There was barely a cloud in the sky as I swooped down by Ladybower reservoir and made my way over to Holmfirth, dodging the Last of the Summer Wine tours as I headed for Holme Moss, one of the most feared ascents in Yorkshire, which will feature on this summer's Tour de France.
But the real damage is likely to be done on the narrow twisting descents and sharp ascents around Oughtibridge and High Bradfield, the killer punch coming when what remains of the field hits Jenkin Road, a short climb within Sheffield which is so steep it has a handrail for pedestrians to cling to.
After negotiating his way up and down the steep ascents and descents and round the hairpin bends to the valley, he had already written it off as a place where he might invest in a pub business: "I did Wrynose, I was following a snail and I overtook him and I came down the [Hardknott] pass and thought forget it, I might as well go home, nobody's ever going to come here.
Among other records and first ascents, Potter completed the longest wingsuit Base flight, covering nearly four miles (6.5km) of ground in two minutes, 50 seconds, after jumping from the Eiger in Switzerland.
The things he's been doing [Kilian has won the UTMB three times, the Western States once, and this summer has set records for the fastest ascents of Mont Blanc and the Matterhorn], pushing the sport to new levels, has been inspiring, and he's just such a great dude.
Although he had several first ascents to his name Mount Grosvenor in China, Khan Tengri and Pobeda in Kazakhstan, in a career spanning 30 years—his priority was to go lightly, and leave no trace.
There are climbs, too: the route includes a series of ascents, among them a 1,200-metre 1,200-metress negotiated in the dead of night.
A further 10-15 firms are due to list over the next year and the sums raised will almost certainly be bigger than before, thanks to Asia's appetite for raw materials and inexorably rising commodities prices.One of the more meteoric ascents has been that of Sino Prosper State Gold Resources Holdings, a Hong Kong-listed company which a year ago was barely more than a shell company.
TURNING around Bankia, explains the Spanish bank's boss, José Ignacio Goirigolzarri, is like cycling the Tourmalet, one of the most fearsome ascents on the route of the Tour de France.
They also each won the Tour five times, which is where the resemblance ends.Mr Jalabert, known to his countrymen as Jaja, is annually stopped by the highest mountains, the repeated 20-km ascents in the Pyrenees and Alps.
All besides Diane Abbott, an engagingly frank but unelectable left-winger, have spent almost their entire adult lives in politics, managing frictionless, patronage-powered ascents from back-room adviser, to safe parliamentary seat, to the previous Labour cabinet.
