Tour de Fleece 2018

If you're a spinner and would like a challenge, Ravelry is hosting the annual Tour de Fleece. This is a yearly challenge to spin every day, July 7-29, during the annual Tour de France. It started in 2006 by spinner, Star Athena, who also happened to be a fan of the annual Tour de France race. She posted a call out on her blog to get other spinners to join in as virtual spinning friends. Since that first year, membership has grown from 26 to more than 8,000. You can sign up with an already established group or start your own. Directions are on Ravelry. Guidelines are:

• Spin every day the Tour rides, if possible. Saturday July 7 through Sunday July 29th. Days of rest: Monday, July 16th and Monday, July 23rd. (Just like the actual tour.)
• Spin something challenging on the challenge days (usually the toughest high mountain stage, usually the toughest high mountain stage: this year, the first one is Stage 10, on Tuesday July 17, when the riders will take the first mountain stage of the race – includes a section of dirt road on the Plateau des Glières. It is 100km from the finish but comes after a 6km climb at 11 per cent. The second is stage 17, on Wednesday, July 25th, when they will ride to the summit of the Col de Portet is only 65km long but half of the stage is uphill. It is the shortest road stage of the 2018 Tour but could be one of the hardest.
• Wear yellow on Sunday July 29th to announce victory. Why not wear yellow on any day you feel particularly successful? (Yellow is the color of the race leader in the Tour - but here we are all ‘race leaders’) Other colors if desired: Green (sprinter - think FAST), Polka-dot (climber - as in uphill), and white (rookie).

It's all in fun, no pressure. There are established groups, some dedicated to not miss a day, others have an understanding that not everyone can do this, but will do their best to participate when they can. This is my first year and I'm really excited to meet new spinners and to get my wheels turning.