It’s time to let the cat out of the bag. I’ve been training for a few months now, and trying to lose a few kilos all in the aid of taking on some of the more iconic Tour de France climbs.

Now, if you recall from my oh so infrequent posts I can’t, in any way, be described as a climber. Fortunately, or unfortunately, my mid-life crisis kicked in and I decided that as I turn 50 this year (actually have done already) I wanted to mark the occasion with a cycle tour to remember. It just so happened that I chose the Alps. I reckoned, succeed or fail, I would always remember a trip to the Alps.

So, in four weeks we head off for a tour of the French Alps. The group is a small one. Consisting of myself, my long time cycling buddy Sandy and our friend Craig who has kindly volunteered to drive for us.

The last time Sandy and I went on a tour we cycled from Lisbon to Madrid during which we booked hotels in advance. This worked pretty well, but was fairly inflexible in that we knew we had to get to a specific place each day. This time however, we are hiring a motorhome which will allow us the ability to change our itinerary depending on how we feel each day.

Having said that, I do have a plan that I’d like to stick to but I realise that I’ve never tackled climbs as long or as tough as this before which means I have to be realistic and allow for the eventuality that I won’t feel up to doing everything I planned. Don’t get me wrong though, it will take a lot to make me stray from the plan. I am focused, although probably not fully capable of such a challenge.

So, for the record, here is the plan.

Having written this down it all seems a bit daunting now, so I’d better stop writing and get back to training…..