Spain, Col d'Aubisque, Chateauponsac & Home

Second last day and I still couldn't turn to head home. I had worked out that I would have time for a quick loop through Spain first, so headed south.



The valley from St-Lary Soulon climbed until eventually there was no-where for the road to go in the circle of mountains apart from through a tunnel. I popped out the other side and was in Spain.


The highest peaks and ridges do really form the border and so also often it means different weather as a rain shadow type effect occurs. This means that the landscape is quite different on the Spanish side, drier and more wild west like, I though it was nice until I went back over to the French side where I concluded the scenery was much nicer in the alpine style.


On the French side (after a much longer drive than I was expecting !) I decided to drive over the Col d'Aubisque before

heading to Lourdes. This climb is the final summit finish, indeed the final mountain in the Tour and I wanted to scope it out.

It was very beautiful indeed, possibly the most beautiful of the major tour passes, but also steep ! There were sections of 13% and often 10% which means we have got a serious job on our hands. In fact more analysis of stage 16 involving the map revealed a bit of a monster......the last serious stage is also potentially a tour wrecker. 130 miles and several major climbs. I'm fitting a 27 sprocket.

On the way down the menagerie continued with some donkeys roaming about. Is there a more mournful looking beast on the planet than the donkey ?

The drive back home began that afternoon and I wanted to make some inroads into the fairly huge distance that I would need to cover before I arrived back in Nottingham. So, after a few hours driving I decided to stop at Chateauponsac, north of Limoges.

This was the quintessentuial French campsite between a perched village and a gorgeous river where you could swim etc. The patronesse was very friendly (quite liked her actually and she appreciated my French). She said that I was the first 'anglais' this year who could speak French, a bit of a damning indictment of our education system (not that I can speak Italian or Spanish, but I didn't learn that at school). I apologised and promised to come back. Not sure how or when...but you never know.

Next day was another 5 hours of driving to get to sunny Bolougne sur Mer, a speedy (and still sunny) hop across the channel during which I chatted with a German chocolate mould maker (he explained someone has to do it) and then another 4 hours of driving home.

The end...but also the beginning. A wrap up report will be on the main letour2007 website.

Port du Bales and the Col du Peyresourde

Sunny ! And today I had a more significant ride planned, a loop involving two of the climbs we'll be heading over in the Tour route. They also feature in the Etape du Tour this year.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%27Etape_du_Tour




Although the lady in the campsite* reception was very cheery and would not stop talking, she didn't seem to know too much about the Tour de France etc. I'd half expected the locals to be giddy with excitment at the tour and the etape coming by, but I guess when your garden backs onto the Tourmalet (been used over 70 times in the tour), nochalance is to expected.

*awesome facilities by the way, almost took a photo before I realised it would look suspect. In England Municipal is usually associated with 'dump', but here it normally means very good camping.

The massive bonus was that as I arrived at the bottom of the valley on this loop I had made up from a map I had bought, I latched straight onto the back of a group of French Club cyclists doing exactly the same as me. After a good chat and lots of astonishment at the objective of letour, they said it would be fine if I joined their group.

Cut to the chase...the Port du Bales is hard, over 8% for lots and it rises over 1200 metres from the hot valley to alpine meadows. The roads are being repaired and there are lots of trees for shade, but make no mistake this is where the action will be in a few weeks time.

I think I ran out of food because my legs felt very weary as I headed to the Col de Peyresourde....wearier than they have been for some time.

This climb is more like a 'normal' climb, long and hot but with a lesser gradient. There was a creperie on the top and as I tucked into my sixth 'crepe au sucre', I felt the energy returning to my body.

There will be lots of beaten riders by this stage on the etape I am sure, let's hope also not on letour2007.

The total ride was 85 miles and I now feel a little bit more trepidation at what we have in store. This was a hard day, and it's getting hotter.



But training is now essentially over...that's it after a month on the road.

Col d'Aspin and the Col du Tourmalet

Never really seen the Pyrenees and I am impressed. Like the alps used to look I suspect, before they put in motorways and large towns.

I set up base in St - Lary Soulon in the Haute Pyrenees department, good acces to a load of climbs.

The weather was iffy, loads of rain bourne clouds bundling over from Spain, so I decided to head the other way and take on the Col de Tourmalet, but the only way to get there was over the Col d'Aspin....and back.

Anyway...as I cycled the major difference between here and the Alps is the number of animals wandering around. It's like a giant farmyard half the time with mountain versions (more hair and horns) of familiar english farmyard animals, just doing their thing.

In some places, normally high up (which is where I usually head on the bike) there are 'zones pasturelle' which basically means expect to find the road blocked by goats and cows etc.

I got to the top of the Col d'Aspin to find a bunch of goats lounging around and shoed away some cows to continue on the route to St Marie de Campan. This little village is famous for a particular incident involving bike racer Eugene Christophe. I won't repeat the full story here, you can read about it

here : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugene_Christophe but needless to say it passed into Tour de France and sporting legend as the ultimate in perservering but ultimately failing (due to a jobsworth marshall).

The road continued up into rain clouds and as always in the mountains I had my eyes regularly glancing at my altimiter to check what progress I was making.

After I passed two other riders who shouted 'courage !' as I passed them I entered the rather ugly ski station of La Mongie where a certain Texan won a memorable stage a couple of years ago. Typically there was a cow in the shot of the sign.

The top past the last few hairpins to 2100 metres was pretty nippy and I donned all my layers and retreated into a mountain restaurant where I got stuck into some tasty Basque flan and a beer.

The descent back down was uneventful apart from a herd of cows had taken up residence in an avalanche tunnel and refused to move.

The Col d'Aspin for the second time was also a little easier from the West...and I was soon back in the town of St Lary Soulon.

Nice ride, not so far but quite a lot of climbing and I had bagged two more famous cols.

Le Viaduc de Millau

The Millau bridge over the river Tarn in the very south of the Massiv Central. It's huge and looks like a CGI apirition that would look a bit fake in a film, but it is actually there. I drove to have a look at it on the way to the Pyrenees.

The stats are incredible, one of pier's summit is 343 metres high—slightly taller than the Eiffel Tower and only 38m shorter than the Empire State Building.

Norman Foster designed it and almost seems to have the optimum amount of structure, not too minimalist, but also not too over the top Victorian engineering style. I wonder what IKB would have thought of this if you could have led him blindfolded to the viewpoint.

France is brilliant for 'Aires' - picnic spots on the edges of autoroutes that are normally picturesque and well equipped. Hereis no different and there is a new aire here that has an information centre and a very good viewpoint of the bridge.

I also drove under the bridge on the way to Albi and the last picture here is of the town of Millau that no longer has all the autoroute traffic running through it. If you are ever in the area it is a must see.

Le Dauphine Libere (Ventoux)

After getting off the ferry at 7am and dropping Amy at Marseille airport (not actually in Marseille if you ever go) I raced across to Mont Ventoux again to watch the Dauphine Libere race, a major pre-tour test for yellow jersey contenders.

After stocking with picnic supplies, I drove up to Chalet Reynard and found Craig and friends lounging on the grass wondering whether to have another glass of Rose, or whether to go for the foi gras next. This is the life.


There is always loads of time before the riders come by to drink beer and engage in the other traditional activity - painting the road with slogans supporting your favourite riders. At any other time you would probably get arrested for graffiti, but in major cycle races it is perfectly acceptable.


Craig unveiled his Tom Simpson stencil which he made himself (requiring siginificant effort!) and we stuck a couple on the road so that the British cycling great who died in the Tour de France in 1967 will be remembered.

A few local cyclists came by and appreciated the effort, Tom is much admired in this area for his exploits and thousands flock to his memorial further up the mountain every day.


Our next painting effort was not so artistic and I felt a little like a naughty schoolboy as we placed St George's flags and an 'Allez Bradley !' sign on the road. You have to watch for cars and cyclists as they go past, put our efforts worked and we hoped that Bradley Wiggins and David Millar would notice as they went past.


A couple of hours and a few beers later, the race came by with French rider Christophe Moreau leading the field up the hors categorie climb. Various famous riders followed including Hincapie, Boonen, Zabriskie and Vinokourov of whom I managed to get a half decent photograph.

Valverde (normally considered a Yellow Jersey contender) looked in a world of pain and was being pushed up by a domestique. Tim a photographer staying with Craig and photographing further up the mountain said that they were keen not to be captured in such difficulty...not sure what was wrong.

The evening was spent eating Pizza from the local 'ad-hoc' pizza place and drinking some ridiculously strong Belgian beers that Craig had acquired....Leffe was beaten in the strength stakes by Kwak, or Quack or something like that. Nice though.

I had pitched the tent in Craig and Vicky's back garden and that night there was an almightly thunderstorm which threatened to either deafen me or electrocute me with lightening. The rain didn't stop all morning and I dropped Tim off in Nyons for the next stage start to see lots of wet and bedraggled Gendarmes closing the roads. What a change from the motorcycling gendarmes the day before on Ventoux in their short sleeves shirts and shades (note that policemen in the UK aren't allowed to not wear leathers for health and safety reasons. The French motorcyclist police do look much cooler as a result.)

By the afternoon the sun had come out and it was lovely, Provence is looking really green at the moment. I decided to ride up the Ventoux (for the seventh time now....) and see how fast I could do it. 1 hr 22 minutes was my time from Malaucene, which I think is pretty respectable. The weather was again kind though, sunny but not too hot as I went at 3.30pm. The morning rain had cleared the air and the views at the top were breathtaking.

But time to leave the lovely village of Faucon, picture on the left is from the top of the tower at Craig and Vicky's.

Corsica

Another high speed motorway journey, through the ,many tunnels past Nice and on to Savona in Italy again for the ferry to Bastia on Corsica.

The ferry passengers thronged the decks as land appeared, me especially as I wanted to see if the mountains were as big as they say. They were, indeed the whole island was a little bigger than I was expecting and I wondered how long it would take to cross to the other side.....one woman advised 3-4 hours !

Not much time before dusk and we raced across the island through some very rocky gorges and possibly the windiest (that's windy as in lots of bends, is that spelt windyest ?) roads in the world to the hills above Porto, there we set up camp.

Next day (always sun here it seems) a 60 mile loop through the Spelunca gorge to Porto, then along the spectacular coast and back up through the mountains. The final climb was 1100 metres and quite tough.

The scenery is pretty awesome, rocky coves, crystal clear seas and towering mountains almost 3000 metres high. You can go skiing in the winter. The other thing is there are pigs and cows wandering everywhere.....sometimes you have come round a bend

to be confronted with half a farmyard, they seem to wander
where they please. Some of the pigs seem more wild boar than domestic pig too, but clearly they make good eating as the hams are very tasty here.

Next day we drove to south of Ajaccio and stopped at a campsite on the beach. No longer did we have the cooler mountain air and perishable food started to suffer in the 30 degrees (oh dear, starting to sound like Alan Partridge !).

I spent the day on the beach getting sunburnt and swimming in the very salty and buyoant water (forgot how little you need to swim here), Amy went riding along the coast. I saw some fish, but I would be lying if I said a school of dolphins turned up and somehow we connected through thought and swam together etc etc. There were definitely no sharks.

One more day here and then back to France and Mont Ventoux for the Dauphine Libere stage that has a summit finish on the Geant of Provence.

Then, that enormo bridge at Millau needs a visit I think :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viaduc_de_Millau

Some brief Corsican footage here : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRcaPlucnVo

Lake Como; Mont Ventoux (X 3) & St Tropez

Lake Como is beautiful......no mistake. I had not been before and I have to say that despite being a bit twee compared to the more rugged stuff up the Sondrio valley, it was nice. Driving along the lake shore with no traffic, windows down, music on was pretty cool.


Anyway, wasn't there long, a big storm in the evening which tested the tent and the next day I picked Amy up from Bergamo. But not before visiting the cycling chapel and museum on the Ghisallo, some pretty famous bikes in there, Merckx, Coppi etc. Very interesting.


The drive to Craig's place near Mont Ventoux, was long, and rainy. The autostrada is a fast road though (once past Milan) and there are rumours of an all time top speed being reached.....but cannot be confirmed for legal reasons. The Cabanieri might come knocking on my tent door.

Over the Col de Montgenevre, a zip past Gap, past Veynes and by about 10.30 we were in the sleepy Provencal town of Faucon.

After catching up at breakfast the next morning, we decided to attempt the 'Madman' of Ventoux challenge...basically involves riding up all three routes in a day, from Malaucene, Bedoin and Sault.

It was actually easier than I thought it would be, the weather was kind and my legs felt good. I also think the Sault route is cheating a bit, you start from much higher and the gradient is very gentle for most of it. So now we are officially Ventoux Madmen, I think that's a membership of a fairly exclusive club (we didn' get stamped time cards etc, so maybe not completely official http://les.cingles.du.mont-ventoux.club.fr/menu.htm).

But, in the process I guess a little bit of the mystique has gone away, Ventoux is supposed to be sinister; brutal.......literally a killer. Doing it three times is mocking it a little, but I know it is a completely different propisition in heat. It got the last laugh anyway by delivering a massive cloudburst on us as we descended for the final time, the sky went black and it was the the heaviest rain I have ever seen. Trying to stop on a hairpin bend from 50mph in the wet was interesting.

We couldn't hang about long we had a ferry booked for Corsica and the French Riviera beckoned. We said our goodbyes to Craig and Vicky who were kind as ever (http://www.veloventoux.com/) and set off in the 28 degree heat which was a bit of a change from snow.

Reaching Le Lavandou on the Med coast always brings back vivid childhood memories. When we lived in Belgium we were lucky enough to drive down with caravan and boat and we camped by a beautiful beach at Cavaliere. I am pleased to report everythig is still there and the campsite itself is as rustic as it ever was.....no ugly apartment blocks have replaced it yet. And if anything the sea is even more turquoise.....it really is beautifully inviting. Eskimo glace anyone ?

We stopped off in St Tropez, I had never been there before either (as an adult). The harbour looked very nice with the mega yachts 'parked' on the marina. I also think I had the nicest mango and cerise ice cream on the planet, two boules was almost too much, I battled to eat it before it all melted away.

Next stop Corisca (assuming we make it to Savona in Italy where the ferry leaves from). It's been on my to-do list for a while, not sure I'll get time for the legendary GR20, but some cycling should take place for a change.