Reflections from a first-time Haute Route rider

Mark Reese

I came across the Haute Route a couple of years ago. A YouTube video popped up on my feed and it was incredible as it followed the journey of a 7- day event, with participants riding some of the most iconic climbs in cycling. That certainly got my attention - the scenery was amazing and the views were beautiful, so from there I became a fan of the Haute Route.

The thing that is particularly interesting about the Haute Route is the fact that we are treated just like a professional, world class Tour de France riders, whether that is during the poststage massages and meals or closing some of the roads during the stage, that is not really common and very unique to the Haute Route. I think it's fun for everyone to pretend that they are a professional athlete so this the perfect opportunity to go off and play sports.

I still want to be competitive and that is not going to just disappear when I am 40. I want to turn up to an event and find the other 40-year-old and say, ‘first one to the top wins’. I want to push my body to see what it can do. There were some segments on the Haute Route where I was questioning why I was doing the event, but whenever you got to the top that is just another little notch that you can check off; “Look what I've done, look what I've accomplished”. You can then refer back to that at another time when life gets challenging.

I think it's only natural to want to extend yourself, whether that's quite literally reaching the new heights of a mountain, climbing on a bike or whether it's in the workplace. Doing the best that you can at work, or being the best dad, mum, son or brother that you can be. Whatever it is, you want to continually improve so Haute Route is the right opportunity to prove to yourself what you can do.