Source: Westman Zone News - June 20, 2025
How does one prepare for an extraordinary cycling experience? Grant Hamilton, a resident of Brandon, is discovering the answer! Last year, Hamilton was informed that he would be among 25 amateur cyclists selected to participate in Tour 21, a charity ride officially linked to the renowned Tour de France, aimed at raising funds for leukemia research. Tour 21 runs from June 28 to July 21, just one week prior to the actual Tour de France. The objective is to collect over £1,000,000 ($1,753,949 Cdn) for to help find a cure for Leukemia, the official charity partner of the Tour de France. Hamilton has set a personal fundraising target of $55,000.
The route presents its participants with 21 distinct paths across France, totalling 3,320 km. Hamilton and his 24 fellow cyclists will face the world's most demanding cycling challenge over a span of 21 days, navigating a variety of terrains throughout France, from flatlands and valleys to the steep ascents and descents of the Pyrenees and the Alps. Not only must Hamilton exert himself physically to cover the distance, but as a Brandonite accustomed to Riding Mountain National Park, the Brandon Hills, and Grand Valley, he wonders how this experience will compare to the Alps. The cycling routes in France feature a series of steep climbs and descents, and with fluctuating atmospheric pressures and diminishing oxygen levels at higher altitudes, the experience will be markedly different from what he is accustomed to in the Prairies. Nonetheless, Hamilton expresses that being the sole Canadian participant is a humbling experience. "I will be cycling alongside individuals from various parts of the globe. There are many Brits, as one might anticipate, but also some Americans, a participant from Qatar, individuals from Ireland, and someone from Eastern Europe," he shares. "It will be a truly international group, which underscores the global significance of this cause. I take great pride in being the only Canadian. I feel incredibly humbled.”
Hamilton will be arriving in France within the next 24 hours to begin the final week of preparations before the ride. Last week, he sat down with Westman Zone’s Frank McGwire to share some key points of his experience thus far.
FM: What inspired you to enter the charity bike ride for leukemia research?
GH: It’s funny because you think a lot of people who do…. whether it's a walkathon or a bike or something, they come out from the charity perspective. First thing you know, I want to raise money for a disease or a stroke or whatever it is. I don't actually have a connection to leukemia personally myself I came from the cycling perspective first and A few years ago especially during the early years of Covid I kind of got more into watching the actual front of the sporting event I didn't realize it was the most watched annual sport event in the world. Even if you put all the major sports together (major league baseball, Stanley Cup, NBA finals, Super Bowl etc.), Tour de France attracts 4 billion people every year The only sport events that rival it are the summer Olympics and the World Cup those have every four years.
FM: How did you hear about the Tour 21 Charity Ride?
GH: I got into it and last year I was watching, and the commentators do a great job. Sometimes there’s less going on it's also travel so you get to see the cool castles the monasteries little towns in France if they pass through they always have fun facts. It’s an interesting watch they have a lot of airtime to fill in four hours a day for three weeks so I was watching, and they were talking about this charity course in the Alps in the Pyrenees across France designed to test the fittest most elite athletes in the world day after day. One of the commenters said, “Can you believe some middle-aged slobs are trying to do the same thing for charity?!” I said, I have a middle body, I like biking, so I did I did a bit of Google, and I found a charity called leukemia that is the official partner of this charity ride and I thought it doesn't hurt to throw in an application. I filled in the online form it was like applying for a job actually they ask you for your background and cycling how you might think about raising the money for the charity how you might train for it if you can double a time to And then you get an email back it says thanks very much for your interest as you can imagine we get a lot of blah blah blah blah will be in touch but they must've liked something that they saw. We had a video interview which I felt went well and after that they offered me a position.
FM: How long have you been an avid cyclist?
GH: It’s interesting because I think most of us as kids grow up here you ride your bike and it’s maybe your first day of freedom as a nine-year-old 10-year-old 11-year-old well before you can get your driver’s license you get a little further away from mum and dad you can hang out with your friends you can tour around the neighborhood, spend your allowance do whatever you like to do so obviously I was like that but I happen to grow up in a place where I didn't need a ride from my mom or dad to school I didn't need to catch the bus it was always easy for me to walk or bike and I never lost that. I got my driver’s license at 16 or 17, yeah I like driving around but it was always easier in some way to just take my bike for a walk than parking or pay for gas. I never really lost that.
FM: What brand Bike do you ride right now?
GH: I'm riding a truck SLR it's one of the top of the track lineup with an endurance bike so it's like a road bike but it's a little bit more relaxed. I'm not 21 I'm not as flexible as those pro cyclists. But this is the bike I'm taking over and I need to give a shout out to A & L Cycle they’ve been a fantastic partner with me right from the start they hooked me up with tracking a great deal on this high-end bike.
FM: You’re the only Canadian riding in this tour. Do you know how many other countries will be represented?
GH: There’s five or six. I know a lot of people from the UK a couple from the US we got a rider coming from Israel we got someone from Dubai so I guess that's the United Arab Emirates, Ireland is in there I think there's somebody from Central Europe six countries I'm the only one from Canada which makes me feel pretty patriotic, pretty proud.
FM: You’ll be riding approximately 3500 km through the 21 stages of this tour it's the same route as the tour as France as you mentioned and some say it's comparable to climbing Mount Everest several Times so how do you psych yourself up? You must have a regimented daily routine that's a huge, monumental task!
GH: Getting a trainer to help you with this is a good start but the best advice I received was get rest for recuperation. That is as important as training. So, I've been fortunate to be able to build rest days and getting good sleep. Getting a good nutrition that is as important as days on the bike but the lucky part for me is that I'm not racing this I don't need to finish first I just need to finish and everybody else on the team we're all supporting each other so we all want to cross that line together our only finish line is sunset we don't have a broom wagon coming at the end or anything like that I just want to get everybody across the way so it is a long day on the bike it's lots of climbing up and down the mountains but honestly 8 to 10 hours Riding a bike sounds tough. But think about it, there is lots of cashiers spending 10 hours on their feet every day there's lots of carpenters spending 10 hours walking working pretty hard I don't think there's anything super unusual about it except I'm going to be battling through the highway.
FM: What has been the most significant take away for you during these preparations?
GH: You know, that is an interesting question. I was lucky enough to be able to go to a training camp in Spain in March and meet some of the people and ride with some of the people that I'll be riding with this I have no doubt that after 21 days we have forged a pretty good one and we may be friends for the rest of our life I know that has happened in previous incarnations of this tour. More significantly for me are two things. 1. I didn't really know much about leukemia before. I didn't know just how prevalent it was and I didn't know how much research had made a difference so when I was born in the 70s, with some forms of leukemia you had a 90% chance of dying within five years if you got it. That same kind of leukemia now you have a 90% chance of survival if you're diagnosed with that as a kid and that's due to research that we've done in the last 40 to 50 years. So 90% great! But not a cure so they're still tens of thousands of people that could be alive in the future if we can fund more research right now and of course the treatments themselves can we make that a little bit easier or a little bit better we're working on that and there's other survival still not that high so lots of work to do that's been the most rewarding thing for me so learning about how we've advanced. It’s absolutely mind blowing. The second most rewarding thing has been the power of local people and local organizations, all of my fundraising or 99% of it has been locally based.
FM: Will you have crew with you In France in case of mechanical failure?
GH: Yes, they advertise this as the closest experience you can be to a pro athlete obviously not as fast obviously we're not racing obviously we’re not paid the big bucks we're actually doing the fundraising but we do have a full support crew mechanics, physiotherapist, massage therapist, nutritionist, everything's taken care of for us. They even have a motorcycle ride ahead behind us to close the roads so we don't have traffic.
FM: Have you ever been to France?
GH: I've had a couple of opportunities to go to go to France most recently as an official partner, we were invited to Paris for the reveal of the tour most people don't actually know this but every year follows a different route it starts in a different city it almost always ends in Paris except for last year and Summer Olympics in Paris but it starts somewhere different every year and then they alternate whether they go clockwise or counterclockwise around the country totally different route every year so we have no idea where we were going to go.
FM: You've been doing lots of peddling over the past year or so. You must've lost a bit of weight.
GH: You know, I expected to lose more weight but gain muscle balance on the scale certainly my pants fit differently I'm in a different size of pants that I was wearing at the start it's funny because a typical hour on the bike I'll be burning 750 to 1000 calories so it's how much can I eat I can't eat enough really on a long day on the bike to keep up with how much I'm burning absolutely if you don't run out of energy after an hour or two but if I'm on the bike for eight hours or so. I say one thing, I'm really lucky to work at Brandon University where we have some amazing researchers including Dr. Scott Forbes who is an exercise physiologist and does work with creatine as a supplement but also has run me through his exercise physiology lab done VO2 max testing, so I've been able to see my progression. VO2 max is a measure of how efficiently you can use the oxygen that you breathe out quickly you can send that to your muscles to make it energy, and it has gone up by 25% since I started training.
FM: Has anyone been sharing advice on how to tackle the tough Tour de France route.
GH: Dr. Forbes has also been helping with psychological preparation as well as things like creating a supplement and getting my body ready. We’re also lucky enough to work with a professional formal professional cyclist to lead us through the tour 21. Fortunately, it’s not a race, it's just a bike ride. A lot of people go out and enjoy a half hour bike ride. I just have to do that 15 times in a row. I must maintain my level of exertion.
FM: The route is 3500 kms. What does that break down to each day?
GH: A typical day will be 150 to 200 km. I think the longest day is 212 km shorter days usually come with more climbing so it's also 55,000 m of climbing that's equivalent as you mentioned of climbing Everest several times but it’s a lot of up and down. There are some shorter days so in the actual tour they do time trials when they pedal as fast as they can for like 30 K we just do that we're not going as fast as we can with 30 K it’s going to feel like a rest day and there's two rest days.
FM: What do you anticipate being the biggest challenges of this tour? You mentioned the elevation I would think that might be a major challenge.
GH: Absolutely! So hills are just not as common in Manitoba as they are in the Alps and the steep slopes I could go up and down the 18th Street bridge and north hill all day long but it's not a 10 or 12% grade it maxes out at like seven or eight right so that steep slope and the extent of it is something that I just literally cannot train for here in Manitoba but even if I did even I went up down the steepest Hill in in Brandon all day long I'm never going to get to an elevation where the oxygen starts dropping away. Climbing in the Alps I am going to get to those altitudes. That's the one thing I’m most concerned about, that's a big challenge.
FM: Grant, your efforts to help with leukemia research are admirable. What is your monetary goal with this ride?
GH: Each rider is required to raise at least £30,000 that's about $55,000 Canadian. As a team we’ll raise about $1.8 million Canadian. Fundraising is going well thus far. I'm super thrilled I checked earlier today I'm just over 93% of the way there and I have until the end of November to get there so I think I'm going to smash that $55,000.
FM: Let's see if we can do a lot more! How can people show their support whether they want to donate or maybe even be a sponsor and get a logo on your jersey?
GH: I think that ship has sailed but certainly sponsoring me in other ways is possible. Whether that’s special social media of the day or you're sponsoring a stage I should ride in in honor of somebody. We can certainly look at that personal donations we partnered with a Canadian charity so even though the research is done in the UK and organized by UK You can get a Canadian tax receipt, and the benefits are here in Canada. It's a worldwide benefit sponsor the Canadian charity partner is CAF Canada. You can help; here’s the link: https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/30925 (please select “Cure Leukemia” as the fund and choose to dedicate your donation in honor of “Grant Hamilton”)
FM: Do you have any local sponsors you'd like to give shout outs to?
GH: Yes! A & L Cycle has been a major supporter from the first steps of this journey. They’ve just a fantastic partner helping with not just the bike but everything that goes with that. So that's the training that's the nutrition that's all the accessories that you need on the bike your shoes and a new bike computer and bottle cages water bottles all those little things you may not think about right away. They’ve been there for me every step of the way. I can't say enough good things about them! We bought my first pair of cross-country skis there when I was eight years old, and it's pretty neat to have an ongoing relationship. Rashid Banuga works there and is also a personal trainer, and he has helped me with some training plans to get into the gym. I have so much local sponsorship from Section 6 brewing we had a wonderful event there earlier this year where we sold fondue as an alpine treat which raised a lot of money. Chez Angela has been really good too and we're going to plan some more events there, possibly in the fall when I'm back. The Green Spot has been fantastic too! We did a couple of events there including one where I went to their farmers market and just pedaled on a stationary bike for the whole six hours. I’d also like to send out a huge thanks to Greenstone Building Products. They’ve been one of my top sponsors so far and they cut a check for $10,000 to help lift my sponsorship. Just fantastic support! And once again, I think every name that I could tell you about is a local business and all of mine are… almost all of my sponsors have been local people. It just shows the power of local. Nothing against the chain stores or big box stores but it makes a difference when you can talk to somebody who has the power to make a decision locally and they know that what stays here Brandon pays dividends here in Brandon.
FM: Well, this is a big story, and it will probably be even bigger when you're done and it's going to resonate forever because it'll be part of your legacy. Obviously, the completion of the ride is going to be the ultimate accomplishment, but so far to this point as we're sitting here having this conversation, what has been the most rewarding part of this experience thus far?
GH: Conversations like these. Honestly, I am continually blown away… like, I'm interested in cycling, and this sounds like a great personal challenge obviously helping to fund leukemia research is a great cause, but I am so touched by the interest other people have taken in this journey of mine that has just been a real heartwarming experience. So, conversations like these… they keep me going every mile on the bike.
FM: You're a major advocate for safe cycling in the city of Brandon pretty much that can go anywhere in the city on the map here in Brandon if you could change or improve one thing to improve safety for cyclists what would it be and why?
GH: Just one thing?! Cause I got a long list (laughs).
FM: What’s at the top of that list?
GH: So, if I could just encourage more people to bike. If more people would choose cycling, I think that would change the perspective that the whole city has on cycling. We don't have a bad city to get out and bike. It's not that many hills the roads connect with each other. When you get in your car you can be reasonably assured that that road is going to link, some construction notwithstanding, the road is going to take you where you want to go. That's not true for bike lanes, that's not true for even the sidewalks but if more people are out choosing to bike choosing to walk that would change that perspective you would demand the other changes that I think would reinforce that. So, if I could convince more people, that's the change I think would pay off in the long term.
FM: Excellent! Finally, what guidance or advice would you offer to someone who is eager to engage in charitable work by undertaking a similar journey to the one you're about to embark on.
GH: The surprising thing to me is whether it's this Tour 21 charity ride for leukemia or my cycling advocacy after being hit by a car three years ago, the most surprising thing to me is how easy it was. I had spent years complaining and griping and wishing that something would get better. All I did was complain, all I did was gripe. But it really wasn't that hard to do a little bit more. So if you want something done you don't have to pick up the shovel and do it all yourself, but it is relatively easy to pick up the phone and call somebody or take the next step to get a few people together to toss your name in the hat and see what happens. Just try honestly and you be surprised at what opportunities to come your way.
WZ: Grant, thanks again for your time it’s been a pleasure to have this conversation. When you've completed the Tour 21 charity ride for leukemia and you get back home, we can have another conversation, and you can tell us all about the experience.
GH: Yeah, when I'm fattened up on croissants, chocolate, and red wine.
Grant Hamilton takes a break from training to pose for the camera.
(Photo submitted)
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