Get back on your bike and ride.”

So here I was out of my depth metaphorically and almost literally in the aftermath of the deluge which had hit the course.

We were in the North York Moors, a place of wild beauty and steep inclines. Sutton Bank (25%) and Rosedale Chimney (33%) are two roads typical of the gradients you can find here. The off-road terrain was even tougher.

Most of us are passionate about something.  It might be an all consuming leisure pursuit or just the passing flirtation with a hobby that has temporally captured the imagination. Whatever the extent of the commitment, however, the enthusiast will live for it, practice it as much as possible sometimes to the exclusion of everything else.

A cyclist recalls the night before the ‘Grand Depart’ of the Worlds greatest professional bike race - the 99th edition of the Tour de France.

Gareth George long-distance bike ride