Bike versus boat
Friday August 20, 2010 - Email this article to a friend

Like most good ideas it occurred in a pub. The Pub Mont Fort to be precise.

38-year old Neil Aherne, from Chalet Kernow, used to row alot and 29-year old Gareth Chandler, from The Lodge, is a keen cyclist.

Over a beer or two they came up with the idea to take each other on in the competitive arena of Lake Geneva, or Lac Leman to give the lake its correct title.

For Neil the plan is either Geneva to Montreux, or Montreux to Geneva depending on the winds on the day.

He'll want the tail wind if he's rowing for about ten hours. It's around 75km.

The same as rowing from London to Brighton.

Meanwhile Gareth will do a circuit of the lake on his bike - 175 km.

Friends and rivalsThe two friends have been training together.

They've been cycling up from Le Chable in the valley floor up to Verbier.

This week Gareth got up in 37 minutes 35 seconds and Neil in 35 minutes and 37 seconds.

Last summer the cyclists on the Tour de France did it in about 25 minutes,  but most people take over an hour.

These boys are very fit right now.

They have also been training under the gaze of the public.

To gain the event a bit of publicity and raise awareness they took to the terrace of one of PlanetSKI's favourite water holes ; The T-bar.

Neil on a rowing machine and Gareth on a static bike.

See the You Tube video below.

The event was due to take place this Sunday, August 15th, but the weather forecast is not so good and the lake will be too choppy to row on.

Neil has already had a small mishap when his boat got flipped as he was training.

Here is an account of the accident on Facebook.

"Neil had a shocker training on the lake last night and had pull the emergency rip-cord (big waves) at the shoreline of down town Montreux. Picture the scene : Swanky restaurant, dripping wet Lycra clad man strolls in out of the darkness and asks to use the phone!! Everybody stopped eating...Priceless!!!"

The event is gathering quite a head of steam.

"It was a daft bet in The Pub one night that got out of hand, but it's really caught the imagination of all of us in Verbier and we wish them all the best," says PlanetSKI reporter, Guy Ordway, who has been reporting on the event here, for the web site of the ski school he works for, Performance.

So, who is going to win?

The smart money is with Gareth on the bike. But who knows with a good wind behind him Neil may just make it first.

He is seriously fit at the moment.

Training hard

The two are raising money for charity. Gareth lost his father to cancer so he's fund-raising for that, while Neil is rowing for a homeless charity.

But the motivation is all about competitive boys challenging each other.

Sir Richard Branson's, The Lodge, and the backers of Chalet Kernow are rallying round their men.

We'll let you know on PlanetSKI how they get on.

Neil will be rowing for St Mungo's

Gareth will be cycling for Multiple Myeloma UK 

We'll let you know how he gets on

NEWS UPDATE TUESDAY 17th August, 15.30 - It's going ahead this Friday. We have just heard this from Neil.

"Lake Geneva Challenge has a green light for GO this Friday (20th August). Start time from Villeneuve will be 08.00 and will be rowing along the French side of the lake. Finish time in Geneve, errrrrrr sometime before midnight I hope!!!"

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