Day 6, Stage 6
Girona – Barcelona 181.5km
A.M. Video Diary
Today saw a 42km stretch along the coast between Girona and Barcelona which was up there with the best riding we have done so far. It was absolutely beautiful and left us in high spirits. We also felt that today was the first day that we got the route pretty right.
Pre Ride Video Diary
For the cyclists: A friend of mine from Melbourne, Arnaud Domange of A.D. Sports Massage, recommended (ordered) that I use the small chain ring more often as I usually try to grind the high gears. I have taken his advice and been in my small chain ring for the entire tour and my legs have felt really fresh each day. Today was the first time that I have used the big chain ring. When we were passed by a triathlete in the aero position I decided to get on his tail for a bit. That lasted all of a couple of minutes in the big chain ring but other than that it has been small chain ring all the way and my legs are feeling great for it.
Pit Stop Video Diary
Stage 6: On The Road
We are staying in an awesome apartment in Barcelona tonight and look forward to our first rest day tomorrow.
Our second Jamie Durie lookalike has joined us for the tour. “Dodgy Jase”, a good mate of mine from Uni, has made his way over from Bristol to join us for a week which will be great.
Crohn’s Fact
Due to the intermittent and sporadic nature of symptom flare-ups, many people with Crohn’s suffer from reduced energy levels and diminished physical and mental well-being.
Crohn’s Profile
Name: Xavier
Age: 43
Lives: Wallonie, Belgium.
Age of Diagnosis: 28
My Story:
Everything was perfect in my life up to 1994. I was 28 years old, a happy engineer with a good job, married with a wonderful woman who had given me a little nice boy … but in June 1994 my life with IBD began.
The 1st crisis was easy to remission: 2 months with 5ASA enema every evening, and to maintain the remission, 6 tablets of 5ASA per day. Then I worked hard to prove to myself that I was like anyone. I wanted to deny my chronic illness and the general tiredness it thrust upon me.
In 1996, 2nd crisis, the most severe I have ever had. enema didn’t work properly, cortisone (steroids) worked well but as soon as I stopped it, bloody diarrhoea and stomach ache came again. So I tried immunosuppressants, but psychologically, I have been hating this suppressants of the immune system.
In 1997, I had a pulmonary embolism, due to a wrong coagulation factor. I nearly died….
In 1998 I had to go to a psychologist for my anxiety attacks. With his help, I started accepting my disease…
Since 1999, I have taken 5ASA enema every evening, 3 gr 5ASA granule and 50mg of anxiolytic antidepressant. I “eat” almost 2 thousand medicines a year, and I need 52 medical prescriptions a year….all for my IBD !!!
With this treatment, my IBD is in remission 11 months a year, and surgery has never been required.
In 2003, I decided to work for the Belgian French-speaking Association of IBD, and straightaway I liked the feeling of being of some help, so I put a lot of myself in this association.
But my IBD requires plenty of sleeping, so I am not able to work as much as I would like….
And this year, I have discovered EFCCA, a lot of very friendly people, coming from all the countries of Europe, living with the same illness as mine, and all those people have the same desire to get out of it and to help other people.
My message:
Our disease is absolutely no piece of cake, and is quite hard to live with… When one is not personally confronted with such a case, it is sometimes hard to figure it out… IBD is costly too, for the patient and for research. In Belgium, an IBD treatment costs the patient from €500 to more than €1000 a year. (doctors’ fees and medical analysis a few times a year, and medicines on a daily basis).
Because they suffer from IBD, some people can’t work, or have only a part-time job. For those people, it’s really difficult to pay the medication they need. But again more important is the hope to find the cure….Who says find the cure, says research, and who says research, says need of plenty of money….
There are millions of people around the world with IBD, and they are all waiting for this cure….Because it’s rarely a deadly disease, finding the cure is not a priority for many governments. So we are calling on you to help us….
Thanks a lot.
Today’s images can be viewed here
Sponsor Profile:
Sponsor Name: Dirty Dog Eyewear
Sponsor Level: Official Eyewear
Sponsor Website: www.dirtydog.com.au
Dirty Dog Eyewear have fitted out the entire Crohn’s Crusaders team with the Dirty Dog frames of our choice! They have also provided 7 additional pairs of glasses to be used as competition prizes for subscribers to the Crohn’s Crusaders website so check out the “Competitions” page to see how you can be in the running to win. Check out your favourite Dirty Dog style here;
Dirty Dog says – “Dirty Dog is pleased to be the official eyewear sponsor for Damian’s Crohn’s Crusaders. We believe that our product will be highly beneficial for the team as it is light weight, durable and our polycarbonate polarised lenses will allow for optimal vision. We would also like to thank Damian for allowing us to be involved in such a great cause.”
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