After 9 months of preparation and some serious eye rolling from my family I am heading to the Alps to race in L'Etape.  Along with 15,000 others I will ride one stage of the Tour de France.  

The ride is 167km, but due to tricky logistics we ride to the start (10km), and more worryingly ride home from the finish (26km).  It is not the distance though that worries me, it is the climbing- 4500m of it.  That is 3 times up Ben Nevis or half way up Everest.....

My somewhat large frame (me not the bike) is not overly helpful on the hills so please do sponsor me to give some extra help up the fourth climb.  I am aiming to take 8-9 hours which is a long time to pedal at full tilt.

Child Bereavement UK is a wonderful charity that helps families and children when they most need it- during bereavement.  Either when a child dies in a family or if a child is losing a parent.  As most of you know my brother died when he was 18.  Although we did have some support I really do wish we had access to Child Bereavement.  Over and over again the research shows that talking at this time with a professional has huge impact on the grieving process.

In addition I will match donations up to the target and give the money to Chefs in Schools.  An amazing charity that my wife Jo has helped to set up, they put trained chefs into primary schools.  10% of children arrive at primary school obese and 20% leave obese.  These numbers double in deprived diverse inner city areas where Chefs in Schools work.  The charity trains chefs to both cook fantastic food and teach children how to cook.

So for every £1 you give you are actually giving £2 plus gift aid if you can!

Thank you so much in advance.  I promise you will not hear from me about fundraising for another 5 years!

Warmest wishes

Ed