Welcome to the tales, trails, and tribulations of my attempt, as a total cycling novice, to complete the entire route of the 2010 Tour de France...thats 3600 km / 2236 miles in 20 days with just 2 rest days, taking in the Alps and the Pyrenees – rumoured to be quite hilly!



Lance and Jake .... seperated at birth

What follows is both an attempt at keeping myself sane during the 3 week ordeal, a journal to remind myself never to do this sort of thing again, and a means to try and raise some cash for the William Wates Memorial Fund. Any contributions would be hugely appreciated and will be a real boost for me throughout the Tour.
For more information please go to ...

Thursday, 15 July 2010

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.

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