A year or so ago I received a call from one of my best friends called Will. He had wanted to do a cycling race in France I had never heard of called the Etape du Tour (a stage of the Tour de France) but couldn't find anyone to do it with. Will's late uncle had almost completed the race and Will wanted to finish it for him. It sounded fun and I thought I would help the guy out, so I signed up. Before long two had become three and we were off. Having previously never really ridden a road bike and doing some fairly lax training, I completed the race in around 10 hours. It was the most amazing and painful sporting experience; I pretty much went to sleep during one part from the exhaustion and I walked some of the last climb. I swore I would never do it again. 

A few months ago I received a call (message) from one of my best friends called Will. He wanted to do a cycling race in France I had now heard of.... but this time it would be different. Not only is the course tougher, he wanted us to raise money for his late uncle, Nick Maude. You see his uncle was an amazing man, a real hero; the guy achieved insane heights even whilst at school (Winchester College) and once memorised a whole gospel. Very sadly he died suddenly from Kidney cancer. Will's love for him has led us to undertake this challenge to raise money for KCUK. Will, Tom, Ranald and myself will cycle as a team in this years Etape (148km up two mountains in the Pyrenee). Please give for this years race - next year I might not receive a call from Will.