Colin conquered the Grand Depart ‘Le Tour de France’

Colin Jones took part in the Grand depart of Le Tour de France. He tells us about his incredible day in the saddle ……
“So after months of training the day had come! Saturday 29th June the Grand Depart from Brussels for Prostate Cancer and the 1st Stage of the Tour de France.

What an amazing experience, something that will stay with me forever. We started at 7:15am with the temperature already at 20c knowing it was going to be getting hotter, but nobody thought it was going to be record breaking hot! Belgium would record some of its hottest temperatures ever during the afternoon.

The ride started from the centre of Brussels and out to the country.

The first challenges came at 30 miles with 2 cobbled climbs, iconic in Belgian cycling folklore, the Muur van Geraardsbergen and the Bosberg.

These were despatched and onto the first feed station. A quick refuel and onto the lunch stop at 65 miles. Temperatures were up to 35c by now. The next section proved to be the hardest both physically and mentally as we rode to the final feed station at the iconic Waterloo at 96 miles. This leg is where the temperatures hit 47c/117f 🥵!!

It was then onto the final leg and back to Brussels. I felt ok up to 111 miles and then hit the wall, still with 14 miles to go. However the words from my son ‘Dad you’re gonna smash it’ and my wife ‘you can do this’, kept me going.

So after 8 hours 19 minutes of riding I entered the finish straight and the noise of cowbells and whistles was unbelievable. As I rode through the line its hard to explain the overwhelming burst of emotions I felt as I had done it, completed my challenge in ridiculous heat, and in the process so far raised £2391.80 for Prostate Cancer.”

Well done Colin,donations can still be made at the following link:

www.justgiving.com/Colin-Jones26