Fulgaz French Tour: Take a trip to France during stage four to raise money for lifeline
Travelling through France for $100 during stage four lockdown sounds too good to be true, but it’s not. Not only do you get to witness the picturesque scenery, but it’s all for a good cause.
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As Victoria struggles through stage 4 lockdown and a state of disaster, international travel seems like a pipe dream.
But thanks to a Diamond Creek events business it’s not. Kind of.
Activ Brand Management has partnered with renowned virtual cycling app Fulgaz to create a different sort of French experience.
The Fulgaz French Tour is a real-time virtual relay event and cycling experience throughout French locations like Alpe d’Huez, Col du Galibier and Mount Ventoux.
It starts on August 28 and consists of 21 stages over 23 days, coinciding with the Tour de France.
It will raise much needed funds for Lifeline Australia and support Aussies who are doing it tough through the pandemic.
Bec Burns’ event management company Activ Brand Management was struggling with COVID-19, but a discussion with Fulgaz sparked the idea, and something close to Ms Burns reinforced the idea to get Lifeline involved.
“When COVID hit we had staff ready to go at the Australian Grand Prix and about eight other jobs that weekend, but it all just came tumbling down,” Ms Burns said.
“We started doing digital stuff for shopping centres and the like, but the tour came about because there were no events for us so we thought let’s create our own to keep our doors open and salvage revenue.”
But when mental health issues became a focus of the coronavirus battle Ms Burns decided to take a different approach.
“We reached out to Lifeline because the work they do is crazy and not something everyone can do,” she said.
“They were super excited to get on board and our mindset completely changed because businesses can be rebuilt, but a life can’t.”
A tragic event drove home the idea for Ms Burns.
“When a friend’s wife died from suicide about eight weeks ago it really reinforced our idea and of doing this for Lifeline,” she said.
The goal is to raise $40,000 for Lifeline and the event, which has about 150 riders from around the world signed up already, has so far raised $10,000.
To take part in the event people will need a stationary bike and the Fulgaz app.
Real-time leaderboards and dot-tracking functionality will mean riders can see in real-time both where they are in France and how they’re doing against the rest of the field.
The app, which can be operated from Apple TV, iPad, iPhone, Android and Windows devices, will put riders in France as they cycle.
Their trip through picturesque locations will speed up and slow down based on how fast they’re pedalling, while there will be tougher uphill stages and time trials too.
To register or for more information click here.
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