I am not sure whether this is a mid-life crisis or temporary loss of sanity but when it was suggested that I might like to ride part of the Tour de France, in the Tour de Force, while raising money for the William Wates Memorial Trust it seemed like an excellent idea. It may be that a few glasses of wine muddled my thinking but I have always loved watching the Tour de France and have the utmost respect for the participants and their levels of fitness. I may not have the resting heart rate of Miguel Indurain at 28 bpm or a heart one third larger like Lance Armstrong but where there’s a will there’s a way.
To quote, 5 times Tour de France winner, Bernard Hinault:
”An amateur should think long and hard before attempting one of these stages, 2 would probably necessitate a visit to the doctor, 3 would require a psychiatrist – any more and you should be checking that person has written a will”
The Task:
I will be cycling stages 12 to 15 of this year’s Tour de France route starting in the Alps, gliding down to the south of France before heading up in to the Pyrenees for two days.
Stage 12 220kms of medium mountains
Stage 13 215kms
Stage 14 192kms of high mountains. Yikes
Stage 15 160kms
If you want a laugh then click here to see the stages and profiles:
A Few Facts:
“¢ Stage 12 is the longest of the Tour this year
“¢ Each day I will burn approximately 9,000 calories. This equates to six big Macs, six large fries, forty McNuggets and three hot fudge sundaes.
“¢ I will lose roughly 1.5 litres of sweat per hour.
“¢ Stage 13 at 215kms is how far the average teenager walks in six months.
“¢ Stage 14 is the equivalent of cycling around the whole M25 in one day.
Hopefully you might think I am mad enough to warrant your support and if that is the case then I am eternally grateful. You can sponsor me by clicking the link below. I think you can safely assume this is a one off – until I decide to do the whole thing next time. Yeah right!
https://www.bmycharity.com/JustinRandall