Hi. If you're interested in donating/riding/supporting - please ensure you read the whole story below to make organisation easier..! 

My wife was diagnosed with breast cancer in May 2020. She underwent surgery, chemo and radiotherapy right through lockdown and all the fun and games associated with homeschooling and my increased working hours - B.U.S.T. is a small charity based at Southmead Hospital supporting those diagnosed with breast cancer and supporting them through treatment.

My aim is to raise £5000 for them by riding 2100km in June/July 2021 - I've been passionate about the Tour De France since Stephen Roche won it in 1987. So each day the pros ride the tour stages in 2021, I'll ride 1km for each of their 1 mile. An average of 100km (62 miles) a day for 2100km. I'll be mirroring all the stage types, time trials, mountains (spending 5 days in the Brecon Beacons to gain the elevation needed). I've been a keen time trial rider, triathlete and bike racer since the mid '90s but I've never taken anything like this on. However, whilst it may be tough, uncomfortable and mentally challenging - words like 'gruelling', 'suffering' etc should really be saved for people enduring chemotherapy and radiotherapy. I have the choice to climb off my bike. 

There are three ways to donate money - PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU READ CAREFULLY..!

1. RAFFLE!! Prizes are listed below. 

STEP A)Donate the total amount of tickets you want to buy - each ticket is £5/€6/$7 - (eg - if you want 4 tickets in the UK, donate £20, if you're in Europe and want 10 tickets, donate €60). Please put your FULL NAME (that you have I.D. for) and the word RAFFLE in the message. If you don't do this, I'll not be able to add you to the prize draw. Please do not hide your name or the donation amount. EG:

James Hester £50

RAFFLE - 10 tickets

STEP B) You can enter as many times as you want - the more tickets you buy, the more chance you have of winning!

STEP C). The draw will take place just after I finish the Grand Tour towards the end of July - you'll need to watch the video when it goes live - there will be an email address to contact me on - you'll need to email me I.D. that matches the name on the Just Giving donation.

THE PRIZES:

1. Adam Hansen - Signed TT skinsuit + signed card
2. Adam Hansen - TT gloves + signed card
3. Adam Hansen - Cap, musette + signed card
4. Adam Hansen - Baseball cap, arm warmers + signed card
5. Adam Hansen - buff + signed card
6. Adam Hansen - Hanseeno T-shirt + signed card
4. TREK Bristol - Bontrager Starvos helmet (£99) size medium in black
5. DB Max - 3 entries to Castle Combe TT’s (Kinetic Series) worth £48
6. Mark Threlfall (GTN) - pair of Continental GP5000 tires (worth £80+)
7. Tru Tension - Deluxe bundle including the amazing Tungsten Lube worth £49
8. Toms Skujiņš - Skinsuit and numbers from 5th place GC Ruta Del
9. Toms Skujiņš - musette and cap 1
10. Toms Skujiņš - musette and cap 2
12. Heiko Cycles - full service (minus parts) worth £150
13. Thatchers - 12 bottles of Thatchers Gold, t-shirt + bottle opener
14. Newfit bike fit - Mobile bike fit (within 60 mins drive of Bristol) with Chris Newman worth £60

15. Signed Tour de France T-Shirt with signatures from Richard Virenque, Bjarne Riis, Mark Cavendish, Chris Boardman, Bernard Hinault and many more! 

16. Signed jersey from Lucy Charles-Barclay

17. Signed TREK SEGAFREDO jersey, signed by the 2021 Dauphiné squad (Pederson, Stuyven etc)

18. Signed UCI World Champions TREK SEGAFREDO jersey - signed by Mads Pederson

PLEASE NOTE - exercise a level of common sense with this - some things will be too heavy or illegal to post abroad or unable to 'send' (race entries or bike fits etc) - if this is going to upset you then please don't enter - the primary reason for putting all my time into getting these incredible prizes is to raise money for the charity - simply that - I won't get involved in any major issues with postage costs or customs issues - a contribution to paying postage by the winners would be hugely appreciated. If you're abroad, please be prepared to only have any clothing (or similar) items sent - all other prizes will be re-raffled. By entering the raffle on Just Giving you're agreeing to this level of understanding, normal human behavior, and pragmatism..!

DRAW WILL BE MADE SHORTLY AFTER I FINISH THE TOUR

2. 'Roadside supporter' - donating money to the charity - you don't have to do anything - just donate some money to the cause and help me pedal through the 21 days as a supporter... thank you! ALLEZ! 

3. 'Team Mate' - come and ride a stage with me! For this, I ask a minimum of £50 donation. The routes are all planned and will be recon'd - to find a link to these routes and to choose - please go to my Facebook event page in the links below. The routes are all listed in far more detail so please choose them carefully. I would really like to ensure I have one person per stage (if possible) before adding more people - so please have a look and see which stages people have signed up for before picking yours - I'd rather have one teammate on each stage than 5 on one day and none the next..! It's really important that you're self-sufficient and fit enough to ride the stage with no bike issues etc and if you have some experience of riding with others that would be ace - there will be times I'll need you in the wind! Some of the stages may have a support car and feed re-supply depending on the length etc. TT stages will be run as per the usual style - each person going off at 1 min intervals but it'll be an unofficial event and in no way a 'race' - minimum donation for TT stages is £20. All riders will need their own cycle insurance (easy to set up) and will take part at their own risk and cost to themselves. They also need to be prepared to be in my daily video diary..! I'm trying to sort out some goodies for each person that rides the stage too - (possibly t-shirts/bidons etc) but more updates on that as we go along..! If you have any questions about any of this - drop me an email at jhesterdrums@gmail.com CHAPEAU!! 

Stage list and maps are here: 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1y02WtNaE1TrQenRnoNtHv9eyj0WZRKeD/view?usp=sharing

** PLEASE ENSURE WHEN YOU DONATE AS A 'TEAMMATE' - PLEASE PUT 'TEAMMATE', YOUR FULL NAME AND WHICH STAGE YOU WANT TO RIDE - ANY/ALL TEAMMATES THAT TAKE PART ARE WELCOME ON STAGE 21 TOO - WOULD LOVE TO HAVE YOU ALL THERE!!**

4. 'Stage Sponsor' - each stage can be sponsored by a person/company/event and will have the daily vlogs branded by/for them - My aim is to have more than 1000 subscribers on my Youtube channel by the start of the event (I'm around 850 at the moment) and essentially give you the coverage that you'd like for whatever reason you choose. Of course, if you don't have anything to promote and want to sponsor a stage, I'd love that too - the minimum donation to sponsor a stage is £200 - FULL GAZ!! 

Stage list and maps are here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1y02WtNaE1TrQenRnoNtHv9eyj0WZRKeD/view?usp=sharing

** PLEASE ENSURE WHEN YOU DONATE AS A 'STAGE SPONSOR' - PLEASE PUT 'STAGE SPONSOR', YOUR FULL NAME AND WHICH STAGE YOU WANT TO SPONSOR **

Thanks for reading and for your support! If you can also help me in any other way, please get in contact! Any offers of kit printing, support car driving, anything at all would be incredibly useful indeed!

My Youtube channel is here: 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjyNkCZVW96WcC6YkTiMw5A

The Facebook Event page is here:

 https://www.facebook.com/My-Own-Grand-Tour-Breast-Cancer-Unit-Support-Trust-106073564754622

Stage list and maps are here: 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1y02WtNaE1TrQenRnoNtHv9eyj0WZRKeD/view?usp=sharing

Thanks for reading and supporting the amazing work of the BUST team. 

26/6/2021 STAGE 1 'Grand Depart'  116km ELEVATION: 1181m 

TEAMMATE: CHRIS NEWMAN

27/6/2021 STAGE 2 'Three Bridges' 113km ELEVATION: 1038m 

TEAMMATE: SIMON CAWTHORN (Trustee and Founder of B.U.S.T.)

28/6/2021 STAGE 3 'The Wyvern of Somerset' 113km ELEVATION: 810m

TEAMMATE: ANDY JEAL

29/6/2021 STAGE 4 'The Nicholas Angel Stage' 94km ELEVATION: 531m 

TEAMMATE: HANNAH POORE

30/6/2021 STAGE 5 'The Evening 10' ITT Stage (At Castle Combe - DB Max TT series) 16km  

TEAMMATE: JENNY CAMPBELL-RITCHIE, CHRIS NEWMAN, JONATHAN BURRAGE

STAGE SPONSOR: DB MAX RACING

1/7/2021 STAGE 6 'Dave Wills memorial stage' 89km ELEVATION: 612m 

TEAMMATE: ANDY JEAL

STAGE SPONSOR: ANDY JEAL AND ROSS ADDICOTT

2/7/2021 STAGE 7 'Tristam's Route' 154km ELEVATION: 1022m

TEAMMATES: ANA MAZINA SCOTT, SAM PEARCE & IAN MUSSLE

STAGE SPONSOR: MONMOUTH DENTAL PRACTICE https://www.facebook.com/monmouthdentalpractice/

3/7/2021 STAGE 8 'Holy Trinity' 93km ELEVATION: 1068m

TEAMMATE - JOHN BEVAN

4/7/2021 STAGE 9 'The Limestone Cowboy' 90km ELEVATION: 1217m

TEAMMATE: ANDY JEAL

6/7/2021 STAGE 10 'Thatchers Gold' 115km ELEVATION: 822m

TEAMMATE: ANDY JEAL, ELIZABETH BLAKE, ADRIAN WALLER, LOUIS TSUI, DAVID GIBBINS, 

7/7/2021 STAGE 11 'Double Cheese' 123km ELEVATION: 1446m

TEAMMATE: SAM TABBERNER, JONATHAN BURRAGE

8/7/2021 STAGE 12 'Strade Bianche - San Remo' 100km ELEVATION: 491m

TEAMMATE: MIKE CALLAGHAN

9/7/2021 STAGE 13 'The Ben Pocock Memorial Stage' 136km ELEVATION: 995m

TEAMMATE: TIM POCOCK

SPONSORS: TIM AND DEBBIE POCOCK

https://www.justgiving.com/remember/698962/Ben%20-Pocock

10/7/2021 STAGE 14 'Special Forces and Bethlehem Courses' 114km ELEVATION: 1705m (BRECON BEACONS)

TEAMMATE: STEFAN HOOLE

11/7/2021 STAGE 15 ‘Rock and Roll Tumble at the Wedding’ 119km ELEVATION: 1749m (BRECON BEACONS)

TEAMMATE: DAVE ROSTRON

STAGE SPONSOR: PEARCE PLANNING LTD

13/7/2021 STAGE 16 ‘I’m Gonna…Blwch…’ 105km ELEVATION: 1573m (BRECON BEACONS)

TEAMMATE: MATT BROWNING

14/7/2021 STAGE 17 ‘Queen’s Stage and Bastille Day’ 110km ELEVATION: 1933m (BRECON BEACONS)

TEAMMATE: STEFAN HOOLE

15/7/2021 STAGE 18  ‘Soled to the Devil’ 80km ELEVATION: 1222m (BRECON BEACONS)

TEAMMATE: IAN HUTCHINSON

STAGE SPONSOR: THE SMILE LOUNGE https://www.facebook.com/SmileLoungeChepstow

16/7/2021 STAGE 19 ‘Tour de Tor & Pilton POP!’ 126km ELEVATION: 898m 

TEAMMATE: RICHARD PASCOE 

17/7/2021 STAGE 20  ‘The Windmill Hill Time Trial’ ITT Stage 19km ELEVATION: 154m

TEAMMATE: JIMMY ANDERSON, JONATHAN BURRAGE

STAGE SPONSOR: AQUARIAN CLADDING SYSTEMS www.aquariancladding.co.uk

18/7/2021 STAGE 21 'The Final Stage' 69km ELEVATION: 748m

TEAMMATE: ROD WHITE, JIMMY ANDERSON, ANDY JEAL (AND ANYONE ELSE THAT WANTS TO RIDE WITH ME - ALL WELCOME!) 

CORPORATE SPONSORS: 

WALNUT GROVE: Huge thanks to Zara and the team at Walnut Grove for their support with this - keeping me mobile and active! They have donated a monthly support package for me from now until the tour starts https://walnutgroveclinic.com/

TREK Bikes in Bristol https://tinyurl.com/TrekBristol

SINGLE PLY SERVICES: The team at SPS have stumped up to keep the wheels turning, funding the supplies and bike kit that will help me cover the 2100km - Huge thanks team - it's a huge relief! 

DB Max https://www.dbmax.co.uk/ - James Higgs has kindly donated some TT spaces for me to train but also 3 race entry slots for the raffle. 

Tru-Tension Cycle Innovation https://www.tru-tension.co.uk/

NUT-R - Action Camera Bike Mounts: https://www.nut-r.co.uk/

THATCHERS CIDER: https://www.thatcherscider.co.uk/

PRO ATHLETE/TEAM SUPPORT: Trek Segafredo, Adam Hanson, Toms Skujiņš, Lucy Charles-Berkley - they have all sent items money can't buy - skin suits, gloves, jerseys, you name it - all for the raffle

Thanks also to Waitrose Portishead and Tesco Clevedon