For the technically minded that is a Time VXRS frame with an SRAM Red groupset, with a compact 50/34 front chainring and a 11/32 rear cassette - this was put on yesterday to replace an 11/28. The extra 4 teeth on the back give me about 15% lower gearing. I'm giving myself an extra margin as the Mont Ventoux climb is long and particularly brutal in that you have kilometre after kilometre where the gradient is around 9 or 10% - the whole climb is 21.5k and the elevation gained is over 1,500 metres.
I came over last week to ride L'Ariegeoise, a cyclosportif in the Midi-Pyrenees, on Saturday. These are big events on the continent - there were 4,105 riders over 3 courses.
This fitted in nicely with some business commitments during this week, so I'm now in Chamonix having a break prior to moving onto the next cycling challenge which is riding Stage 15 of the Tour de France on Sunday, July 7th.
Here are the stage details:
http://www.letour.fr/le-tour/2013/us/stage-15.html
The reason for this is that my good friend and motorcycling mate, Kyle, is this year riding all 3 grand tours in support of the Teenage Cancer Trust. He has already ridden the Giro D'Italia, and he is partway through the Tour route which he started 7 days before the pros. So the pros ride Stage 15 on Sunday 14th July. I'm going to join him to ride it on the 7th. In August he moves on to ride the Vuelta Espana.
He has his own website detailing each day's riding:
http://www.3gt4tct.org/
And his wife, Kay, who is driving the support vehicle has her own website detailing her view on each day's events. She writes very well and it's very funny:
http://www.callthisaholiday.org/
On a more serious note, Kyle is doing this entirely at his own expense so any amount donated to the TCT goes straight to it - no deductions. If you want to support a good cause then you find the link on the 3gt4tct site.
