Mountains of the mind: training for and riding the route of the 2013 Tour De France

摘要

Between 22nd June and 14th July 2013 I rode the entire 3360km route of the 100th Edition of the Tour De France, stage-for-stage, one week ahead of the professional peloton. The ride was part of an event called The Tour De Force which raised ￡425,000 for a charity, based near DMRC Headley Court, supporting disadvantaged and vulnerable children. Along the way I was asked to keep a diary and blog of my training and experiences. Much of the following report is taken from those pages and can be read in full at http:// drtdf2013blog.wordpress.com."We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope (Romans 5:3-4)."Endurance sports are blue-collar by nature, where achievement and reward come through sacrifice, hard work and persistence and, I would add, a single-mindedness that allows you to shut out pain to focus only on achievement. Ernest Hemingway said, "It is by riding a bicycle that you learn the contours of a country best". In which case I feel I have gained a true insight into the malevolent beauty that is France. La Grand Boucle (as the Tour de France is colloquially known) is renowned as one of the hardest endurances challenges in professional sport and was intended as part advert for the diversity of France and part war of attrition (and to sell an ailing newspaper).