Le Tourmalet and beyond

Wednesday, July 18, 2012 - Le Col du Tourmalet

Waking up in our marvelous tent city, complete with nearby public washroom, we spandexed up immediately and rolled downhill the 1 or so km back down to Luz and our beloved La Terrace Cafe...by now we'd become fixture, but I suppose we'd be hard to recognize in the sea of roadies at this cafe. Coffee and brioche consumed, we made for the col. What a rush it is and what a difference it makes in your legs when you're climbing at the Tour de France; we all agreed that finding your climbing rythm is much easier when the road is lined with adrenalized cycling fans, eager to chear on any random bloke on a bike making way up the climb. The constant party of changing scenery helps too. This is the only climb on this trip that I had already done, but there was a large astrix next to it on my bucket list as that day in 2010 the gendarme had the upper 3 km closed off to all but walkers...after begging and pleading, there was nothing for me to do that day except turn tail and slink on down the road...so again, there was unfinished business here. I'm happy to report that the astrix has been removed. We reached the top after about an hour an 20 (but don't quote me on that, I don't have the Garmin right here in front of me). Btw that last few hundred meters she pitched up to 13%, so I can se why this made for a great stage finish a couple of years ago...I found myself remembering proudly not the battle that was waged that day between Andy and Alberto, but instead the effort that Ryder put in that day defending his 7th (now 6th with the exclusion of Alberto) place...with the "weight of our nation" on his back!!! On this day, there was another nation globbed onto a different rider...France on little Tommy Voeckler! The French press likes to say that you either love him or hate him, but I sure didn't see any of the haters on that mountain, and we all agreed, we love him. With all jerseys all but sealed up very early in this tour, Thomas and his hunt for the climber's jersey has saved the tour. After Voeckler showed them the how, the rest of the peloton made their way up and over in shattered bitS, making for some great viewing. Footnote: seems the water cycle has shut down in this country as once again we enjoyed perfect weather--not a speck of cloud in the sky.

Thursday, July 19, 2012 - The Port de Bales

Once down from the Tourmalet we packed up and drove the 1.5 hours or so over to Bagneres de Luchon where the next stage started and more importantly the base of the finishing climbs. Tent city was on a sloping patch of grass on the lower slopes of the Col de Peyresoudre. Before pitching the tents, in a fit of caveman-like haste, we devoured a rotisserie chicken with the requisite tabbouleh, cheese and baguette. The little girls in the caravan next to us got quite a charge out of my chicken carving skills and the fact that I could do it while sitting on the ground without a table nor chair and with a plastic knife. It was indeed a scene. The next morning after pain and coffee in Luchon, we decided to ride up the more difficult Port de Bales instead to the finishing climb of the Peyresoudre/Peyragudes...this would give up perhaps a more interesting climb and get us away from the crowds a bit earlier in the day. The climb was awesome highlighted by quaint little towns that you roll through on your way to the top and the intense heat and humidity (the water cycle clicked back on with clouds and fog, but not the rain that I hear they had on the ascent of the north side...we climbed the south side--the side the peloton descended). As the shattered peloton rolled through this time, we were without the crowd barriers that we had on La Toussuire nor the frenzied chaos of the crowds and the gendarmes of the Tourmalet. It was really quite chilled out watching them go by with the mom and pops of the caravan scene, and btw, did we ever clean up with the publicity caravan. Alessandro Valverde brought home the stage, his breakaway succeeding, and we understand the yellow jersey and the more than loyal Chris Froome put on a bit of a show coming in 2nd and 3rd. It's going to be a lot of fun watching how all this went down on the DVR when we get back home. The descent of the Port de Bales is where reality may have reared it's ugly head. Rod had a bit of a crash as he over cooked an early corner. Ribs bruised not broken and plenty of skin left on the road...bummer to say the least...his front wheel went into a drainage gutter and down he went. Add a Vein Machine who was...well let's say shitting out both ends after eating some questionable yogurt and the bucket listers were starting to look like mere shadows of themselves...the walking wounded for sure. I'm sorry to report that due to the above we were not able to make the little side trip to Mont Ventoux that we had planned for the trip back east. Indiana Jones had the Temple of Doom to deal with after Raiding the Lost Ark, and this little blog too will someday have a sequel I'm sure. We'll leave that stone to turn for another day.

Saturday, July 21, 2012 - meet the girls day!

On Friday we found our way 3.5 hour's drive east to a hostel in a city called Arles (we're not here doing the regular tourist trail, but it seems this place was pretty important to one Vincent van Gogh). The next morning mine and Rod's path diverged from Vein's. We told Brad to feel better and parted ways as Rod and I drove to Cassis, 1.5 hours further east. Seems as though our paths will come back together sooner than we expected though as Brad's found some work in NS from August thru to December...I'll be picking him up at the airport in 3 weeks and the roads of Lunenburg County will once again be shredded...as only roadies can 'shred' roads (lol). Rod and I had another 'transfer' massive day planned and this time it all went off without a hitch. We drove from Arles to Cassis, took the flat for the week, dropped our bikes and gear off in a heap in the living room, then drove to Marseille to drop off the car and meet Selena and Deanna. The girls made it, also no hitches, and we all boarded the train for Cassis. After enjoying well earned beers on the balcony, we headed out on the town for dinner. I can say that after the last 10 days of riding and Tour de Francing, I'm ready for the beach...bring it on. Sorry again for the lack of pictures...they're no doubt worth a lot more than my words. I'll work on getting them off the camera and on to Google from where I can get them on the blog. There's also a few good videos to share. I feel like this week may provide time for such tasks. Thanks for reading; check back in a couple of days for an update on the news from the beach.