Done, down, over and out...

Well I made it! Quite how I will never know....but rather similarly to the pro-riders it seems it was largely thanks to a heavy reliance on drugs, not wanting to let my sponsors down, and that I had bragged to far too many girls to back out at any stage.

Since climbing the Tourmalet for the last time on stage 17 the tour has slowly wound down. Distances have got shorter, the terrain has got flatter and the pace has got slower. I have to admit to having a mixture of feelings as we neared Paris. Joy and relief were met with a sense of loss and apprehension. The questions that were fired back and forth throughout the peleton seemed to summarise what we were all feeling...What am I going to do on Monday? How do you top this?

I am now back in London and I don’t like it.

I keep wanting to fill up imaginary water-bottles and my eyes our peeled searching for fluorescent arrow signs that have been guiding me for the last three weeks. My legs are tingling with a sense of unease and my bum cant seem to get comfy on my soft office chair.

Does Lance Armstrong go to a shrink post tour? Or is that why he keeps coming back?
The only solace has come from the enormous amount of congratulations I have received, the vast amounts of guilt-free alcohol I have consumed, and the knowledge that I don’t have to squeeze into festering lycra at 6 in the morning.

There is always a rather excessive use of the phrase ‘life-changing experience’. This was not the birth of a child, a loss of a limb or a win at the lottery. But it has started a no doubt life-long fascination with the Tour, a new understanding of quite how incredibly tough these pro-cyclists are, and the knowledge that my pain-threshold is much higher than I ever thought it was.

Will I ever be getting on a bike again? Of course...I have a race on Sunday. Reading is not quite the Pyrenees but I can’t help myself.

Last Tango in Paris

The finish line is getting ever closer and I finally have some time on my hands! The last two stages are totally flat and both about 50km each. The penultimate stage for the Tour is set aside as a Time Trial – which if the tour leaders are in a battle, can be the most important stage of the tour. I was not taking any chances and armed with my very fetching skin suit (£2.50 on eBay in case you wanted one), alot of kitchen foil and sellotape...Rick Gradidge and I came down to breakfast and announced our intentions.



Not a particularly great look...but it got alot of hoots of approval from the locals and we clearly looked like pro's....or Noddy and Big Ears on holiday!

The Time Trial ended with a very nice boozy lunch, and then we all hopped onto a train to take us up to the outskirts of Paris for the final glory ride into the city center the next day.

I don’t think I have ever enjoyed cycling in a built up area so much. The tension mounted the closer we got to crossing the finish line at the Eiffel Tower. Photos were taken at every opportunity...including my second lap of the Arc d’Triumph. Where a rather large and aggressive lorry reminded me that this was not a place to be taking snap shots.

Once more into the breach....

Today we had our second rest day....and one that could not have been more welcome. The last three days have been incredibly tough as we entered into the Pyrenees and have just got tougher.

Yesterday was a day I will never forget. I basically climbed half the height of Everest...4,600 metres in 196km, in scenery that was quite unbelievably beautiful and became increasingly so with every pedal stroke. We seemed to climb and climb from just 3km out of our hotel. We had two category 1 climbs before noon which were tough enough but they were merely a warm up before the big one....and the one that the tour had been culminating towards.

The Col du Tourmalet

A Category HC (uncategorized....ie off the scale) this is 17km of constant uphill that varies in 8 to 12% and takes us up to 2115m above sea level. The view from the top was beyond spectacular and made doubly so by the effort of getting there. It was also the first day since stage 2 that I haven’t been in pain with my knees. For some reason climbing seems to help them and they have eased in the last couple of days and it has been my strongest ride todate.....joy!!





Photos don’t really do this place justice but thankfully (am I really saying this?) we are going back tomorrow for the final Pyrenean stage and this years Etape stage. The Tourmalet climb from the other side....I cant wait!

Jake the Peg

So sorry still having very little personal admin time to write anything constructive or informative.

That being said...I have now made it to the Pyreenees. Just...I am now known as Jake the Peg on the tour as a result of my constant hobbling. Currently carrying the following..

Inflamed achilles on left foot...ouch

Misaligned platella tracking on left knee...oh dear god

Sores on back of left knee as a result of knee support... drugs please

Constant muscle spasm in right leg's inner quad as a result of trying to protect all of the above by using right leg more. Big mistake....very difficult to cycle with one leg!

Jake the Peg indeed. Still going though...2700km done...just under a thousand to go!

Much more interesting and informative blog updates from the tour can be found at http://www.tourdeforce.org.uk/blog/