After the exertions of the Leeds Half Marathon, Search Laboratory is taking on yet another sporting challenge. On Saturday August 24th, 10 of us are embarking on the 118-mile Tour de France Grand Départ route for our charity of the year, Candlelighters.
From left to right: Tom Jeffries, Mike Walkden, Saskia Roskam, Leslie Harding, Ian Harris, Stewart Robertson, Alison Mann, John Readman, Paul Shearing
This will be the latest in a long list of events that we have carried out to raise funds and awareness for the charity. Candlelighters is formed and run by the parents of children who have or have had cancer, ex-patients and the medical staff who treat them. The charity is based in Yorkshire and provides essential services to support the children and their families.
So what’s the plan?
The team will set off from Leeds Town Hall at 6am and aim to finish in Harrogate by 8pm and have already warmed up for the challenge with a 50-mile practice ride. The grey line in the image below shows the route that they will be taking:
Professional cyclists might consider the Grand Départ as being fairly flat up until a certain point – but once the route enters the Dales National Park the terrain gets much steeper! The route will start at Leeds Town Hall, and head uphill towards Harewood in North Leeds. Our cyclists will pass award-winning Yorkshire attraction Harewood House at around mile eight.
From there they’ll go on to Otley, which is the birthplace of GB cyclist and London 2012 Olympic silver medal Lizzie Armistead, before reaching Skipton after 33 miles. At 76 miles, and 1,732 feet is Ton Hill Inn and one of the highest points in Britain. From here our group will not be far off completion and will finish in the pretty town of Harrogate… hopefully!
How you can help
If you would like to make a donation to Candlelighters, please click here to visit our Just Giving page – every donation helps!
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