Paul's cycling to change lives

Thirty-two days to Basel for Ovacome 2026

Thirty-two days to Basel.

When I signed up for The Big Weekend, the numbers sounded almost absurd. 503km from Basel to Lake Como in three days, finishing with a climb over Splügen Pass at 2,110m on the final morning. The kind of thing that sounds better on paper before you've done the training.

I've done the training.

Since January, I've logged nearly 3,600km on the bike, climbed close to 48,000 metres in elevation, and spent over 158 hours in the saddle. That's Everest eleven times. On two wheels. And the year's only half done.

Fitness is at a level I haven't seen before. New personal best on the power test last week. The long back-to-back days have taught me something I didn't fully appreciate when I signed up: pacing is everything. Day 1 and Day 2 are really just setup for Day 3, when you're already 310km in and Splügen starts climbing at you from Chur.

That's where it gets honest. 8.7km at an average 7.4% gradient. Nothing catastrophic on fresh legs. After two big days in the saddle, though, everything feels harder than it looks on paper. The plan: ride it at tempo, don't blow up, enjoy the 100km descent into Italy on the other side.

I'm doing this for Ovacome, supporting women living with ovarian cancer, funding research, and making sure no one faces this diagnosis without community around them. Every kilometre, every climb, every early start this year has pointed to that.

If you've already donated, thank you. Genuinely. If you've been meaning to and haven't got there yet, now's the time. We're in the final push on both fronts.

Basel, here we come.