Story
Please sponsor me! I am competing in the 16th Etape Du Tour, an amateur bike race along the route of Stage 10 of the Tour De France in the Pyrenees. This years race covers 103 miles and will include over 8,500 feet of climbing up two of most fearsome mountains in this year's Tour De France, the Col Du Tourmalet and the Hautacam.
I'm raising money for Prospect Burma (All money raised goes to the charity) . You will have seen the tragic loss of life and destruction caused by the cyclon in Burma. You will have also seen the complete and brutal failure of the military government to respond and let aid enter the country. (If you would like more background I hearilty recommend Pascal Khoo Thwe's From the Land of Green Ghosts, A Burmese Odyssey.)
Prospect Burma's mission is to invest in the democratic future of Burma through its young people. They educate those who will spread their knowledge and skills back to Burma for its future development. Prospect Burma is a small charity who give scholarships to gifted and needy students outside Burma, many of whom are refugees. All are committed to returning home to rebuild their country when the time comes. (www.prospectburma.org)
(About the race. The Col Du Tourmalet literally translates to the The Terrible Road. At 2115m (6939 feet) it is the highest paved road in the Pyrenees, the climb from Loucrup is 23.4 km long with an average gradient of 7.4% and in places this increases to 10.2% - ie. pretty bl**dy steep. The last climb, the Hautacam, is 13km of climbing at a gradient of 8%, with a nasty 12% section 4km's from the top, ie. even worse!).
http://www.letapedutour.com/2008/ETDT/presentation/us/parcours.htm
I'm raising money for Prospect Burma (All money raised goes to the charity) . You will have seen the tragic loss of life and destruction caused by the cyclon in Burma. You will have also seen the complete and brutal failure of the military government to respond and let aid enter the country. (If you would like more background I hearilty recommend Pascal Khoo Thwe's From the Land of Green Ghosts, A Burmese Odyssey.)
Prospect Burma's mission is to invest in the democratic future of Burma through its young people. They educate those who will spread their knowledge and skills back to Burma for its future development. Prospect Burma is a small charity who give scholarships to gifted and needy students outside Burma, many of whom are refugees. All are committed to returning home to rebuild their country when the time comes. (www.prospectburma.org)
(About the race. The Col Du Tourmalet literally translates to the The Terrible Road. At 2115m (6939 feet) it is the highest paved road in the Pyrenees, the climb from Loucrup is 23.4 km long with an average gradient of 7.4% and in places this increases to 10.2% - ie. pretty bl**dy steep. The last climb, the Hautacam, is 13km of climbing at a gradient of 8%, with a nasty 12% section 4km's from the top, ie. even worse!).
http://www.letapedutour.com/2008/ETDT/presentation/us/parcours.htm