As you are all no doubt aware (as I've ranted on about it so much), on the 16th July I'll be one of around 8000 amateur cyclists taking part in this years Etape du Tour.  The Etape gives amateur cyclists the opportunity to complete one of the stages of the Tour de France and unfortunately, it's a mountain stage.

This year, the Etape will follow Stage 15 of the Tour, 120 miles from Foix to Loudenvielle across 5 Pyrenean mountains, in total climbing 4,500m and burning over 8000 calories in the process. To compound this misery, we're also faced with a minimum completion time and as such can be eliminated at any stage during the race. This has meant that over the past 7 months, I've been out training pretty much every weekend to give myself the best chance of completing this monster.

That said, I think you'll agree that this event is the perfect opportunity for me to help raise some money for charity and do some good for a change!  As some of you may know, the staff at Dorothy House helped my family through a rather sad time a number of years ago and as such I would like to repay them by raising money for their charity by completing this years Etape.

Donating through this site is simple, fast and totally secure. It is also the most efficient way to sponsor me: Dorothy House Hospice Care will receive your money faster and, if you are a UK taxpayer, an extra 28% in tax will be added to your gift at no cost to you.

So please do the right thing and sponsor me!

Many thanks for your support.

Simon

Ps. for those of you who want to know a little more about the race, see below:

http://www.letapedutour.com/2007/ETDT/presentation/us/parcours.htm