Sponsor Ciaran Doran at : https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/ciarandoranbeforethetour
Not a good day in the saddle. Perhaps the intent of the route creators was to create a sombre and reminiscent feeling in the tour on this stage, it’s certainly what it did for me.
I began the day with a bad morning not eating well. Then I had a shoulder massage on the bus to the start line which in retrospect was perhaps not the best thing to do: not eating well, then lying face down on a moving bus around minor roads isn’t too surprising that I felt quite nauseous for the first part of the morning.
We passed many war cemeteries throughout the day which reminded us why the tour route was designed to pay homage to the 100 year commemorations of the great war. It’s quite a sobering thought when you sail past fields of white gravestones all identical and each with a name. The freedom we have today in Europe is a result of the people who gave their lives on these fields. Sadly, though, there were many battles on these same fields one hundred years ago that were so very pointless. The gift of life seems so much more precious now than it seems to have been then. That’s why we’re doing this ride.
Arras is only about 60km from Amiens so it was quite something that the route designers managed to create a winding route of 189km inside that distance. It was indeed beautiful even if it was tough. Temperature was lower than previous days, thankfully, but that in itself can create its own issues.
This was the first day the team looked like it was beginning to work well together. It’s not easy bring a group of highly motivated individuals together and expect them to work as a team immediately. These individuals are all excellent at their jobs, all driven people, all determined to achieve their own individual best within their own worlds, me included. So it’s natural that it takes time and a fair bit of challenging work to bring a group together that works as a team. The weather helped make this happen along with the fact that we are here to do this ‘together’, get round the course all as one group. We are not leaving anyone behind and while there may be a tough day for one person, the other knows that their tough day may still be down the line.
I’m very proud to be part of this team and how it has worked hard to support those who are slightly weaker. Don’t get me wrong, everyone on this team is strong but in any team there will be some stronger than others. I’m quite humbled to be in this team when I look at the strength of the other riders. All I can hope is that my strength comes into its own at some point and the pain points (I won’t tell you where they are) pale into the background and I can get on with the riding. Looking forward to the mountains as I enjoy them.
At the end of the day, any pain I go through pales into the background when I think of the people I met at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham and when I think of the people I know who either have suffered from leukaemia or lost someone who has.
Please donate on the link below and give as much as you feel you can to this cause.
Professor Charlie Craddock and his team are changing things quite significantly and giving patients hope who were otherwise often told that they had no chance.
Thank you.
Sponsor Ciaran Doran at : https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/ciarandoranbeforethetour