Le Loop: How to Cycle the Tour de France - Tapa blanda

Stone, Ceri

 
9781801501156: Le Loop: How to Cycle the Tour de France
Tapa blanda
ISBN 10: 1801501157 ISBN 13: 9781801501156
Editorial: Pitch Publishing Ltd, 2022

Sinopsis

Le Loop: How to Cycle the Tour de France is the incredible tale of how one man took on the world's toughest bike race. Ceri Stone is an ordinary guy. He wanted to do something extraordinary just once in his life. This book is the exhilarating story of that adventure. He lays out a template for personal success, garnered from some rich life experience, and he puts his theories to the test by cycling Le Loop. Le Loop is an annual charitable event where riders cycle the route of the Tour de France one week before the pros. This is an inspiring adventure for athletes of all levels that proves we can achieve our wildest dreams and laugh along the way. Much like the tour itself, there are extreme highs and lows, and Ceri faces them with a searingly honest sense of reflection and a trivial sense of humour. This story is warm, empowering and leaves you itching to get off your sofa - but with a template to succeed at the same time. Join Ceri in his quest to live a life less ordinary.

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Acerca del autor

Ceri Stone has been an award-winning managing director for an educational supplier for over ten years and is currently a self-employed consultant. He has written articles for the Swansea City Supporters' Trust and he is the author of the popular travel book Indian Summer: The Remarkable True Story of a Holiday Rep in Goa. He has completed five Ironman races and cycled the route of the 2019 Tour de France.

Fragmento. © Reproducción autorizada. Todos los derechos reservados.

Prologue
16 July 2019
Adversity
I COULD hear Fatima on the phone. She was a strong rider,
great fun and not prone to the overdramatic. I was worried.
‘THERE’S BEEN AN ACCIDENT.’ There was panic
in her voice.
‘We need an ambulance. Ceri is out of the Tour.’
What? That brought me to my senses and rapidly cleared
my lingering fog.
‘Shut up Fatima. Fuck’s sake I’m fine. I’m not stopping.
Where is my Garmin? Will someone give me my bloody
Garmin?’
I had no right to be so rude to Fatima she was just looking
out for me. She was right, I had indeed had an accident. A
bad one. I needed help and not just in finding my Garmin.
There was a chance that I could be out of the Tour. All
the lessons I had ever learned about resilience, overcoming
adversity and never, ever giving up needed to be applied. Fast.
The 16th stage was, on paper, a straightforward parcours.
We had endured some really tough days climbing in the
Pyrenees, culminating in a very stressful stage 15, from
Limoux to Foix, which included the Mur de Péguère with
its climb of almost 3.5km and gradients of up to 20 per cent.
We then transferred our aching limbs further east for a rest
day, before starting over again with a run-of-the-mill stage.
If there is such a thing in the Tour de France.
Stage 16 was an out-and-back, flat 177km route starting
and finishing at our hotel in Nîmes. The greatest perils were
some potential crosswinds and a lack of concentration, as we
coaxed our legs back into a rhythm of churning the pedals over
and over. We were lucky that the sun was shining, to the point
of baking, and we seemed to avoid the worst of the mightily
strong mistral breezes from the day before. It was stunning.
Nîmes is famous for its Roman monuments, such as the
imposing amphitheatre Arena of Nîmes and the Maison
Carrée, which is arguably the best-preserved Roman temple
in the world. Not that we saw much of them on our rest day
given our pressing need to eat, drink and refuel; launder kit;
buy fresh supplies; tinker with bikes; receive massages and
then eat, drink and refuel some more.
Early in the stage we did get to ride across the resplendent
and iconic viaduct, Pont du Gard. The viaduct was less than
a kilometre from feed stop one, which gave us time to fill up
on cakes and energy drinks before the real riding started. As
we left, we started to fall into our mini pelotons. I was due
to be in a group which included my new-found friends Eric,
Carmen, Andy and Stuart but as we moved out there was
no sign of Carmen. I sent the others on and doubled back
for her. It turned out she had punctured and had been left
behind. Five minutes and a quick tube change later and we
set off again, distanced at the back of a field of 100 or so
riders with a lot of time to make up and plenty of kilometres
to do it in.
This was a great day. The lead rider Emily had waited for
us and I was fortunate to spend my time riding hard with
two inspirational ladies. We were already 20 minutes adrift
of the field and eager to make up for lost time. By lunch at
feed stop three we had passed three groups of backmarkers
and caught up with a team who would share the workload
for the final 100km back into Nîmes. Carmen appreciated
the support and camaraderie. I reflected as we glided over
baking tarmac, with a warm summer haze wafting across
our bikes, that you achieve far more working with a team
compared to struggling on alone. I have long learned the
value of teamwork and we were in unison for the day and
rapidly made up lost time. The efforts of 16 days on the road
were falling into place.
On the home stretch into Nîmes, we had the wind at
our backs and a strong group of ten or so riding in perfect
unison. We were strung out in formation with each taking a
turn of 90 seconds on the front before drifting to the back of
the group to draft in the wheels. The pace was rapid and the
warm sun helped us glide along the smooth, almost empty
roads through the tranquil fields of southern France.
The efficiency of the team was idyllic. We rode within
inches of the rear wheel in front, hiding from the breeze,
while Eric kept his eyes fervently peeled for somewhere to
buy an ice cream. He was on a mission and we just had to
maintain concentration and effort. I was in nirvana. The
ease with which we were covering a vast terrain was almost
euphoric. We were emulating the feats of our heroes who
would be riding the Tour for real a week after us.
‘Stopping!’ the rider in front called out. He was six inches
from my front wheel. He had punctured. He hit the brakes. I
pulled back on mine. We were travelling at close to 30kph and
I had nowhere to go. Riding on the right-hand side of the road
I looked at swerving left but I was trapped inside him. As he
stopped, he turned right and pulled into the side of the road.
I hit the wing of his bike and went over the top of my mine.
I tried desperately to cling to my bike and keep it upright.
I failed. I remember putting my hands out in a vain attempt
to break my fall. I failed again. I hit my head. I smashed
my right shoulder and right hip before my mate came to
rest, landing on top of my left hip. The sound of my carbon
frame scraping against concrete grated through me, but not
as much as the impact of my helmet hitting the ground and
smashing into my forehead. My Garmin computer went
flying ahead of us and my prescription sunglasses shattered.
My shorts were ripped to pieces and blood was on the
concrete underneath our bikes.
I lay back and tried to feel my feet, my arms and
my body. I dared not move my head. I was angry. I was
frustrated. I was confused. I was embarrassed and above all
I was frightened of failure. I had set out a year earlier with
two big goals that I had set for myself, one of which was to
cycle the Tour de France, and here I was, in pieces on some
inanimate French concrete.
I heard Fatima tell the organisers I was out of the Tour.

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Editorial
Pitch Publishing Ltd
Año de publicación
2022
Idioma
Inglés
ISBN 10 
1801501157
ISBN 13 
9781801501156
Encuadernación
Tapa blanda
Número de edición
1
Número de páginas
352
Contacto del fabricante
no disponible
Persona responsable
no disponible