Members of the MeadWestvaco Mont Ventoux Challenge

  • Jan Theelen, MeadWestvaco Venlo, Netherlands, Racebike
  • Sylvain Thibaut, MeadWestvaco Deols, France, Racebike
  • Celio van Gerwen, MeadWestvaco Uden, Netherlands
  • Santiago Casado, MeadWestvaco Hemer, Germany, Walking
  • Georg Reinhard, MeadWestvaco Trier, Germany, Mountainbike
  • John Sturkenboom, MeadWestvaco Uden, Netherlands, Racebike
  • Martijn van Diepenbeek, MeadWestvaco Uden, Netherlands, Mountainbike
  • Mark van der Cruijsen, MeadWestvaco Uden, Netherlands, Mountainbike
  • Steve Cooke, MeadWestvaco Bristol, England, Walking
  • Julien Rayée, MeadWestvaco Roosendaal, Netherlands, Running
  • Twan Beurskens, MeadWestvaco Venlo, Netherlands, Racebike
  • Peter Theelen, MeadWestvaco Venlo, Netherlands, Racebike
  • Chris Schuts, MeadWestvaco Venlo, Netherlands, Racebike
  • Jeroen Evertsen, MeadWestvaco Enschede, Netherlands, Mountainbike
  • Dick Klein Egelink, MeadWestvaco Enschede, Netherlands, Racebike
  • Ramil Nigmatullin, MeadWestvaco Moscow, Russia, Running
  • Patrick de Laat, MeadWestvaco Uden, Netherlands, Racebike
  • Michel Tanguy, MeadWestvaco Troyes, France, Racebike
  • Christophe Raby, MeadWestvaco Troyes, France, Racebike

Non MeadWestvaco members

  • Ronald van Heertum, Uden, Netherlands, Racebike
  • Marcus Gluth, MWV Contractor Hemer, Germany, Racebike
  • Heiner Korschewski, MWV Contractor Hemer, Germany, Racebike
  • Thomas Nicolai, MWV Contractor Hemer, Germany, Racebike

MeadWestvaco's Mont Ventoux Supportteam

  • Daniel Westphal, MeadWestvaco Hemer, Germany
  • Michael Hofer, MWV SHE SBS Europe, Austria

Sunday 24 February 2008

Publication on the MeadWestvaco Intranet

To day I recieved this e-mail from the US:

Hi Jan,

I'm a communications coordinator in MeadWestvaco's Corporate Communications department in Glen Allen, Virginia. I've enjoyed receiving regular Google Alerts regarding the Mont Ventoux bike race. So, on Friday, February 29, we will feature the fast fact below on the company's employee intranet. I just wanted to let you know in advance.

Thanks!
Owen



So lets have a look on the intranet Saterday!!!!

Wednesday 20 February 2008

Georg Reinhard



I am Georg Reinhard born at 21.04.68 - Yes I will be 40 this year...,I'm married and have two children- Nina (10) / Lukas (11). I work at MeadWestvaco since 18.06.07 as Quality and Safety Manager in Trier. I started Mountain biking in 2001. I ride about 3000 and 500 km each year, in height I do about 55.000 to 72.000 meter /year (in the last year only 3300 km due to a lot of work). The region Eifel/Mosel/Hunsrück gives a lot of nice opportunities to do moutain biking which I use to ride, I’m very glad to live in this phantastic region. In the last 5 years I did every year several marathons (Erbeskopfmarathon -4x Halbmarathon/ Vulkanbike 1x Halbmarathon, 3x Marathon/1x Halbmarathon St. Wendel/ 1x Gässbock Halbmarathon nähe Landstuhl /1x Rad am Ring Halbmarathon and several smaller tours. I try to combinate my hobby with my holiday every year, Last year I was two times in the Alps (Kitzbühl and Dolomiten) or also on Teneriffa- There I drove some of course some nice and heavy tours. I'm happy to join the Mont Ventoux challenge.
Best regards,
Georg

Friday 15 February 2008

Less than 100 day's to go

Yes, today we past the timeline of 100 day's. The counter is running down and the day of the challenge is showing up in the horizon.
Then I found today a new challenge that is done on the Mont Ventoux it's called "Bicinglette"
Probably you think "What in a name is this?" Well the challenges on the Mont Ventoux never end. The "Bicinglette" is a new challenge on our mountain. I heard from it today on the Dutch Mont Ventoux site that this would be a double "Cinglé" (read an older posting about the different challenges). Ok what is it?
A "Cinglé" is a climb of the Mont Ventoux from all 3 routes on tarmac (from Bedoin, Malaucene and Sault) in 24 hours. What is a Bicinglette well this is the same but than twice. Or in different terms 272 kilometre and 8886 meters of height difference. This is special for those who do not want to do a ride of road (they would do the forestières) and who are not tired after a Cinglé,.
For this challenge you should also sign in at Mr. le Pic. I would almost say that if you do so you should also sign in at a psychiatrist, but ok there are still some people who like to suffer. I will keep it this year at one climb from Bedoin and maybe a climb from Sault on Saturday but this depends on the weather conditions and of course my condition.
I'm still waiting on the story's from most of you, send me some info about your self and a picture please so that we keep this web log interesting.
In the meantime here two nice pictures of the view that we can have if the sky is clear.














I will be away from home the next two weeks, so I don't now if I will have the time to update the weblog. Only if you send me your profile I will publish, this is not so much work.
Otherwise next update in March!

Thursday 14 February 2008

New Member

Today Georg Reinhard from MeadWestvaco Trier has decided to join us on the Mont Ventoux. As you all now there was one place free due to the canceling of one of the members. We welcom Georg and look forward to meet Georg on the slopes of the Mont Ventoux.

Tuesday 12 February 2008

Chris Schuts

Hello Fellow Mont-Ventoux visitors. My name is Chris Schuts, age 38 and working at the shipping department at Meadwestvaco-Venlo.
It all started only two years ago, I was gaining weight at high speed because I had to quit playing football at the doctors request.
I bought a bike together with Jan and we started to make a few rounds, in the beginning we often had to stop for a break but slightly and with small steps we could stay longer on the bike.
Then Jan came with the idea to climb the Mont-Ventoux (I never heard of this bump before).
Because we spend a part of our summer holiday together we were able to do so last summer. We made it to the top together with Peter the son of Jan.
I is a very special feeling I can say now and I am really facing up to do this challenge again together with you all.
At this moment I am building up a special bike to climb the "Bump".
Building up bikes became since two years a hobby and I spend a lot of free time working on bikes it always gives a great satisfaction if you build up a bike with limited money and very light weight(less is more).
I am Really looking forward to meet you all and hopefully make this challenge a real success.
Train and watch your eating and drinking and stay well see you all soon.
Chris

Thank you Chris for your story, Who will be next? Please send me the info with a picture and I can update the weblog!

Wednesday 6 February 2008

Started my training today

Today I started my training after 6 weeks. It is now almost 8 weeks ago that I had my heart surgery. I was told that I could start training again after 3 weeks but this was a mis calculation. I had to wait a little bit longer. At the moment I have no complains anymore so that I started the training today with a ride of one hour. It feels good to be back on the bike again. On the 19 april I going to ride the Amstel Gold Race in the south of Netherlands so it get's time to start training otherwise I will suffer at this tour (150 km).
Today I found a interesting site about the Mont Ventoux in English.
http://www.geocities.com/Yosemite/Rapids/3892/ There is a lot of information on this site to read.

As you all see there have been some members who sended some info about themselves with a picture. I still hope to get from all off you some info so that we all see who is participating. Please send me some info. This will also helps me to keep this weblog alive.
Also if you want to share something with us, just let me now.

Saturday 2 February 2008

Le Mont Ventoux by Wikipedia

Mont Ventoux (Occitan: Ventor in classical norm or Ventour in Mistralian norm) is a mountain in the Provence region of southern France, located some 20 km north-east of Carpentras, Vaucluse. On the north-side, the mountain borders the Drôme département. It is the largest mountain in the region and has been nicknamed the "Giant of Provence", or "The Bald Mountain".
As the name might suggest (venteux means windy in
French), it can get windy at the summit, especially with the mistral; windspeeds as high as 320 km/h (193 mph) have been recorded. The road over the mountain is often closed due to high winds. The real origins of the name are thought to trace back to the 1st or 2nd century AD, when it was named 'Vintur' after a Gaulish god of the summits, or 'Ven-Top', meaning "snowy peak" in the ancient Gallic language. In the 10th century, the names Mons Ventosus and Mons Ventorius appear.
Mont Ventoux, although geologically part of the
Alps, is often considered to be separate from them, due to the lack of mountains of a similar height nearby. It stands alone to the west of the Luberon range, and just to the east of the Dentelles de Montmirail, its foothills. The top of the mountain is bare limestone without vegetation or trees. The white limestone on the mountain's barren peak means it appears from a distance to be snow-capped all year round (its snow cover actually lasts from December to April). Its isolated position overlooking the valley of the Rhône ensures that it dominates the entire region and can be seen from many miles away on a clear day. The view from the top is correspondingly superb.

History
Jean Buridan climbed the mountain early in the fourteenth century; Petrarch repeated the feat on April 26, 1336, and claimed to have been the first to climb a mountain since antiquity, which has been widely repeated since.
The
15th century saw the construction of a chapel on the top, dedicated to the Holy Cross.
In
1882, a meteorological station was constructed on the summit, though it is no longer in use. In the 1960s a 50m-high telecommunications mast was built.
Flora and fauna
Originally forested, Mont Ventoux was systematically stripped of trees from the
12th century onwards to serve the demands of the shipbuilders of the naval port of Toulon. Some areas have been reforested since 1860 with a variety of deciduous trees (such as holm oaks and beeches) as well as coniferous species, such as Atlas cedars and larches. A little higher, junipers are common.
The mountain comprises the species boundary or
ecotone between the flora and fauna of northern and southern France. Some species, including various types of spiders and butterflies, are unique to Mont Ventoux. It is a good place to spot the Short-toed Eagle (Circaetus gallicus).
Its biological distinctiveness was recognised by
UNESCO in 1990 when the Réserve de Biosphère du Mont Ventoux was created, protecting an area of 810 square kilometres (200,150 acres) on and around the mountain.
Road Racing
For
road bicycle racing enthusiasts, the mountain can be climbed by three roads.
South from
Bédoin: 22 km over 1610 m. This is the most famous and difficult ascent. The road to the summit has an average gradient of 7.6%. Until Saint-Estève, the climb is easy, but the 16 remaining kilometres have an average gradient of 10%. The last kilometres have strong, violent winds. The ride takes 2-3 hours for trained amateur individuals, and professionals can ride it in 1-1.5 hours. The fastest time so far recorded has been that of Iban Mayo in the individual climbing time trial of the 2004 Dauphiné Libéré: 55' 51". The time was measured from Bédoin for the first time in the 1958 Tour de France, in which Charly Gaul was the fastest at 1h 2' 9".
North from
Malaucène: 21 km over 1570 m. A little easier than the Bédoin ascent, better sheltered against the wind.
East from
Sault: 26 km over 1220 m. The easiest route. After Chalet Reynard (where the "lunar landscape" of the summit starts), the climb is the same as the Bédoin ascent. Average gradient of 4.4%.
Every year there are amateur races to climb the mountain as quickly and often as possible in 24 hours. On
May 16, 2006, Jean-Pascal Roux from Bédoin broke the record of climbs in 24 hours, with eleven climbs, all of them from Bédoin
Tour de France
Mont Ventoux has become legendary as the regular scene of one of the most gruelling climbs in the
Tour de France bicycle race, which has ascended the mountain thirteen times since 1951. The followed trail mostly passes through Bédoin. Its fame as a scene of great Tour dramas has made it a magnet for cyclists around the world.
The mountain achieved worldwide notoriety when it claimed the life of
British cyclist Tom Simpson, who died here on July 13, 1967 from a combination of amphetamines, alcohol and heat exhaustion. He began to wildly weave across the road before he fell down. He was delirious and asked spectators to put him back on the bike, which he rode to within a half mile of the summit before collapsing dead, still clipped into his pedals. Amphetamines were found in his jersey and bloodstream. There is a memorial to Simpson near the summit which has become a shrine to fans of cycling, who often leave small tokens of remembrance there. In 1970, Eddy Merckx rode himself to the brink of collapse while winning the stage. He received oxygen, recovered, and won the Tour. In 1994, Eros Poli, not known for his climbing ability, stole away at the beginning of the day's stage, built up a substantial time gap from the peloton, and was first over the Ventoux and eventual stage winner despite losing a minute of his lead per kilometre of the ascent. The last winner on the Ventoux was the French climber Richard Virenque.