Sponsored Solo Cycle Ride “Tours de France”

September 8 – 15, 2026
c.450km in 7 days
from Tours to Ouistreham

Four years ago, I embarked on a cycle ride from Taizé, in the Burgundy hills, to Tours, mainly along the ‘Loire à Vélo’ long distance cycle route.  A few weeks after my return, and with no apparent link to my journey, I was hit with a major medical problem which led to a significant section of my intestine being removed, resulting in me now living with a Stoma.
However, despite the minor inconvenience of requiring a colostomy bag on my stomach, I have been blessed with a full recovery following the excellent care I received, and have sinced been able to enjoy life fully including skiing, hiking, gym workouts and cycling – as well as working two busy part-time jobs until I retired in 2025.
As I approach my 70th birthday, I wanted to give thanks for the care and support I received by raising funds, primarily, for the main UK Stoma Support charity, Colostomy UK and so I decided to undertake this challenging ride and I ask you to help make this a success by sponsoring me. 
The plan was to start where I left off in 2022 – Tours – and continue to cycle solo, along the ‘Loire à Vélo’ route (with couple of hilly ‘Chateâu-spotting’ detours) to Angers, and then to join a different long-distance cycle route, ‘La Vélo Francette’ which concludes at the ferry port in Ouistreham, a total of roughly 450km in 7 days. 
I would stress that this was a real challenge to me as I am not a regular cyclist, and this time, in addition to carrying my own camping equipment, supplies and clothing on my bike, I needed to carry my supply of medical needs.  Four of the stages saw me passing my previous record (72.5km) for a day’s cycling.  Gradients reached up to 9%, which presented different challenges whether going uphill or down!
A small proportion of funds raised will be given in aid of some other charities (see below), with which I have strong personal links, who supported me with publicising this event.
As well as these charities, I am grateful to other organisations who are backing me in various ways.  You will find links to all these below.