It's not very long now until I head to Corsica to start Le Tour. 5 and a bit weeks. On the cycling front, I feel fairly well prepared. I've felt fine at the end of the long rides I've done, and am going quicker than I have for a few years - provided that I eat enough! I am probably asking for trouble by saying that. I think the problems (and there will be many....) will be more related to the following:
- General wear-and-tear on the bike and body
- No recovery time so minor niggles can't heal.
- Weariness not just from the cycling but the coach travel, new hotels having to sort out food, washing, bike issues etc.
- Making sure that I stay upright on the bike and don't hit anything.
I've looked in detail at the schedule, and I'm thinking of the event in 4 sections:
- 3 day warm-up in Corsica - heat will be a real issue here
- 5 days across the south of France ending with the Pyrenees
- 6 days of La France Profonde going almost directly from Brittany to Provence
- 6 days of Alps and the end.
In other words, 4 nice cycling holidays strung into 1!
I'm sure there will be many moments of exhaustion, pain and despair - but at the moment the one I'm dreading the most is the long day to Mont Ventoux. I've been on Ventoux twice and the mountain leads 1 1/2: 1/2 on points at the moment. On both those occasions, it came after about 80-90 miles cycling. This time, however, it comes after about 120 miles of riding.
I met Rick Wates last week to try to persuade him that WWMT should support Chiltern Lighthouse - the charity of which I'm a trustee. No definite answer yet. I'm ramping up the fund-raising effort at the moment, so if you are thinking of supporting me - please do it now!