On July 11th,  I will be entering L'Etape du Tour. This is a chance for keen, or depending on how you look at it, slightly deranged amateur cyclists to tackle a stage of the Tour de France. The professionals follow the same route a week later and will complete it in a fraction of the time, but they're all cheating drug takers anyway, so this is the real deal.

This year's Etape will be 109km long, covering 3500m of ascent over some of the fiercest Alpine mountain climbs - Col du Telegraphe, Col du Galibier and ending with mighty Alpe d'Huez with an average gradient of 8%, so it will hurt.

With only 2 weeks to go, I now know that if I'm going to have to complete the course with a slipped disc(another one) which has blown my training off course in the last 4 weeks and left me in a lot of pain. I'm hoping that with the help of my trusted friend Neurofen, I'll be able to block out some of the pain on the day and that the fitness I've put away in the bank, together with your generous donations, will give me the impetus I need tocarry me over the line.

My aim is to be able to finish before being swept up by the dreaded 'balai' or broom - they literally throw you out of the race and into the broom wagon if you go too slowly - and in so doing, raising as much money for Macmillan Cancer Support as I can. Together with a couple of colleagues we've made a pact to tow each other by our rear derailleurs (not a bodily part) in the event that the 'balai' beckons for any of us, so you'll be secure in the knowledge that your donation will not be wasted.

My reason for wanting to ride for Macmillan Cancer Support is because my friends Paul, Carrie, Carl's daughter Josie and my father-in-law Roy have all relatively recently recovered from cancer. II know the suffering they've had to go through, how it's affected their lives and the lives of those who are close to them. Sadly, the outcome for many is not always so positive.

One in three of us will get cancer. We are all affected by cancer. Macmillan Cancer Support improves the lives of people affected by cancer. They provide practical, medical and financial support and push for better cancer care.

As treatments improve, more and more people are living with cancer in their daily lives. This means they need more than medical help, they also need practical, emotional and financial support. 

So please dig deep and I will make every effort I can to cross the line.

For more information about the charity, please go to

http://www.macmillan.org.uk/Aboutus/WhatWeDo/What_we_do.aspx

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