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.