Nigel Smith
L'Etape du Tour - 2004
Fundraising for Cancer Research UK
Story
On Sunday, 11th July, I will be donning my Lycra shorts and top ready for competing in the Etape du Tour; a 240km cycle race from Limoges to St Fluor, in the Pyrenees. Following the long established tradition of such pointless escapades, I have decided to use this as an opportunity to raise some money for charity, specifically Cancer Research. If you would like to make a donation to enable me to raise some much needed funds for this charity please do so here. If you would like some more information before donating your hard earned cash, or not, read on.
Every year for the last 12 years one stage of the Tour de France has been the venue of a mass participation cycle race, held a few days before the real Tour de France follows the same route. The stage chosen this year is from Limoges to St Fluor, a distance of 240 km ( 150 miles ) with a series of testing climbs up into the Pyrenees. Apart from having me competing in it, this year's Etape ( as it is referred to by those in the know ) is notable for being the longest stage of this year's tour. In addition to the sheer distance of the stage, the route climbs 9 peaks including 1 4th category climb ("easy"), 5 3rd category climbs, 2 2nd category climbs and 1 1st category climb ("not so easy"!).
The Tour itself will race this stage 3 days later on Wednesday, 14th July, when the professionals will reckon on completing the stage in between 6 and 7 hours. Without any performance enhancing substances apart from a couple of Mars bars, a handful of dried apricots, and the promise of a cold beer at the end of it, I am hoping to complete the stage in around 11 hours.
More details about the Etape can be found at: http://www.letapedutour.com/2004/fr/index.htm.
If you are interested in following the progress of the tour itself as 189 professional cyclists attempt to follow in my footsteps, this can be found at:
http://www.letour.fr/2004/us/index.html
If anyone is likely to be in the area, and you fancy seeing a grown man cry, I suggest you position yourself just before the summit of le Puy Mary at the 174km mark at about 2pm (I'll be setting off at about 6am from Limoges). I have set my fundraising target for this at £1,500, even though there's only a few days left I'm confident that we can raise that amount, so please make a donation, and maybe it won't be such a pointless escapade after all! Thanks, Nigel
Every year for the last 12 years one stage of the Tour de France has been the venue of a mass participation cycle race, held a few days before the real Tour de France follows the same route. The stage chosen this year is from Limoges to St Fluor, a distance of 240 km ( 150 miles ) with a series of testing climbs up into the Pyrenees. Apart from having me competing in it, this year's Etape ( as it is referred to by those in the know ) is notable for being the longest stage of this year's tour. In addition to the sheer distance of the stage, the route climbs 9 peaks including 1 4th category climb ("easy"), 5 3rd category climbs, 2 2nd category climbs and 1 1st category climb ("not so easy"!).
The Tour itself will race this stage 3 days later on Wednesday, 14th July, when the professionals will reckon on completing the stage in between 6 and 7 hours. Without any performance enhancing substances apart from a couple of Mars bars, a handful of dried apricots, and the promise of a cold beer at the end of it, I am hoping to complete the stage in around 11 hours.
More details about the Etape can be found at: http://www.letapedutour.com/2004/fr/index.htm.
If you are interested in following the progress of the tour itself as 189 professional cyclists attempt to follow in my footsteps, this can be found at:
http://www.letour.fr/2004/us/index.html
If anyone is likely to be in the area, and you fancy seeing a grown man cry, I suggest you position yourself just before the summit of le Puy Mary at the 174km mark at about 2pm (I'll be setting off at about 6am from Limoges). I have set my fundraising target for this at £1,500, even though there's only a few days left I'm confident that we can raise that amount, so please make a donation, and maybe it won't be such a pointless escapade after all! Thanks, Nigel