L'Etape Du Tour 2013
THE Tour the
Those who like myself were lucky enough to have ridden many of the etape du tours to date will not only fully appreciate how great these warriors on bikes are but are also how fortunate we are to share the experience that these riders had as they fought battles on the famous alpine, Pyrenean, central massif and other routes ridden over the past 100years .
The etape du tour is an
experience of a lifetime for any cyclist.
Up until 2010 for me personally the experience of riding
this prestigious event and meeting a guy with only one leg on
the first col of the 2007 race was a moment I will always remember .. The
thought that went through my head as I passed him, patting him on
the back (a gesture he acknowledged) was.."What a privilege it was to be
biking with a person of such character" .Thus if I was to sum up what I
like about this race is that... the etape du tour is an event in
which cyclists of great character both male and female, of all ages get to bike
together on a typical Tour de France stage.....and most of all what a privilege
to be able to be one of them.
Above , at the start of last paragraph I said "up until 2010"
. I now have to add that the experience I had watching the development of some
of our new participants from first meeting them at our Kenmare weekend in April
to seeing them cross the finish line at top of col du Tourmalet in 2010 has equaled the
feeling I got in 2007 seeing the guy with one leg (no prosthesis) climbing the
col de Port. Equaly the performance of our group both on pre etape rides and on
the etape of 2010 was amazing .Furthermore the spirit of those who
travelled with us to the 2012 etape which has to have been the hardest ever both
due to the difficulty of the course and the poor weather on the day was so
impressive. Again, I say from my heart what a privilege it is to know and bike
with these guys and girls.
Long may we all have good
enough health and spirit to do this and other such events.
We would like to extend our best wishes to all those who will be travelling with
us this year and previous years.
We have had many individuals both guys and ladies but also couples (seven in
2008) and father/daughter /son in
2009 and again a father and daughter in 2010 and again a father son duo in
2011. I hope some day to join this
very fortunate group and share this experience with one of my own children.
Many have been travelling
with us since we first started taking groups to the etape in 2006 when we had
over 50 take part . In 2008 , 2009 and 2010 we had over 70 travel with us, quite
a sight on rides and on start line..
It was particularly pleasing in 2010 to have 100% of our group reach the finish at top of the Col du Tourmalet after a long day in the mountains and again in 2012 to have such a high finish rate on such a difficult day and course.
I have had the pleasure of biking with most over the last few months and look forward to biking with you all again in both
Ireland and in France.
We are presently taking bookings for our packages from those who wish join us for a few days biking from 4th to 8th July 2013 culminating with an experience of a lifetime....riding the etape du tour.
As is the case every year we expect to have some great stories and personal achivements to salute to again next July.
Not only can one expect this stage of the Tour De France to be full of drama but also for all those who tackle it on 7th July.
Being the final stage of the Tour in the mountains means that when one watches it later when the tour riders ride it we can fully appreciate how awsome their performance will be as we witness them speed up the climbs.
We have a package available to this etape with many already signed up . If you would like to join our group send me an email and we will send you on full package details.
I look forward to biking with all who sign up .
The last two years the organisers ran two etapes and because they are only running one this year on can expect it to fill up fast so early booking is advisable.
To find out more information email me at,
soleary@trail-seekers.com
TO SEE PHOTOS OF A PREVIOUS ETAPE IN THE PYRENEES . CLICK HERE
Also If you would like to see photos and links to videos from our 2010 trip.
link to photos.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/53601467@N07/sets/72157624974844751/
