Pyrenees - Day 5: Two of the classics Soulour and Aubisque. And Cows.
When the Pyrenees were first added to Le Tour in 1910, these two climbs featured, together with Tourmalet and Aspin. The riders called the course the "circle of death". From the top you can see why. One can only have admiration for those early cyclists. In 1910 they cycled the course on gravel ruts on heavy two speed bicycles. The back wheel had two gears. One on each side of the wheel. To change gears they dismounted and turned the back wheel around. I quote from The Sport website: Alphonse Steines, Desgranges assistant, had reconnoitred the route the previous year. Discovering an unmade road rendered impassable by snow, Steines dismissed his driver and continued on foot. He got lost, fell down a ravine and had to be rescued, but the following morning, in a gendarmerie in the hamlet of Bareges on the way down from the 2,115m summit, he cabled his boss: "Tourmalet crossed stop very good road stop perfectly practicable stop Steines."Whether or not they know his name, generations of riders have had reason both to bless and to curse the assistant race directors judgment. The first to register his opinion, when the race went over the pass on 21 July 1910, was Octave Lapize, who was seen to be walking alongside his heavy single-speed bike in a state of some distress. The next man to arrive, half an hour later, was Gustave Garrigou, who had actually managed to ride his machine up the final gradient.As Lapize crossed the summit of the next pass, the Col dAubisque, he hurled a famous imprecation at the commissaires. "You are all assassins," he shouted with what remained of his strength. "No human being should be put through an ordeal like this. Thats enough for me." Nevertheless he carried on, thereby establishing a precedent for an ineluctable combination of cyclists, mountains and suffering. We had the option of doing Soulour and Aubisque yesterday. We rearranged today's schedule to include both cols. Tomorrow is Tourmalet from the western side. Tourmalet from the east and Aspin come later in the tour. One cannot let the classics go by unattempted. But we are poor emulators of those cyclists. Today was some 89 km with a vertical elevation gain of 1,875 meters. Some may wonder why I keep talking about elevation gain. When you cycle mountains, time and distance to cycle soon loose all meaning. The metric every asks at breakfast is what is todays elevation gain.' They seldom ask time or distance. But enough of that. After some 25 km of rolling riding, Soulour loomed in front of us. The most difficult ascent of the three possible options - of course. We turned off the main road and went up a valley, mountains towering above us and no apparent exit. Stunning scenery. A gentle start with the final 8 km being a respectable (compared with earlier days) 8% - 10% gradients for some 8 km. Lunch at the top was a not very good baguette with ham and cheese at a resturant. Then the cows invaded. We had passed them on the way up. They were enroute to higher pastures for the summer. Herded by mother, father, uncle, aunt, 5 year old son, daughters, friends, the whole menagerie. They invaded our lunch spot. Quick evasive action to protect the bikes. After lunch, a stunning ride to Col dÁubisque and back to Soulour. A fairly gentle ride with a further 400 m of elevation gain. A good descent at speed. In the main wide sweeping bends in. Look mum - no brakes. One car on the way down who after a few bends took the hint and let us pass. Bikes can descend so much faster than cars. That looks to be a good hotel for the next four nights in Argeles. Tomorrow the weather looks iffy at this stage. If it is bad, it will be our first bad day. Pouring rain = no riding. Intermittent rain = Tourmalet west and back. Good weather = Tourmalet west and a big loop back via Croix- Blanche. The last option is 111km and an elevation gain of 2,700 meters, so a big day.
POSTSCRIPT: "But we are poor emulators of those cyclists". But we can dream. And we do what we can. And we dream.
Pyrenees - Day 4: And a great day, too. Sunshine. 25 degrees. Minimal wind.
66 km and 1,100 elevation gain.
The highlight of today's cycling was Col de la Marie-Blanque. Done from the steep side of course..... But first some 400 m of downhill followed by valley and gently rolling countryside with mountains towering on every side. A real pleasure riding at a 25 km/hr average. No heroics - just good scenery and good conversation. Perhaps we now realise that this 10 days cycling adventure is also about finishing........Most people are feeling some strain. It is a big ask for those who spend most of their waking time behind a desk and perhaps 250 km per week of training. When you get on the bike in the morning there is a residual tiredness. But within a few km it seems to vanish and on you go to the next challenge. It comes back when you hit the hills. Col de la Marie-Blanque is not a big Col compared to some we have seen, but it is a good ride up a narrow winding road lined with native bush. The first 1 km is 11%, it then flattens out at about 4- 7% for the next 4 km. The last 4 km is some 11% The descent is fairly gentle. Helen did the whole ride - well done. Lunch was half way down the col on a small plateau. Think sun streaming down, grass fields, surrounded by horses and cows. The horses in fact became too friendly. They brought the lunch to an end when they started to mass around us. The result of feeding them apples which of course brought the whole herd down.... What a contrast to yesterday's "picnic" on the edge of the road in the wind and mist. A funny thing - no one was too keen when the guide suggested we spend the afternoon with an extra 72 km with an elevation gain of 1,900 m. Over Aubisque and Soulor. A quiet afternoon seemed far more attractive. These Kiwis are obviously going a bit soft. A shower beckons. Washing some kit? Then perhaps a cold beer? Kit washing is a daily ritual. For the benefit of those who have not experienced it, one common way of washing kit is to take everything into the shower with you. Pour shampoo over it and tramp it clean. Rinse. Lie the kit flat on a towel, roll up the towel and tramp on it to get what remaining water you can out of it. Hang out to dry. [Do not do as one tour party member did - put his kit out to dry on a bush at the front entrance of the hotel.... I suspect other guests do not appreciate laundry trees....]. New Zealand with its readily available laundry facilities at most hotels is so much more civilised....Now for a quiet afternoon, catching up on things that should have been done ages ago. Some are off to the village to see what is there. Then dinner and an early night.
Pyrenees - Day 3: Only day three? Feels as if we have been going for a long time now....
Over dinner last night, yesterdays ride was described by a local as "the bastard". (Dammit - the BNZ email filters will reject this email for inappropriate language...Too bad, there is no other way of saying it.). It has, I believe featured in the Le Tour three times. People worry when it is put in because there is serious risk of the sprint specialists being disqualified from the rest of the tour on time difference. Wouldn't Cavendish hate that. Today was a quiet 100 km with 2,300 meters of climbing. The first 100 m was a respectable 2 - 3 %. Then straight into 8% for a km or so. Time to warm up for the 13% to come.... 8 km of steep hills. The day's schedule was for two big cols, the first a ride up to Port de Larrau. Some 950 m vertical climb. The second up to Col de la Pierre-St Martin. Some 960 m of vertical climb. A few bumps in between of course. The ride to Port de Larrau was hard, but followed by 700m of glorious vertical descent. Good roads. High speed. Brake hard into the corners. The exhilaration of accelerating out again. A reward for the pain of getting to the top. Col de la Pierre-St-Martin is stunning. Think a bonsai garden with smooth polished boulders and stunted pine trees. The descent - another atrocious road. Most of the 1.4 km of vertical drop over poor surfaces, pot holes, gravel and rocks. (Pierre = rock in french - an appropriate name). I will post a picture of the lunch stop on facebook tonight. 14 people huddled behind a van, trying to shelter from the wind. Freezing cold. On the edge of the road. A better option than going 100 meters higher into the mist...Half of the day was in France and half in Spain. Only a few signs of Basque terrorists. Some ETA graffiti and some bullet holes through a signpost....Group dynamics are always interesting. Near the top of one of the cols, the tour leader decides it is cold and he needs to put on leg warmers. Fine. One by one, most of the the rest of the people decided one by one to add to their clothing in some or other form. But only when the rest of the group is almost ready to depart. All in all, a 25 minute process. (By observation - most people ended up overdressed...). Such is life. The tour organisation has been superb. Nothing like Baxters.... Two support cars who are always in touch covering both faster and slower riders. A person riding with us who always has some comment on local customs, scenery etc. They seem to have gone out of there way to prepare evening meals with local Basque specialities, be it cheeses, diced veal seasoned with Espelette chilli's (apparently famous in France), a stuffed game bird last night etc. Really very very good. All in all a good day. Made better by a person, who shall remain nameless, who weighs 93 kg, making use of the van for a period of time today...... Ongoing 13% is hard....Tomorrow a rest day with 66 km and 1,100 elevation gain. There is an optional extra 9.5 km with 715 elevation gain - Col de la Marie-Blanque - one of the Le Tour classics. Later on, on the tour, we are scheduled to go up the other side. Lets see what tomorrow brings....
Pyrenees - Day 2: What a day - probably one of the harder days I have had cycling.
It started off well. 8.00 am departure. We arrived at the hotel tonight at about 6.30. A long long day. On paper looks OK. 126 Km. Elevation gain 2,300 meters. Done that before. The figures hide the truth. 8.00 am start. 20 km of coast. Think NZ headlands. Up and over. Atlantic ocean pounding the rocks. Back inland again. A repeat of yesterday but from the oposite direction. The first mountain in the Pyrenees chain. La Rhune. (I took note this time.)
Then up the valleys. The occasional jumping of valleys - I suspect to add in a few more hills. But all manageable. And enjoyable. The scenery in some ways very reminiscent of NZ. Green. Some native bush. Cleared areas with pastoral farming. A lunch at a Basque village. Traditional ham and a cooked vegetable mash. Very tasty. Then the fun begins. The single col of the day. Burdinkuretcheta. Greg has named it the Burdinshitter. The first 10 km. A false sense of security. 2.5% gradient. then the hill starts. Then the fun begins. In the first 3 - 4 km I frequently saw 16% gradient on the garmin. And garnmins do not lie. The only good thing is when you come off 16% and hit 9%, the 9% feels flat. Hard. Especially for an overweight 93 kg fellow....I was then really looking forward to the downhill. Some 700 meters of it. Weight helps there.. Frightening is one way of describing the downward trip. One of the tour party was smart - into the van. Narrow. Atrocious surface. White knuckles. Fingers paralyzed with the strain. Alternating the brakes so the wheels do not overheat and blow the tyres. A huge group of vultures overhead. I now know why. Smart birds. But we all got here. Wow.
Pyrenees - Day 1: Into the action today.
A fine day. Slightly overcast. Temp 19 - 20 degrees. Perfect. A late start - the hotel had to clear a bus load of Japanese tourists who stopped by for breakfast.
A gentle 6 km through town. Hendaye France does not exist - other than a train station and a supermarket. The real town is in Spain across the river. The two towns merge seamlessly. Strange thing these artificial borders. And then the fun begins. 4 km of 10% to 13% gradients. Mainly towards the 13%. Fun fun fun.... Original email instructions and the day we signed off on - take the first day easy - let people find their legs - recover from jet lag - allow you to assess where everyone is at so you can fine tune the next 9 days. The itinerary we signed off on. 47 km. 500m of climbing. Not good enough for Stefan. A week ago he emailed countermanding instructions. Too easy.
Day one. 93 km of riding. 1819 m of climbing. Climbs of note Col Castillio del Ingles, Col de Aritxulegi, Col de Lizuniaga and lthen two minor cols including the first mountain in the Pyrenees chain (I cannot remember the name - something like Col De Luna). And Stefan reported in sick with "food poisoning". No cycling for him. Words like con artist, bastard etc spring to mind. There will be a prize for him tonight at dinner. The first Col was hard. The next two medium at 9% - 10% gradients. The two minor ones gentle rides of 7% to 8%. The scenery is spectacular. Narrow roads through the tree tunnels wending their way up and down. At the top vultures soaring overhead. Few cars and those that were there were very well behaved - what a pleasure. Cows and horses grazing along the sides of the road - all with their cow bells. Roads reasonably good - other than piles of steaming dung on the hairpin bends....
Lunch at an isolated village where we all had bacon omlettes. Food and coffee always tastes so much better after a bit of exercise. One bike problem - Derek broke the hanger on his rear derailleur. Successfully replaced with a second hand part. Go the French! And the end of another day. No terrrorists in sight in the heart of Basque country. The more serious challenges start tomorrow.... Time for a quiet glass of wine and good food.
Pyrenees - Day 0: Life can be a challenge at the time. But it is always good.
Wine tour of Bordeaux and St Emiliion yesterday. Lap of luxury. Tour of the Chateaus. First growth tasting. Underground cellars cut out of the limestone. 280 km of them - lined with bottles. 1863 the earliest date seen. Train to Hendaye - the start....Palpable excitement. Train ticket in NZ . Cell phone in London. Bugger. But got to Hendaye.... Despite the odds.... New pay as you go French sim card for a borrowed phone - but can't read the instructions as to how to'use it. The hotel owner had no success. Maybe a kid is the answer - have to find one tomorrow.....We all arive at the Hendaye station. 9 people with bike bags. The single taxi driver says ''I am booked". Bugger. Paul Johnson says "lets walk". Garmin says 1.6 km. OK. Up the 89 stairs. Up the the next 500m. (Vertical climb-a-lot) With Bike Bags. Don with four pieces of luggage. We get there. Bikes assembled. Tomorrow it starts.
