Stage Minus 1: Flying to Brussels

Well I’m done! Done with training, done with waking up before 5am six days a week, done with 6 hour indoor rides on an Computrainer, done with 8 hour solo rides up and down Warden Avenue. Six months of training is finally complete and I’m as ready as I’ll ever be to tackle the hardest event I’ve ever signed up for… The Tour de France.

Ok, so it’s not the actual Tour. It’s a slightly older person’s edition of the Tour. But it’s the same route, same mileage, same climbs, over the same timeframe. It’s the mirror image of the actual race but, thankfully, I’m not in a “race". I’ll be riding this crazy event at my own speed, fully supported by an organization called Le Loop, one week before the real pros set out.

I’ve been asked many times over the past 6 months why I would sign up for this. Good question, no? I have several reasons, but my main one is that I am happiest when I am fit. A few years of bad eating habits, stress, and middle age have all contributed to me not being who I wanted to be. I believe sometimes you need to push a reset button to make a change. This is my reset button.

My training has been outstanding. I engaged two coaches: Tara Norton (cycling coach) and Claudia Bolognesi (strength coach). Both of these professionals are incredible athletes who helped me prepare not only my body, but also my mind. I stayed consistent with my training – which was actually a first for me – and week after week I saw my myself slowly change, becoming stronger and leaner.

I also asked for help on training my brain to accept difficult challenges enthusiastically and the first step towards that was to stop the negative (“I can’t do that”) talk. Both coaches worked hard on that part of it, and I can honestly say that I feel ready to take on this 3460 km mountainous event.

Before I begin this wild ride, I have made three promises to myself:

One: To try to always be in the moment and enjoy.

Two: To listen to the mountains, maybe they will speak to me.

Three: To dig deep and push my own boundaries as far as I can.

I plan to blog everyday if I have the energy. At the very least, I will post pictures.

Below is the breakdown of each day ahead of me:

Tour de France 2019 stages

	Date	Route	km	Type
1	Sa June 29	Brussels – Brussels	194.5	flat
2	Su June 30	Brussels – Brussels	27.6	TTT
3	Mo July 1	Binche – Épernay	215	hills
4	Tu July 2	Reims – Nancy	213.5	flat
5	We July 3	Saint-Dié-des-Vosges – Colmar	175.5	hills
6	Th July 4	Mulhouse – La Planche des Belle Filles	160.5	mountains
7	Fr July 5	Belfort – Chalon-sur-Saône	230	flat
8	Sa July 6	Mâcon – Saint-Étienne	200	hills
9	Su July 7	Saint-Étienne – Brioude	170.5	hills
10	Mo July 8	Saint-Flour – Albi	217.5	flat
	Tu July 9	Rest day!
11	We July 10	Albi – Toulouse	167	flat
12	Th July 11	Toulouse – Bagnères-de-Bigorre	209.5	mountains
13	Fr July 12	Pau – Pau	27.2	ITT
14	Sa July 13	Tarbes – Tourmalet	117.5	mountains
15	Su July 14	Limoux – Foix	185	mountains
	Mo July 15	Rest day!
16	Tu July 16	Nîmes – Nîmes	177	flat
17	We July 17	Pont du Gard – Gap	200	flat
18	Th July 18	Embrun – Valloire	208	mountains
19	Fr July 19	Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne – Tignes	126.5	mountains
20	Sa July 20	Albertville – Val Thorens	130	mountains
21	Su July 21	Rambouillet – Paris	128	flat