It might be a bit late now, but happy new year everyone! 2016 was a pretty eventful year for most of us. 2017 promises both exciting times and tough challenges.
To update anybody that I have not bored with this information already, I have signed up to ride 4 stages of the Tour de France (1 week ahead of the professional event) with the good people at Tour de Force. This is an event to raise money for the William Wates Memorial Trust, a fantastic charity which helps disadvantaged young people to avoid a life of crime and fulfil their potential.
In exactly 6 months' time as I write this I will be travelling back from France, having cycled 694km in 4 days. This equates to just over 460 miles, far too much of which will be uphill.
Obviously I knew what I was signing up to, so it is my own stupid fault, but I have some seriously hard work ahead of me. I need to put a lot of hours in the saddle, ride a few sportives (non-competitive long-distance cycling events) to get used to cycling with other riders*, get used to eating more food to compensate for the extra calories burned, learn a bit about bicycle maintenance/repairs (because something is bound to go wrong) and re-acquaint myself with GCSE French.
If you are able to help me reach my sponsorship target, I would be incredibly grateful. Any donation, big or small, would be brilliant.
My fundraising page is http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/TomHoldaway.
Shout outs: I am really grateful to everybody who is helping me with this, in so many different ways. I would like to take the opportunity to thank Hazel and Steve, plus an anonymous donor, for your donations - it is very very kind of you.
Thank you for reading.
* without crashing too much!
