Stage 13, and another video update from Prof Rob Wynn, our cycling warrior taking on the Tour de France route.
The first 75km were relatively flat, followed by a climb and a drop into a valley. The route took the riders through beautiful countryside but this was no sightseeing trip. It was 138km of cycling ending with a 17km climb up Grand Colombier. 17km! Upwards!
And this particular climb had not two, not three but four HCs. (See our previous post!) Four, off the scale, sections of climbing at around 12%. And these were punctuated with six category 1 climbs – hardly ‘breathers’.
So, it’s understandable that Rob (and indeed the whole team) found it so relentlessly draining. Essentially, it’s hours of staring at your handlebars, gripping them as if holding on for your life, whilst spraying them with spittle with every exhalation and moving at a speed barely beyond walking pace. To say they’re all hurting is under-egging the flan. And for the next two days, they’re in the Alps. More mountains.
But Rob and the team received a message today from a family sharing the awful news that their little boy had lost his battle against leukaemia. The pain of the cyclists, as excruciating as it is, will pass. The pain for that family will never go away. This is why Rob is doing what he’s doing. To allow clinical trials to eventually get to the point whereby families no longer have to share these sorts of messages.
C&C are very proud to be sponsoring Rob and are grateful for him sending these videos, made especially for us, giving us honest insight into what it’s like for an amateur to take on cycling’s greatest test. But we’re beyond proud and incredibly humbled by what he’s doing and why he’s doing it, which is why we’re putting on our own C&C Homecoming celebration for him on Saturday 22nd July.
On the 4th day of the 4th Ashes Test, we’ll be celebrating Rob completing The Tour 21 by watching England take on Australia at Emirates Old Trafford – a venue we’re very familiar with! Joining us to congratulate Rob on his achievement will be guests from the worlds of business, TV and journalism, along with a sprinkling of sporting heroes. And although the backdrop will be cricket, let’s not forget, it is only sport. The day will be focussed on Rob, his extraordinary strength of will and his goal of curing childhood leukaemia.
And in our book, that makes him a real superhero. If you can, please donate to Rob’s fundraising page here.
