Damian's Blog - Day 5

Guess what?! Another early start and we are all desperate for more sleep as we scramble around before breakfast packing up all the smelly kit from the previous day and getting it shipped off to our next destination by the ever superb support team. Geordie John our driver is horrified to hear the news that Mike Ashley has appointed Kinnear as caretaker manager at Newcastle, but seems slightly more reassured when he discovers from Lawrence that the caretaker appointment is Joe Kinnear formerly of Wimbledon, not the deceased actor Roy Kinnear, of Willy Wonka fame. Howay.

When the Gondola group met in June of this year to have our first pre Tour briefing, the main focus was on today's ride up Tourmalet, the most famous mountain climb on the Tour de France. It is remarkable to consider how far this group have come in just under four months that we are all very excited about the day ahead. The key word on everyone lips is respect, which has nothing to do with us being Ali G fans, but everything to do with taking a very considered approach to the mountain. The worrying thing is that on the roadsides leading up to Tourmalet there are a number of religious statues and shrines, which fill us with some apprehension.

Lawrence, Warren and Johnny make a start on the Col de Tourmalet

The very enjoyable thing about taking up cycling and this trip in particular has been the opportunity to ride with a host of characters, and fortunately we have a number of people on our tour who have done L'Etape, so they are experienced practioners. Given the fear we have for the mountain, it turns out to be more manageable than expected, and I have a really enjoyable ride up with an old friend, Jonny Nye, Sports Marketing Director from Nike, who has been a great supporter for this trip, and we share the final few km's with two equally experienced riders, Andrew Croker and Hugo Ellis. The scenes of jubilation at the top are inspirational, and to enjoy the views and share the moment with friends is very special. To think that only five months ago many of us started contemplating riding, so to have conquered Tourmalet is a very rewarding moment, and one that we will savour for at least, er, fifteen minutes until Fred clears us off the summit to head onto our next descent and subsequent climb. 'Allez, allez.'

The road up to Col de Tourmalet

The descents from these Col's are equally spectacular and, unsurprisingly given his skiing pedigree, Warren Smith is an exceptional downhill rider. Trying to keep up is a nightmare, as he clocks up speeds in excess of 80 km/h. In his wisdom Simon 'Headless', decides to show the ski guru a thing or two and resembles a Harrier Jump Jet as he raises his stone mason's backside in the air and hurtles down after him. Best to leave these two to it as Simon takes the Usain Bolt title by clocking 82 km/h. Thank God Lawrence didn't join in or he may have taken off...

The rest of the day is spent taking on two more Col's, and we climb over 4000m in total. Fortunately Jonny Nye keeps me company throughout the day, and by the end he is practically having to hover on his peddles to get me up Col de Peyrsourdre. I am absolutely broken after 8 hours in the saddle, and can't wait to get back to Luchon to rest up.

We are being filmed today by the IRB's World of Rugby, so imagine my delight when I get to the hotel and they have the camera's rolling ready for a final few words. I can hardly talk, but explain about the work of the Benevolent Fund and the help that Lawrence has given us over the years - let's hope they can airbrush the images.

We are now at half way point, and we have probably surprised ourselves with the determination and success of the entire group. Only four days to go, so dinner is lively with everyone relieved and delighted to have conquered a very tough day. We are greeted by the Mayor of Luchon, who welcomes us to the town, and then drops the bombshell that tomorrow will be an even harder day in the saddle - which reminds me I must order some more cream, especially after Dickie Relton mistook my chamois cream for factor 15 at lunchtime. If he does get a tan, I'm sure it will last for ages..

Footnote: Simon and Warren get fined for speeding at dinner, and it's fair to say they are both quicker in the saddle than they are drinking their punishments