It is every cyclist’s dream – the streets lined with adoring fans, the world’s best riders on their way behind you and the finishing line of one of the greatest races in the sport ahead.
Like the Sunday league footballer who dreams one day of catching the eye of a passing scout who just happens to be wandering by, every cyclist wants a place in the Tour de France.
But for 50-year-old enthusiast Mike Hughes, it will no longer be a dream after the York-based sportive rider signed up for the Marie Curie Power Peloton – the chance to ride stage one of the Tour de France just hours before the peloton rolls out of Leeds.
The Power Peloton offers riders the chance to ride the stage from Leeds to Harrogate on Saturday July 5, in exchange for a fundraising pledge of £19,000 – a Marie Curie nurse’s annual wage.
And Mike, who admits it took a lot of agonising before signing up for the challenge, says taking part in the prestigious event will be a poignant moment for him.
He told RCUK: “I had a few sleepless nights asking myself if I could ride for 190km without stopping, and at an average speed of more than 15mph, and can I raise £19,000?
“But I then became more positive – this isn’t meant to be an easy club ride, this is a challenge. I just needed to put together a plan to train and get the money.
“The deciding factor however was this ride will be around the first anniversary of losing my Mum to cancer. I’ll be doing the ride in her memory.”
Mike, who rides with Clifton CC, has raised money from his cycling in the past, collecting £10,000 over the past three years having been inspired to do so when a friend’s sister died of meningitis.
But he admits the challenge of raising the money for the Power Peloton is a big one.
“Everyone is a target,” he joked. “I can’t do anything for nothing now!
“I have developed a thick skin. I get more ‘no’ than ‘yes’ but I just move on to the next person who can help me. It is amazing how some individuals will help once you get started. I have a target to hit and I have to hit it.”
Alongside raising the money, Mike is also working hard to prepare for the huge challenge.
The Power Peloton includes an official training camp and recce of the course, but in the meantime he is clocking the miles in the Yorkshire countryside.
And he also has a weekend trip with Clifton to look forward to – where he admits the pressure will be on to prove himself on the difficult miles in front of his club mates.
“I ride with Clifton CC here in York all through the year so I haven’t stopped riding through the winter,” he said. “We have been very lucky with the weather this year and not lost any weekends to snow or ice.
“I have to be honest however, that the last month has been crazy running around after sponsors for this event.
“I live in York so I have managed to get out into the Dales a little and over the Wolds. My rides have only been about 70 miles each time but they are picking up on the mileage now.
“[For the weekend trip] I am taking my tourer bike to see how I get on with the gearing. I have a triple on that but pledge not to use the granny gear to see if the pain is too much. This should give me a good idea of what I will have to go through.
“I’ll also have the panniers on the back and club mates who I am sure will not let me forget if I start faltering on the hills!”
The Power Peloton is far from the only big challenge Mike has taken on however, with York to Paris, London to Paris, the Etape Alpine Challenge and L’Eroica – on a 1954 F.H. Carpenter he found in a garden and rebuilt – on his CV.
His steed for the Power Peloton will be a Ribble Sportive Bianco however, though he is yet to decide how to dress the bike for the challenge.
“I currently have a standard 42/52 and 12/25 cassette but I think I will be changing this for the Power Peloton,” he explained.
“I am conscious I will need to keep the speed up though so I’m still deciding what to put on it. My ride over the course on March 22 should decide that for me.
“I have eight bikes in total. Each has a place in my heart but the Ribble is the one for this ride.”
Unsurprisingly, as a Yorkshire-based cycling fan, the coming of the Tour de France was already a great source of excitement for Mike before signing up for the Power Peloton however.
And having gone to watch the Tour in each of the last 15 years, he cannot wait to be part of it come Saturday July 5.
“I don’t think the public realise how big this event is,” he said.
“The fundraising for me is the main thing. With such a large amount to find I can’t help but be focussed on that.
“Having the Tour go right past my house in York on stage two however is a massive thing. To be able to say that I will have passed the finish line on the same day, and ahead of, the professional riders on stage one of the Tour de France is bragging rights that can’t be bettered.
“It is history and I will be part of it. That is what cycling is about.
“It is the memory of racing home in February on a club ride as the snow falls before it begins to lay. It is running out of water and having more punctures than you have inner tubes with 50 miles to home in the blistering heat, but still getting back.
“It is the crippling pain disappearing as you reach the top of that climb you have never done before. Cycling is about achievement and riding in the Marie Curie Power Peloton having raised £19,000, and standing on the podium in Harrogate, is going to be some achievement.”
For more information about the Power Peloton click here. You can sponsor Mike by visiting his JustGiving page here, or by texting MJDH64 and your amount to 70070.
