I wanted to share a little extra now that our big trip is a week in the past. The climbing of the Alpe d’Huez was for me more than just raising as much money as possible for cancer research (we are on the way to 15000 euro’s now so thank you for the latest donations). For me it was also about biting this full metal jacket bullet that I can do everything everybody else can too! You would think: “Why wouldn’t you?”. Well, I was diagnosed with diabetes type I 4 years ago. At that time I thought a lot of normal things were beyond my reach. How can you go to the max without falling of your bike (although I was not cycling yet at that time)? As it turns out….I can climb the Alpe d’Huez too…and can do it pretty well!! It was emotional for me to reach the top therefore on more than just one level. But the high was because of it so much higher!
I’ll try to keep you all informed of my progress in cycling and dealing with diabetes. But thank you again to all my friends who saw the victory for what it was.

We would like to start by thanking everyone that has supported us over the last 6 months! Without all of you this would not have been such a great success. We cycled on the shorter Wednesday and between all of us we climbed the Alpe d’Huez 24 times. With this we raised close to €14000 for the Alpe d’HuZes/KWF foundation. Also on their behalf we thank you!!!

After a fun roadtrip from Holland to France, several croissants, a couple of scratched knees and a few practice runs up the alp, we’re all geared up for the Alpe d’huZes this Wednesday! The town has transformed into a ‘mini-Nederland’, getting more & more orange by the day. The light rain adds to the Dutch feeling, but we’re hoping that clearer skies reach us soon.

Don’t forget to follow us (team 814) live on Wednesday, starting at 10:00 at http://live.opgevenisgeenoptie.nl/livetijden

We will be travelling to France on Saturday morning. We will be biking on Wednesday and you can follow us on several webcams and follow our stats live! We are team 814 and this is the link to the streaming website: http://live.opgevenisgeenoptie.nl/livetijden … Cheering from any country is allowed and in our hearts we will hear it! Thank you for all your support!

On the 26th of May we will be hosting another spinning marathon. This one will be held at the Sportcity establishment on the Waterloosquare. It will be a great event with also alternative  ways to get active and fit! For more information check the Spinning Marathon page.

We raised €500 and got some good exercise last Saturday and we also had a lot of fun. Just over a week till the big day!!

Together with EdenFrost, team VUmc’s Ed Aanhane will be hosting a Charity Ping Pong  event on 26 April 2012, and you are invited! The event will include good food, ping pong (including a tournament), games room, DJs, and a charity raffle.

Our goal is to put on an awesome, fun night and to raise 1,500 euros to put towards the 20,000 euro goal.

Read more…

On the weekend of April 1st we went to the Belgian Ardennes together with Team Spakeloos to train on cycling uphill (as you all know, Holland is very flat). We trained hard for 3 days – going up and down in rain, fog and, on the last day, beautiful sunny weather. We cycled over 200 km and the steepest slope reached 20% on some parts!! On a personal level, I never thought I would bomb down a mountain at 48 kmph and not be afraid (ok I was a little..) or find the courage and power to keep on cycling up a steep road when my body said NO really loud! We learned a lot, went through many hardships, bonded as a team, but most of all…we had a great time!!!

The team at Amsterdam’s VUmc Cancer Center researches new treatments for cancer every day. In June 2012, our team will swap lab coats for cycling gear and head to the Alpe d’HuZes fundraising event in France. The 7th annual cycling event aims to raise an impressive 30 million euros for cancer research and prevention. Our team of 8 medical biologists, doctors and researchers will do our part and aim to raise 20,000 Euros. Read more…

Het VUmc team klaar voor de Alpe d’HuZes!

Dagelijks wordt hier in de ‘blokkendoos’ van het VUmc onderzoek gedaan naar nieuwe preventieve en behandel-methoden tegen kanker. Nu ruilen we de labjassen in voor fietskleding en gaan we 6 juni 2012 knallen in Frankrijk. De 7de editie van de Alpe D’HuZes hoopt dit jaar 30 miljoen euro op te halen voor het KWF. Wij hopen met minimaal 20.000 euro hier een steentje aan bij te dragen. Een persoonlijke uitdaging voor alle teamleden en voor een geweldig doel voor ons allemaal! Lees meer…