widely touted as the best part of the entire ride, and it would have been a glorious afternoon descent.

At the break before what would have been a miserable stage 6, and now running ninety minutes late, the day’s ride is closed: the 35km approach into Aix en Provence is too dangerous to complete in the dark.

It’s a welcome relief to arrive at the hotel, where we’ve organised an impromptu drinks reception for riders and crew. The Commonwealth medallist and twice Olympian cyclist Emma Davies is doing the ride into Cannes with us tomorrow and adds an exciting dash of pizzazz to dinner. After a smooth ride thus far, that was one eventful day.