Geoff Thomas Foundation

STAGE FOURTEEN

MAZAMET TO PLATEAU-DE-BEILLE, 197 km

Geoff hands over today's diary duties to PETE SLATER from sponsors SIS

OUR relationship with Geoff comes from two angles. We first got involved with
Geoff when he rode the Tour in 2005 so we were obviously keen to continue our
relationship with him when it became obvious he was going to do it again. Then,
back in October or November, I said I would be interested in joining his team as
a support rider and he took me up on the offer.

SIS are involved in the world of sports hydration, energy, recovery. When you
consider that, according to the computer on my bike, even a small guy like
myself is burning over 7,000 calories a day on this epic we're doing, then I
like to think our products are of use.

More importantly, for us, it is important for us to be involved in such a
great cause. We have adopted Geoff's Foundation as our official charity. We
obviously love our cancer and with cycling forming such an important part of
Geoff's Foundation, it's a perfect fit for us.

On a personal level, I've had cancer close to me in my family. My
father-in-law, Trace Allen, suffered pancreatic cancer and underwent pioneering
surgery and has been given the all-clear but it was very close. And my mother
has had breast cancer but had her last batch of chemo a couple of weeks ago and
hopes to be with us for our celebrations in Paris.

I've seen up close what this horrible illness can do to people, not only
those suffering from it but those close to them who are effected by it.

Those are the reasons behind me being here in France although it didn't seem
such a great idea as we rode up our first cat two climb of the day this morning.
By the time we hit the top of the Cote de Saint-Sarraille it was pouring down
and howling a gale and we were panicking that this weather was set for the day.

Geoff had started the day with us, optimistically hoping that his chest
infection had cleared enough for him to ride but it took barely half an hour to
realise he was still having difficulty breathing. Worse, with the weather bad
and getting worse, he would have been really struggling to ride for long.

In fact, halfway down the descent we were forced to stop, it was getting just
too cold, and we quickly put on our Impsport wet-weather gear, rooting through
our bags for anything warm and dry to put on. By the time we reached the bottom
of the hill, even the heavier guys in our group were shivering.

To be honest, my thoughts were that if this weather continued, I would be
struggling to complete the ride because of the cold. I was frantically thinking
of stopping off at cycling shops to buy winter gear.

Luckily, Becky took a call from some of the team's supporters who told us
that further down the course the valley was bathed in gorgeous sunshine, which
gave us hope, and we could hardly believe it when we got down to the floor of
the valley and found, not only clear skies, but a 50 mph tailwind as well! A
brief stop to warm up and take our wet gear off and life looked a lot rosier.

The only slight problem was getting caught in cross-winds as we descended at
40 mph but by the time we reached Carcassonne spirits were high and we knew we
would get through to the end.

There was also another appearance from my in-laws, Trace and Joy Allen, from
Welwyn. They have been on holiday out here and have popped by to join us on our
riding on four days or so. They can't believe the effort that the lads are
putting in on the ride and are big supporters of the cause. It's been great to
see them so often and I know the boys also appreciate their backing.

We hit our first HC climb of the Pyrenees - the Port de Pailheres at 146km
although we had to work our way through the Gorge de St Georges to get there. At
first, it was very picturesque, riding through the valley, but after 30 km of a
slight, grinding uphill, it became pretty tedious, especially because we knew we
had to face the climb.

To make matters worse, Griz was suffering stomach problems by this stage and
throwing up in the saddle. With the toughest part of the day to come, he was
unable to keep any food down and the prospects for him didn't look good.
Somehow, he got up the climb at a reasonable pace.

Near the top, there was a herd of wild horses by the road side one of which
broke wind in Griz's direction to give us a momentary laugh although the last 3
km were pretty grim with the weather closing in dangerously. At the top, we
battled through cloud, fog, drizzle and a terrible wind chill although a few
hundred metres into the descent, the weather lifted and we soon warmed up.

From there, it was on to our second mountain top finish of the Tour at
Plateau de Beille. Dusk was approaching as we started the climb but, so close to
the finish, spirits were pretty high and daft comments over the race radio kept
them that way.

As we got closer to the top in the pitch dark a new obstacle appeared as a
warning came over the radios "Watch the cows!" A big herd was spread over the
road although, at our speed, there was little danger of a collision.

The support staff were excellent, as ever,and by the time we reached the last
corner we could just about make out the headlights of our van and hear the
cheers of the rest of the guys a great incentive even though we couldn't see a
thing through the dark and fog.

Even better, the support staff had done a great job of locating a pizza
restaurant at the foot of the climb where we quickly headed for our post-ride
dinner. It was a great end to the day.