So far, most people’s response when I have mentioned this undertaking has been “why?”, though almost as many have asked whether I am mental! There have also been several comments about a mid-life crisis, thanks everyone! This did get me thinking however as to exactly what my reasons doing this were.
A sudden decision?
Not really, having watched the Tour de France on TV for about twenty years now I have often wondered what it would be like to ride the tour. Obviously I’d never race it, I was still fascinated by the idea of riding the same route just to see if I could complete it (they do say that even the pros count it as a major achievement just to finish). So why haven’t I done this before now? I guess a little is the fear that I wouldn’t be up to the challenge and a large part being the complexities of the logistics; what is the route, where to stay, carrying enough on the bike, etc. It was easy to convince myself that is was too big, too difficult.
Origins?
So why now I may hear you ask? I think the origins of this go back a couple of years, to December 2010. At this time I had a problem with my left knee which left me in severe pain and unable to walk for around 3 months. Once recovered from this I decided that you need to go out and grasp life, do the things you want, because you might not be able to tomorrow. To often I had not done things I wanted to purely because it took me so long to decide to do it. Last year I travelled more, to places that I have wanted to for a long time. I just made the decision and booked it without too much real thoight. I have decided that this year I should challenge myself more, it has been a long time since I have properly pushed myself to my limits.
Charity
Another deciding factor was a desire to do something for charity, something which I have never really done. I have of course donated, but have never raised money myself. I have often looked at charity challenges and wanted to do one but was always put off with the idea that part of the money goes towards paying for my “holiday” and felt uneasy asking friends to do this.
It all comes together
I suppose things all came together rather quickly. There I was, lunch break, trawling the internet as you do while at work, when I came across Tour de Force. It was the answer to all of the above. The challenge was there, especially this year being the 100th Edition of the race, finally I could ride the whole route. The logistics were done for me, the organisers know the route, organise the food and hotels and transfer all our stuff, with proper support from mechanics, doctors and physios in case anything goes wrong. I can just concentrate on the ride. Also, I pay for my holiday in full and additionally agree to raise money for their associated charity.
I had to sign up and in a frantic 20 minutes on November the 7th all 40 lifer places had gone and I was one of them.