Climbing Mont Ventoux is hard enough on a light road bike with appropriate gearing. Attempting it on a 23kg city share bike with only a couple of gears is just madness.

And yet that’s what Rob Holden and his mates Matt and Ian attempted to do, hiring a so-called ‘Boris bike’ — the name given to the bikes that make up London’s bike share scheme, named after mayor Boris Johnson — and attempting to get to, climb and return from Mont Ventoux in 24 hours.

Here’s how it unfolded. You’ll want to watch this excellent video to the end.

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