Bonjour Tour de Cure

As any keen cyclist would agree, the place to be in July every year is France. The Tour de France is in full swing, the weather is great and the cycling is awesome.

I had the great priviledge of spending 4 weeks of holiday in Southern France and Spain this year, with my family. Of course I packed my bike and covered over 700km of Spanish coastline and French mountain passes. Naturally, I was wearing TDC kit and it was amazing how much interest it received !

Obviously the French don't understand the word 'cure' so the TDC was quickly renamed the 'Tour de guerrissance' during my stay !



My family comes from the small town of Mazamet in the Languedoc region of France and it is nestled in a valley surrounded by 'La Montagne Noir' or 'The black Mountain'. This is the home town of famous French cyclist Lauren Jalabert (JaJa) and it is pretty obvious why he was such a good climber !!! Lots of big bloody mountains.


My 'standard' ride was a 50km loop including the Pic de Nore which is at an altitude of 1100m. 25km up and 25km down !!!
I must say that riding up there in the early morning, with occasional encounters with deer is truly amazing and the view from the summit beautiful on a clear day.



Our first visit to the Tour de France was the stage finish in Foix. It was a great day and in particular because Cadel was still in yellow !! My kids had a ball but were confused why the Tour de Cure wasn't riding ....ha !!!!










Of particular note, I made a visit to the famous Mont Ventoux not far from Avignon in the Provence region of France. Dubbed the 'Giant of Provence' I set out on the 22km climb culminating at the summit some 2000metres high.
There were literally hundreds of riders from all corners of the world making their 'pilgrimage' to this truly iconic mountain.
A daunting sight was the monument to Tom Simpson who died in the 60's while climbing Mont Ventoux in the Tour de France.

After a quick stop to pay hommage to Tom, I completed the ride at the summit. To my surprise and extreme enjoyment, there is a lolly market there for all those riders needing a sugar fix. Let me tell you, you definately need it !! I had my fill and then set out on the terrifying decent ! While I clocked 83km/h this was pretty lame compared to fellow TDC ride Mike Bolt who reached 97km/h the day before !!

That night I returned to Nimes for the Tour de France stage finish and met up with TDC riders Gary Bertwistle, Mike Bolt, Denver Beven and also Simon Martin and Shane who were all doing various trips to follow the Tour. We had a great dinner together and thought about our mates in Oz freezing to death on their early morning rides......ughh.

The rest of the trip was a mix of great family time, eating, drinking and soaking up the sun. Not that it has anything to do with riding but sunflowers are part of the 'essence' of Southern France in Summer and this shot of my son Max really captures it all.

So now I'm back. The tan is wearing off, I've put on 4 kilos and it's back to work. I had my first early morning ride from Maiseys today......brrrr.

Adieu la France, a la prochaine !

Trans Alping Steve Davies

Whilst we were absorbed by a thrilling Tour de France and Cadel’s superhuman efforts riding against the sheer might of Team CSC, another enthralling cycle race loomed nearby in Europe over some impressive Alps.

Tour de Cure Sydney rider, Steve Davies, teamed up with MTB mate Richard Paine of Singapore under Davies' aptly named company Think Global to compete in the gruelling Jeantex Bike Transalp 2008 from 19 – 26 July.



Resplendent in Tour de Cure cycling kit, Davies and Paine and 1,098 other riders set off from Fussen, Germany, taking on the majestic mountain ranges of Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Italy, before rolling into Riva del Garda, Italy one week later. They covered 600km, a vertical gain of over 21,000m with Think Global's riders spending 45 hours and fifty minutes each in the saddle. Think Painful!

By invitation only, 550 teams from around the world competed in five race categories. Think Global finished 65th in the Master Men's category and 268th overall.

Congratulations Steve and Richard. A great effort and fantastic result.

Enjoy a well earned rest boys. Steve take some joy in knowing your TDC HTFU credits have now been topped up... to the max.

Splashing out - THORPIE helps the TDC

A Very kind and gracious Ian Thorpe took time out from his busy pre Beijing Games trip to share his secrets of acheivement for the upcoming Day of Inspiration.

To have accomplished so much and remain humble and down to earth is truly inspiring.

Thanks Ian!

We know those who attend the Day of Inspiration will appreciate your time and the pearls of wisdom you shared.

To hear what Ian had to say be at the Day of Inspiration. Click on Events in the Tour de Cure home page to book your tickets now.

All Fired up!

On this morning's very cold and crisp training ride we saw what happens to a Porsche when you forget to ash outside the window on these cold days.

Happy to report that the Driver (of German origin) was safe and already on the phone to his insurance company as we rode up to ask if he was alright............hmmmm!








DON'T SMOKE AND DRIVE................it's just not worth it........or is it....hmmmm

The HARD WAY ROUND

On June 22nd, three MEN (a father ALAN and his two sons Johnny and Ben) set off from Sydney on dirt bikes to travel across Australia to live an adventurous dream and raise money to help find a cure for cancer.

The ‘Hard Way Round’ as it is so aptly called, will see them cross the Simpson Desert to Alice Springs, travel north to Darwin through some of Australia’s most desolate lands, then across the Kimberley region and through the Pilbara down to Perth.

Their journey will take them through the Nullarbor and Flinders Ranges and back to Sydney where they hope/aim to come home to the knowledge that they have raised $50,000 for the National Breast Cancer Foundation.

This journey is completely unassisted so the guys will rely on months of calculated planning, their wit to see them stay focused on the long and tiring days and their faith to see them through this journey safely and welcomed home by their Mother and sister.............who one can only imagine anxiously await the next phone call from them.

To follow this incredible Journey and help them with a donation please click on the link below.

http://thehardwayround.wordpress.com/

Safe Riding boys.................Enjoy every minute out there

Latest Technology in Bikes

Our very own Craig 'CHOPPY' Cairnduff is considering a come back to the Tour de Cure in 2009 and has swapped his dodgy specialised for the latest technology.




We wish Craig well in his training and look forward to seeing those streamers fly