The Journey Begins

In 2009 I raised over £2300 for Parkinson's UK by cycling from London to Paris, and the following year, my wife raised over £1200 for The Alzheimer's society by cycling "The Hampshire Hilly Hundred".
Being a keen road cyclist, I have watched th Tour De France in awe and thought what a great challenge it would be to ride a stage.
Little did I know that the chance is there, each year in the "Etape Du Tour". Over 10000 amateur cyclists set off on the Tour's most difficult mountain stage, and ride it under the same circumstances as the Pros themselves, (closed roads, banners, huge crowds etc).
This, I thought is just a pipe dream and not anything that I should think too hard about.

That was until I flew up to Scotland on 11th August this year to join my wife and her family for a week's break. She took my Madone ahead in the car and a few days later I jumped on a flight to join her.
Whilst waiting at the airport, I bought a copy of Cycling Weekly to help pass the time and quickly got immersed in an article about the 2010 Etape, written by a lady who had experienced it for the first time herself.
As she spoke about the incredible atmosphere that she encountered, I felt a huge sense of desire to take on the challenge in 2011, although the route was not set to be announced until the back end of October 2010.
I got off the plane and almost instantly announced to my wife that I wanted to do the Etape in 2011 as my 40th Birthday present.