Le Loop - supporting the William Wates Memorial Trust
Le Loop follows the official route of the Tour de France, one week ahead of the professionals, starting in Florence, Italy and finishing 21 stages later in Nice. For some crazy reason I’ve signed up to the first half of this challenge – 9 gruelling days without a break! I’ll be riding with about 100 other participants.
Every rider commits to raising a minimum amount for the William Wates Memorial Trust (WWMT). The fundraised money is entirely separate from the participation fee – your donations do not pay for my Tour.
All monies raised go directly to the William Wates Memorial Trust whose mission is to help the most disadvantaged young people keep away from a life of crime and violence and fulfil their potential. This is achieved by giving grants to charities that engage young people through the medium of sports, arts and education.
It's been a tough couple of years for charities and particularly for young people. This is my chance to give something back and help support young people who aren't lucky enough to enjoy the advantages in life that most of us take for granted.
I’ve never asked for sponsorship before. Please give to this great cause, but only if you can. I appreciate times are not easy for many.
Riding the Tour de France route, even just the first half, is a dream come true, but also “next level” for me. It represents a decent test even for very serious cyclists. Every day I’ll burn 5 to 10 thousand calories and eat 7 meals just to keep the pedals turning. To add to the challenge, this year’s Tour gets off to a formidable start – one of the toughest in its 120 year history. As the race organiser put it, “the Tour has never climbed so high, so early”.
Most people who know me will have picked up that I’m a keen cyclist. In my teens and early 20s I put in some serious miles, big adventures on remote roads rather than racing others. But I’ve been a very casual rider since then. Frankly, I will be satisfied if I only complete day 1 – 125 miles from Florence to Rimini with nearly 12,000ft of climbing over the Appenines. But I’m going to get in shape and try to go the distance. Your support will add the necessary pressure for me to train hard and push myself between now and the Grand Depart on 22 June.
All donations go directly to WWMT – my participation costs are borne by me. Please remember that gift aid enables WWMT to claim an extra 25% on any donation made by a UK tax payer, at no cost to you. To find out more about the life changing work WWMT does click here.
Merci!
My Updates
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What an experience! Thank you to everyone who sponsored me so generously, it has really helped give the whole thing a bit more purpose than simply the physical challenge.
The first four days were crazy - long distances, lots of climbing - they say it might be the toughest start to a Tour in modern times. On top of that we have to contend with extremes of weather. 39 degrees and molten tarmac in Tuscany on the first day. It was a huge, huge day in brutal heat, and as I went to bed exhausted there were still riders rolling in after dark. Then relentless rain and bitter winds for hours on end going north through Italy into the Alps. I was lucky to become part of a tight crew (pic below) who are far more experienced than me at this sort of thing, working together as a peloton to get through it, thick and thin. In recent days the weather has improved as we’ve ridden out of the Alps into wine country and I’m enjoying an easy day in Burgundy. Two more big days to go, and then I get to watch the pros ride the same roads (but much faster!)
Thank you again, WWMT is a fabulous charity and it has been a huge privilege to help raise money for the work it does with underprivileged children. And thanks for all the messages of support and encouragement, they really got me through the toughest parts!
ShareThank you to my Sponsors
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£515
James Hugo Harris
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£500
Simon Morgan
Good luck with the training, and the ride itself. Hope you can add this to your sponsorship total.
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£354
Ebay Sales
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£108
David And Diana Griffiths
Wishing you a speedy but above all safe journey.
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£108
Richard
Good luck on this impressive challenge
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£100
Stella Donoghue
Best of luck, James - what a challenge!
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£100
Mayank
Good luck James!
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£100
Robert Mann
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£100
Scott Belcher
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£60
Chris Spalding
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£54
Vanessa Devesa
Good luck Huge! Brave brother!
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£54
Joe Stordy
Free your mind and your legs will follow…
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£54
Francesca Mack Smith
Well done Huge Make it happen 🙌🚵🏻♀️🥇
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£54
Gabrielle Jelly
Keep those pedals turning!🚵🏻♀️
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£54
Paul Smith
Good luck Hugo.........it would be a lot more fun in the Dino!
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£54
Bruce G
Good luck
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£54
David Mckay
Good luck!
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£50
Simon Topp
Good luck!
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£50
Bam
Go get 'em James!
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£50
Andrew Hutt
Glad to see you are putting your feet up and relaxing...
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£50
Alex Smith
Power to your legs and keep pedalling on the climbs, and relax on the descents 😊
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£50
Jon
Pain is weakness leaving the body…
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£50
Brent Streeter
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£50
Toby Staveley
Superstar!
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£50
Dougdoug
I think you must be Le-Loopy! What an awesome challenge for a good cause. Have a marvellous time!
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£50
Joao Duarte
Here's the secret to achieve this: Step 1: Start riding. There is no step 2. Strong legs!
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£27
Mandy Wiggins
Good Luck, James! What an exciting experience!!
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£27
Alicia Little
Have fun! X
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£27
Nick Macdonald Smith
Push, pull, push, pull and repeat. Hope you enjoy it, good luck!
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£27
Piers Holden
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£25
Alex Mcsweeney
Good luck, Hugs
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£25
Simon Worlding
Good luck James!
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£25
Eliza Shaw
James you are a nutter!
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£25
Gonçalo Fonseca
Downhill all the way up to the top!
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£25
Martin Bisiker
Heck of a challenge Hugo. Suggest you get some of this: https://www.chamoisbuttr.com/products/coconut-anti-chafe Gallons of the stuff... Best of luck.