Simon Gerrans and I both grew up in country Victoria. I thought I would mention that geographical link because physically there aren’t many links to speak of!
My max V02 (which tests aerobic capacity) is 44 (atrocious)! Simon’s is 84.
I watch 2008 Tour de France winner Carlos Sastre on TV. Simon is his team mate and rides with him every day.
I’ve read Lance Armstrong’s inspirational books, followed his successes and admired him like millions across the world. Simon races against him across the toughest terrain in Europe.
A quick tale of the tape:
Damian is 177cm tall and weighs 82kgs, his fastest ever average speed is 34kph and has never been in a bike race (except for the “slow bike race” at the Minyip Show in 1987 where the goal was to come last over a 50m course).
Simon is 170cm and weighs 64kgs, his fastest average speed for a ride ever is 52.7kph and he has won a stage of the Tour De France and the Giro d’Italia!!!
I’d love to have Simon’s characteristics just for one day to see how much difference it would make.
I’m giving you some of this background to highlight how excited I am that Simon rode with us today and it has been a highlight that I’ve been looking forward to for months. I seriously think that the adrenaline from today alone will get is through the first two weeks of the ride.
I can’t thank Simon enough for taking time out of his busy schedule to join us for a training ride in Monaco. He just returned home from the Giro d’Italia today and is off for a training camp tomorrow so I’m sure he has a million things to do but he still gave us plenty of his time. Today has definitely inspired me to complete our ride in under a month so we can be back here on the 4th July to cheer Simon on in the Prologue of the Tour de France.
It really was surreal today having a Tour de France stage winner as a riding buddy! I just had the best time today as Simon rode the Prologue course with us and gave us plenty of tips and advice on how to tackle the huge course in front of us and I have just been inspired listening to his stories of life in the pro peloton. We were like excitable little kids bombarding him with a million questions. It was great.
Our ride officially starts in two days time when the rest of the Crohn’s Crusaders team will join us. I’m ready and I can’t wait.
You can become a fan of Simon on Facebook and follow his progress through the Tour de France here
You may also like to view Simon’s website
Images of our ride can be viewed here
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