Our departure from Frigeac comprised of a 100 meter ride to a wonderful bakery to purchase breakfast to consume in the bar across the road where coffee (and tea) was enjoyed by all. All the time, storm clouds were gathering and when lightning and thunder struck to accompanying torrential rain, we simply ordered more coffee (and tea) and waited for conditions to improve.
And improve they did to allow us to roll out of Frigeac in a light shower and some 18 degrees, all wearing our very best wet weather jackets.
We exited the city and linked up with some very quiet meandering (and sometimes undulating) roads and largely tracked the river on our way to our lunch destination of Cirq la Popie as the weather was closing in.
We had a look around the village and had coffee (and tea) at a delightful little place. We again attracted much attention including from an American group who were desperate to know the results from the Men's World Road Racing Championships.
Unfortunately, the member of our group who they first approached not only did not know who won, but did not even know the Championships had just been conducted in Australia - guess who it was. They finally asked Peter who was able to provide all the details.
From there, we commandeered a vacant area of a restaurant and enjoyed a lunch provided by Phil S catering services. It was a sight to behold.
Craig also ran into a guy he regularly plays golf with in Brisbane - small world indeed.
From there, we made our way to Grotte du Pech-Merle where we enjoyed an educational tour of the ancient caves dating back 30,000 years. Incredible, even if the tour was narrated in French.
Our target then was our overnight destination of Cahors. As the rain and wind increased and the chill factor climbed, Peter was keen to ensure we had accommodation near the train station.
Taking Colin for assistance, they took to the van and headed for Cahors to ensure the rooms were booked and bags were in rooms when the drenched and cold cyclist arrived. Colin was quick to volunteer for the job. He thinks his body fat percentage has dropped so low that any rain and wind chills him to the bone and he was not looking forward to the final 20 k's. But his discomfort was nothing compared to Craig, Mick, Ern and Damian who fought
extraordinarily wet, windy and cold conditions over the final 25 kilometres into Cahors. A brave and courageous effort indeed and one that could hardly be described as pleasant.
Yet again, the roads and sights of France have thrown us another completely different experience today.
On arrival in Cahors, a laundromat was found and our lunch left overs were consumed along with a dozen or so beers. Some locals using the laundromat were a little amused at the party taking place by these strange Aussies. The beer we were enjoying was the local brew called Ratz and Mick added musical accompaniment of Frank Zappa'a Hot Ratz album to complete the laundering occasion - surreal.
From there we moved to the local pub (and just about the only place open on a Monday evening) for the most standard meal we have had so far - except for Ern who decided tonight was the night to try Cheval (horse). Others had burgers while one of us had salmon. Fine wine was also enjoyed in what was yet another Rose and anchovy free evening (Peter is coming good - unlike in 2006 when he apparently converted many to the "joys" of Rose).
A question was asked following last nights post about the number of people Craig has said hello too. Craig has been at his sociable and communicative best and as also mentioned previously, his means of supplementing verbal communication with non verbal communication techniques is a sight to see and cannot be described here. But it basically works. Unfortunately, perhaps the number of responses he receives is far less than the approaches he makes.
We have a train transfer tomorrow and a hope for less challenging weather.
There is an update to the Food 0n Tour and Gallery pages.
Thanks again for reading and your feedback and comments are much valued.
We will be in Paris on Friday however have much to experience in the meantime.
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Monday, October 4, 2010
Medieval Villages and hell by wind - so tough today
If it is not hurting, it is riding, not cycling.
We were cycling today.
We left Beynac at 9 am with a revised target of Figeac some 112 kilometres away.
We rolled through Domme in 22 degrees and light winds and proceeded to make our way through gently undulating roads through amazing Medieval villages before hooking up with the same bike path used by the 2006 tour to continue a roll along a beautiful river for some 10 kilometres before again joining up with some quiet roads for the run into Soulillac for a quick coffee break.
From there we picked up the roads leading to Rocamadour and completing a 10 k climb into a stiffening head wind into the "new" or hospitality section of Rocamadour where we stopped for lunch and were joined by Phil and Julie Hatcher to catch up on their dealings with the French authorities in tracking down Phil's lost property. The positive side of the 'lost property' situation is to give Julie ample opportunity to test her French speaking skills - which is going very well.
From there we descended through the amazing 'Old Cite' of Rocamadour. (although Colin bailed on the decent due to the extraordinarily strong winds and linked with the group at the bottom of the hill.
It was then uphill for a few more kilometres and we were lost.
A group of 5 in a late model BMW 7 series pulled to a stop in the middle of a very quiet road asking if we were training for the Tour de France. (Craig said we were).
After some communication challenges, they directed us down a road that does not exist on any of our 9 maps or two GPS systems to Gramat (which we were aiming for).
This non existent road was fabulous - boarded by ancient rock walls and travelling through grazing lands. Again, it was a very different experience and one we were fortunate to have.
At Gramat, we re-checked maps and set sail for Figeac, some 34 k's away on great roads.
What was not great is that in every 4 kilometres we ascended and descended terrain that was greater than Mt Coot-tha and we did so into a head wind that meant we had to pedal hard on the down hill just to keep moving forward. The up hills were hell. We did this for 30 kilometres before a long decent into our overnight destination.
We were hurting today - we were cycling. This was seriously hard however our group worked well together and shared the load to see us arriving a little after 5.30 pm.
Dinner was something else again. Steak, chicken, turkey, omelet, salad, desert plus rose and red, beers and coffee for 7 - all for 88 Euros.
The weather forecast tomorrow is for rain. Seriously, it can be as wet as it likes - as long as it is not with wind. We have done wind - we don't need any more.
The gallery has been updated. You will notice there are no post lunch photos which is a testimony to it being too hard to shoot on the bike.
Also scroll down to the d'Aubisque section to see the 2 new photos of the hang glider.
Finally, the first shot you will see is of Ern at Brisbane airport prior to his departure - thanks to Andrea.
We were cycling today.
We left Beynac at 9 am with a revised target of Figeac some 112 kilometres away.
We rolled through Domme in 22 degrees and light winds and proceeded to make our way through gently undulating roads through amazing Medieval villages before hooking up with the same bike path used by the 2006 tour to continue a roll along a beautiful river for some 10 kilometres before again joining up with some quiet roads for the run into Soulillac for a quick coffee break.
From there we picked up the roads leading to Rocamadour and completing a 10 k climb into a stiffening head wind into the "new" or hospitality section of Rocamadour where we stopped for lunch and were joined by Phil and Julie Hatcher to catch up on their dealings with the French authorities in tracking down Phil's lost property. The positive side of the 'lost property' situation is to give Julie ample opportunity to test her French speaking skills - which is going very well.
From there we descended through the amazing 'Old Cite' of Rocamadour. (although Colin bailed on the decent due to the extraordinarily strong winds and linked with the group at the bottom of the hill.
It was then uphill for a few more kilometres and we were lost.
A group of 5 in a late model BMW 7 series pulled to a stop in the middle of a very quiet road asking if we were training for the Tour de France. (Craig said we were).
After some communication challenges, they directed us down a road that does not exist on any of our 9 maps or two GPS systems to Gramat (which we were aiming for).
This non existent road was fabulous - boarded by ancient rock walls and travelling through grazing lands. Again, it was a very different experience and one we were fortunate to have.
At Gramat, we re-checked maps and set sail for Figeac, some 34 k's away on great roads.
What was not great is that in every 4 kilometres we ascended and descended terrain that was greater than Mt Coot-tha and we did so into a head wind that meant we had to pedal hard on the down hill just to keep moving forward. The up hills were hell. We did this for 30 kilometres before a long decent into our overnight destination.
We were hurting today - we were cycling. This was seriously hard however our group worked well together and shared the load to see us arriving a little after 5.30 pm.
Dinner was something else again. Steak, chicken, turkey, omelet, salad, desert plus rose and red, beers and coffee for 7 - all for 88 Euros.
The weather forecast tomorrow is for rain. Seriously, it can be as wet as it likes - as long as it is not with wind. We have done wind - we don't need any more.
The gallery has been updated. You will notice there are no post lunch photos which is a testimony to it being too hard to shoot on the bike.
Also scroll down to the d'Aubisque section to see the 2 new photos of the hang glider.
Finally, the first shot you will see is of Ern at Brisbane airport prior to his departure - thanks to Andrea.
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Pau and other wonders
1 October 2010 marks our last day challenging ourselves in the high mountains of France. And what a day to finish on!
Throughout our updates over the previous 12 days, words including "incredible, amazing, spectacular, wonderful, sensational and breathtaking" have been used repeatedly to attempt to describe the experiences we are having and the scenes we are seeing.
All these words again apply to our day.
After an amazing dinner the night before, we were in exceptionally good spirits as we cleaned and lubed the bikes.
Our host Pierre bid us farewell and we have all vowed to return to his wonderful hotel in the beautiful little town of Luz St Saveur.
We had an initial downhill run along good roads in clear and sunny weather.
We stopped at Argeles-Gazost to prepare for the 30 kilometre haul up 2 Cols to the summit of Col d'Aubisque.
Our first obstacle was a gradual ascending road through to the start of the climb proper of the Col du Soulor.
This was a good warm up for what lay ahead and we were all feeling the effort of the previous day in our legs.
Col du Soulor was a climb of some 8 kilometres up to 1474 metres. It was tough with repeated gradients of 8% and within that, some short very sharp pinches just to keep the lactic levels high.
It was a beautiful climb in perfect conditions with virtually no traffic.
On reaching the summit, it was a quick refill of water bottles, a replenishment of gels and limited warmer clothing was
required.
This first downhill section was tackled with mixed emotions as we all had the coming accent of Col d"Aubisque in the back
of our minds.
The accent of d'Aubisque was yet again a unique experience with many of us suggesting this to be the most spectacular climb of all those we have tackled. The scenery was simply out of this world. All the words previously used apply.
What makes our experiences in France all the more fulfilling is that every day is different and freshly exciting. Be it rolling through the French country side or climbing a Col, it is simply beautiful but at the same time different. And d'Aubisque typified yet another difference for us.
The photos are coming and hopefully they do it justice. There were birds of prey 'playing' in the thermals and hang gliders taking advantage of the conditions.
Peter mentioned that the 2006 tour tackled our day in the opposite direction (and harder direction) in terrible weather which would have tested the nerves of the cyclists. We were granted the exact opposite conditions.
Damian finished first to wrap up the King of the Mountains prize, followed by Peter. Colin was a long way back followed by Phil H, Ern and Craig and then Mick. Ern stayed with Craig to provide assistance and encouragement - was a gutsy effort by Craig in what was his first time riding back to back high mountains.
Phil H was the cyclist of the day and is riding into top climbing form just as the Cols come to an end.
The Col d'Aubisque rises to 1709 spectacular metres. There are several tunnels to pass through including one that is pitch black.
At the summit, you literally feel as if you are on top of the world.
Many photos were taken as we celebrated our final Col. We stayed for lunch and chatted to a couple from England, a cyclist from USA and a tri-athlete from Rotterdam who we had met earlier at our hotel. All had ridden the Col's we had with the American doing so on a steel bike with pannier bags and down tube shifters - and he was damn near as old as Ern.
Peter has commented just how many more cyclists there are in France compared to the 2006 tour and suggests it reflects a sport that is seriously growing throughout the world.
Our jerseys are the catalyst for the start of many conversations and we are continually approached by people of all nationalities interested in what we are doing. Craig has mastered the art of communicating in mime when his French and anothers English runs out. It is indeed a sight to see - but it works.
After lunch on 'Top of the World" we had a fabulously long sweeping decent virtually all the way through to our overnight destination of Pau.
About 10 k from the centre of Pau, we were looking for a directional sign when a lone local cyclist stopped to see if he could help. He then proceeded to lead us all the way in to Pau including for part of the trip, along a largely wonderful
bike path.
There was one section that was very loose stones such as those you find on rail way tracks. This was hairy and made even more so when we had to dis-mount, carry our bikes up an embankment, cross a single rail track and then do the reverse on
the other side to pick up a road. Not an easy thing to do in cleats.
It was 105 hard tough and wonderful kilometres in the most amazing weather you could hope for to finish in the delightful City of Pau.
Colin did a beer run and it took him ages. He was still wearing his jersey and was stopped in the street on 4 occasions within 500 or so metres by people wanting to talk about Australia. There was an Italian couple, an English lady, a local Gentleman and a local lady who spoke perfect English. He was surprised when she said she was from Pau and it turned out she used to be an English teacher and takes every chance to keep her hand in by talking English. Her daughter is working in Sydney (Manly) for a year and has been to Cairns and she wanted to know what these places were like. She also thought our tour slogan "Le Velo, Le Vin La Vie" to be just wonderful The Italian couple have friends living in Melbourne and wanted to know if Colin knew them. (He didn't)
For dinner, Ern selected a wonderful restaurant to continue the Food, Rouge and Rose tour and given Phil is leaving us, he shouted some excellent Rouge and top shelf Rose to accompany some superb cuisine which we enjoyed while the jazz duo
performed for our pleasure.
The cleansing ale on the way home was perhaps not needed but was never the less enjoyed. It could be said we had had enough.
Today has been an early start. Damian played co -pilot with Phil S and the van while the rest of us ventured to the station to catch the train to Salat. We had a change of train and a wait of a couple of hours in Bordeaux.
Sadly, we lose Phil today in Bordeaux where he is meeting Julie to continue his holiday in France. Even more sadly, we left him in the Station Office chasing some property lost on the train.
Our final destination for the evening was changed to the most delightful little town of Beynac on Dordogne River. We are staying in a very old hotel situated immediately below a magnificent castle.
After checking into the hotel, Ern, Peter and Colin rode the 9 kilometres to Domm and enjoyed the incredible outlook from the town, Ern and Peter enjoyed a beer while Colin had tea. They were served by a lady in a private hotel who only agreed to serve them because they had ridden up the hill.
The rest of the tour group walked up and explored the old castle and also enjoyed some amazing views and history.
Dinner was superb with several having the Salad with Local Duck Specialities - and the nature of the specialities is best left for you to conclude.Foie Gras was also highly featured along with Duck dishes of all kinds. (and one fish). Photos to be added to the Food on Tour Page. Be sure to also check the cheese board presented for Peter and Mick to share (They didn't quite get through it all). Amazingly, it was also a Rose free evening and maybe, just maybe, Peter is converted.
Tomorrow we are back on the bike with 130 kilometres of what Greg describes as "Daydreaming through the Dordogne" as we make our way to Rocamadour. It is the same as a ride day of the 2006 tour described as follows.
"A very full day but the beauty will cancel out any tiredness or pain" (A. Condon, 9/2006)
Sadly, the tour that keeps getting better and better has less than a week to go.
PS - Gallery and food on tour photos now updated too
Throughout our updates over the previous 12 days, words including "incredible, amazing, spectacular, wonderful, sensational and breathtaking" have been used repeatedly to attempt to describe the experiences we are having and the scenes we are seeing.
All these words again apply to our day.
After an amazing dinner the night before, we were in exceptionally good spirits as we cleaned and lubed the bikes.
Our host Pierre bid us farewell and we have all vowed to return to his wonderful hotel in the beautiful little town of Luz St Saveur.
We had an initial downhill run along good roads in clear and sunny weather.
We stopped at Argeles-Gazost to prepare for the 30 kilometre haul up 2 Cols to the summit of Col d'Aubisque.
Our first obstacle was a gradual ascending road through to the start of the climb proper of the Col du Soulor.
This was a good warm up for what lay ahead and we were all feeling the effort of the previous day in our legs.
Col du Soulor was a climb of some 8 kilometres up to 1474 metres. It was tough with repeated gradients of 8% and within that, some short very sharp pinches just to keep the lactic levels high.
It was a beautiful climb in perfect conditions with virtually no traffic.
On reaching the summit, it was a quick refill of water bottles, a replenishment of gels and limited warmer clothing was
required.
This first downhill section was tackled with mixed emotions as we all had the coming accent of Col d"Aubisque in the back
of our minds.
The accent of d'Aubisque was yet again a unique experience with many of us suggesting this to be the most spectacular climb of all those we have tackled. The scenery was simply out of this world. All the words previously used apply.
What makes our experiences in France all the more fulfilling is that every day is different and freshly exciting. Be it rolling through the French country side or climbing a Col, it is simply beautiful but at the same time different. And d'Aubisque typified yet another difference for us.
The photos are coming and hopefully they do it justice. There were birds of prey 'playing' in the thermals and hang gliders taking advantage of the conditions.
Peter mentioned that the 2006 tour tackled our day in the opposite direction (and harder direction) in terrible weather which would have tested the nerves of the cyclists. We were granted the exact opposite conditions.
Damian finished first to wrap up the King of the Mountains prize, followed by Peter. Colin was a long way back followed by Phil H, Ern and Craig and then Mick. Ern stayed with Craig to provide assistance and encouragement - was a gutsy effort by Craig in what was his first time riding back to back high mountains.
Phil H was the cyclist of the day and is riding into top climbing form just as the Cols come to an end.
The Col d'Aubisque rises to 1709 spectacular metres. There are several tunnels to pass through including one that is pitch black.
At the summit, you literally feel as if you are on top of the world.
Many photos were taken as we celebrated our final Col. We stayed for lunch and chatted to a couple from England, a cyclist from USA and a tri-athlete from Rotterdam who we had met earlier at our hotel. All had ridden the Col's we had with the American doing so on a steel bike with pannier bags and down tube shifters - and he was damn near as old as Ern.
Peter has commented just how many more cyclists there are in France compared to the 2006 tour and suggests it reflects a sport that is seriously growing throughout the world.
Our jerseys are the catalyst for the start of many conversations and we are continually approached by people of all nationalities interested in what we are doing. Craig has mastered the art of communicating in mime when his French and anothers English runs out. It is indeed a sight to see - but it works.
After lunch on 'Top of the World" we had a fabulously long sweeping decent virtually all the way through to our overnight destination of Pau.
About 10 k from the centre of Pau, we were looking for a directional sign when a lone local cyclist stopped to see if he could help. He then proceeded to lead us all the way in to Pau including for part of the trip, along a largely wonderful
bike path.
There was one section that was very loose stones such as those you find on rail way tracks. This was hairy and made even more so when we had to dis-mount, carry our bikes up an embankment, cross a single rail track and then do the reverse on
the other side to pick up a road. Not an easy thing to do in cleats.
It was 105 hard tough and wonderful kilometres in the most amazing weather you could hope for to finish in the delightful City of Pau.
Colin did a beer run and it took him ages. He was still wearing his jersey and was stopped in the street on 4 occasions within 500 or so metres by people wanting to talk about Australia. There was an Italian couple, an English lady, a local Gentleman and a local lady who spoke perfect English. He was surprised when she said she was from Pau and it turned out she used to be an English teacher and takes every chance to keep her hand in by talking English. Her daughter is working in Sydney (Manly) for a year and has been to Cairns and she wanted to know what these places were like. She also thought our tour slogan "Le Velo, Le Vin La Vie" to be just wonderful The Italian couple have friends living in Melbourne and wanted to know if Colin knew them. (He didn't)
For dinner, Ern selected a wonderful restaurant to continue the Food, Rouge and Rose tour and given Phil is leaving us, he shouted some excellent Rouge and top shelf Rose to accompany some superb cuisine which we enjoyed while the jazz duo
performed for our pleasure.
The cleansing ale on the way home was perhaps not needed but was never the less enjoyed. It could be said we had had enough.
Today has been an early start. Damian played co -pilot with Phil S and the van while the rest of us ventured to the station to catch the train to Salat. We had a change of train and a wait of a couple of hours in Bordeaux.
Sadly, we lose Phil today in Bordeaux where he is meeting Julie to continue his holiday in France. Even more sadly, we left him in the Station Office chasing some property lost on the train.
Our final destination for the evening was changed to the most delightful little town of Beynac on Dordogne River. We are staying in a very old hotel situated immediately below a magnificent castle.
After checking into the hotel, Ern, Peter and Colin rode the 9 kilometres to Domm and enjoyed the incredible outlook from the town, Ern and Peter enjoyed a beer while Colin had tea. They were served by a lady in a private hotel who only agreed to serve them because they had ridden up the hill.
The rest of the tour group walked up and explored the old castle and also enjoyed some amazing views and history.
Dinner was superb with several having the Salad with Local Duck Specialities - and the nature of the specialities is best left for you to conclude.Foie Gras was also highly featured along with Duck dishes of all kinds. (and one fish). Photos to be added to the Food on Tour Page. Be sure to also check the cheese board presented for Peter and Mick to share (They didn't quite get through it all). Amazingly, it was also a Rose free evening and maybe, just maybe, Peter is converted.
Tomorrow we are back on the bike with 130 kilometres of what Greg describes as "Daydreaming through the Dordogne" as we make our way to Rocamadour. It is the same as a ride day of the 2006 tour described as follows.
"A very full day but the beauty will cancel out any tiredness or pain" (A. Condon, 9/2006)
Sadly, the tour that keeps getting better and better has less than a week to go.
PS - Gallery and food on tour photos now updated too
Saturday, October 2, 2010
Farewell to the Alps
Good morning all in Australia.
We have had yet another amazing day on the road including the accent of the famous Col d'Abisque.
Our day on the road was perhaps one of our most demanding but also one of our most spectacular.
There will be a far more comprehensive account of our day tomorrow, except to say that the departure of Phil H from our tour has been acknowledged over dinner with the consumption of much Rose and Rouge - as it most correctly should be.
Your correspondent also apologises for the greater than normal spelling and grammatical errors from yesterdays update. Yesterday was also finalised by a significant and long celebration involving much of the local foods and wine.
We will catch up in the next 24 hours to re-count what has been perhaps the most spectacular day of our tour.
Good night from Pau in France
We have had yet another amazing day on the road including the accent of the famous Col d'Abisque.
Our day on the road was perhaps one of our most demanding but also one of our most spectacular.
There will be a far more comprehensive account of our day tomorrow, except to say that the departure of Phil H from our tour has been acknowledged over dinner with the consumption of much Rose and Rouge - as it most correctly should be.
Your correspondent also apologises for the greater than normal spelling and grammatical errors from yesterdays update. Yesterday was also finalised by a significant and long celebration involving much of the local foods and wine.
We will catch up in the next 24 hours to re-count what has been perhaps the most spectacular day of our tour.
Good night from Pau in France
Friday, October 1, 2010
Iconic Tourmalet and getting it right
We have had a lesson in correct pronunciation this evening.
Our overnight stay tonight is at the Hotel de Londres in the beautiful Pyrenees town of Luz St Saveur.
This is the same hotel visited by the pioneering 2006 tour and the popular and generous host, Pierre, has made this year's experience just as special as it was in 2006.
Dinner of vegetable soup, trout (caught this afternoon), pork and pastas was something special. There was also a fabulous birthday cake complete with candles and other illumination decoration fro one of our tour party. Add some local Rouge and Rose and a memorable evening was had to top off an equally memorable day. We would all like to stay longer.
We shared some of our video with Pierre including our bike cam footage of descending Ventoux and Tourmalet.
In discussion with Pierre, we also discovered that his pronunciation of Tourmalet was quite different to ours in that he used the "t" in the word. We asked him about this and he explained the correct way to say the name of the Col was with a hard "t" and that this was the right and proper way in the South of France. A little bit like the use of the "t" in the Moet from Moet and Chandon. From now on, we are committed to getting it right.
Our day began in Lourdes in wet and overcast conditions as we donned rain jackets and headed for Bagmeres de Bigorre.
The wet conditions resulted in us deciding not to first ascend the Col de Aspin as we did not want to risk missing the Col du Tormalet.
We stopped for morning tea at Campon before proceeding on to St Marie de Campon where we stripped our bikes and ourselves to the bear essentials for the assault on Tourmalet.
It was an interesting and varied choice of clothing for the start of the climb. Peter, Colin and Damian opted for jersey, bear arms and legs and caps, Ern and Craig went with full arm and leg warmers and gillets with Ern also wearing water proof booties while Craig discarded his helmet after a few k's. Phil and Mick opted for a mix of all the others. The diversity in attire clearly reflected the un-certainty of the weather conditions. It could be snow, and it could be hot and fine.
As it was, no one made the correct or the wrong choice.
Different sections of the 16 k accent were bathed in warm sun and covered in thick and cold cloud. See new photos in the gallery.
Damian broke away early leaving Peter and Ern to fight it out for second place. Peter defied his own advice of "always ride big mountains within yourself" when he found Ern on his wheel with a few k's to go and promptly ignored his heart rate monitor and went into the red zone to take second place - be it narrowly.
Colin was fourth followed by a rejuvenated and inspired Phil H ahead of Craig and Mick.
Damian and Peter both agree this was the toughest of our climbs to date. Peter even says this way up the Col is harder than the direction taken by the 2006 tourists. From the downhill run, the rest of us found this surprising and are glad we ascended the way we did.
Hopefully the photos in the gallery illustrate the beauty and wonder of this Col. It seems we say this every day, but the outlook was breath taking.
There were two stand out cycling performances for the day.
Phil has been suffering from flu and a poorly adjusted rear derailleur. Both were fixed for this climb and he came home in approximately 90 minutes.
Ern had a sensational climb too and revealed later that Tourmalet has been an objective of his since taking up cycling 2 or so years ago - his first bike being a LeMond Tourmalet.
Colin also had long harboured ambitions to visit Tourmalet having been motivated by Trent D's 2005 account of his visit to the Col.
Mick was also sensational today (as always) and Craig has learned to enjoy long climbs and the experience and beauty they offer. He did it very comfortably indeed.
On arrival, we toured the town including the 13th century fortressed church (although the fortress was only built in the 15th century.
Another great day and another great evening.
I must again mention the great work by Craig and "Pants off Phil" for their sensational photography. Craig is also now running a bike mounted camera as is Mick and the downhill footage is particularly striking.
Photos of Tourmalet are now in the gallery and the new page of Food on Tour is also now up to date including today's crepes at the Col.
Ern is adding great anologue input to route planning and has also become the jersey junkie on tour.
Thanks also to everyone for the blog comments. e-mails and sms messages. They are all much appreciated by us all.
Col d'Aubisque then Pau tomorrow - fingers crossed for some fine weather.
Our overnight stay tonight is at the Hotel de Londres in the beautiful Pyrenees town of Luz St Saveur.
This is the same hotel visited by the pioneering 2006 tour and the popular and generous host, Pierre, has made this year's experience just as special as it was in 2006.
Dinner of vegetable soup, trout (caught this afternoon), pork and pastas was something special. There was also a fabulous birthday cake complete with candles and other illumination decoration fro one of our tour party. Add some local Rouge and Rose and a memorable evening was had to top off an equally memorable day. We would all like to stay longer.
We shared some of our video with Pierre including our bike cam footage of descending Ventoux and Tourmalet.
In discussion with Pierre, we also discovered that his pronunciation of Tourmalet was quite different to ours in that he used the "t" in the word. We asked him about this and he explained the correct way to say the name of the Col was with a hard "t" and that this was the right and proper way in the South of France. A little bit like the use of the "t" in the Moet from Moet and Chandon. From now on, we are committed to getting it right.
Our day began in Lourdes in wet and overcast conditions as we donned rain jackets and headed for Bagmeres de Bigorre.
The wet conditions resulted in us deciding not to first ascend the Col de Aspin as we did not want to risk missing the Col du Tormalet.
We stopped for morning tea at Campon before proceeding on to St Marie de Campon where we stripped our bikes and ourselves to the bear essentials for the assault on Tourmalet.
It was an interesting and varied choice of clothing for the start of the climb. Peter, Colin and Damian opted for jersey, bear arms and legs and caps, Ern and Craig went with full arm and leg warmers and gillets with Ern also wearing water proof booties while Craig discarded his helmet after a few k's. Phil and Mick opted for a mix of all the others. The diversity in attire clearly reflected the un-certainty of the weather conditions. It could be snow, and it could be hot and fine.
As it was, no one made the correct or the wrong choice.
Different sections of the 16 k accent were bathed in warm sun and covered in thick and cold cloud. See new photos in the gallery.
Damian broke away early leaving Peter and Ern to fight it out for second place. Peter defied his own advice of "always ride big mountains within yourself" when he found Ern on his wheel with a few k's to go and promptly ignored his heart rate monitor and went into the red zone to take second place - be it narrowly.
Colin was fourth followed by a rejuvenated and inspired Phil H ahead of Craig and Mick.
Damian and Peter both agree this was the toughest of our climbs to date. Peter even says this way up the Col is harder than the direction taken by the 2006 tourists. From the downhill run, the rest of us found this surprising and are glad we ascended the way we did.
Hopefully the photos in the gallery illustrate the beauty and wonder of this Col. It seems we say this every day, but the outlook was breath taking.
There were two stand out cycling performances for the day.
Phil has been suffering from flu and a poorly adjusted rear derailleur. Both were fixed for this climb and he came home in approximately 90 minutes.
Ern had a sensational climb too and revealed later that Tourmalet has been an objective of his since taking up cycling 2 or so years ago - his first bike being a LeMond Tourmalet.
Colin also had long harboured ambitions to visit Tourmalet having been motivated by Trent D's 2005 account of his visit to the Col.
Mick was also sensational today (as always) and Craig has learned to enjoy long climbs and the experience and beauty they offer. He did it very comfortably indeed.
On arrival, we toured the town including the 13th century fortressed church (although the fortress was only built in the 15th century.
Another great day and another great evening.
I must again mention the great work by Craig and "Pants off Phil" for their sensational photography. Craig is also now running a bike mounted camera as is Mick and the downhill footage is particularly striking.
Photos of Tourmalet are now in the gallery and the new page of Food on Tour is also now up to date including today's crepes at the Col.
Ern is adding great anologue input to route planning and has also become the jersey junkie on tour.
Thanks also to everyone for the blog comments. e-mails and sms messages. They are all much appreciated by us all.
Col d'Aubisque then Pau tomorrow - fingers crossed for some fine weather.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
It's not about the bike - at least not today
Our day has been one of contradiction and I guess confrontation. It has also been about new friends and some unique experiences.
In saying this, I am not referring to the train transfer by 6 of us from Nimes to Lourdes while Damian co-piloted the bikes, bags and "Pants Off" Phil by road.
I am also not talking about what is simply the worlds best double shot espresso at a non descript coffee place in Lourdes. The coffee shop in question does coffee, tea (which one of us had) and small bite size chocolate bars. It does absolutely nothing else. No food, no anything else, just coffee and our caffeine experts agreed with the claim that this is the worlds number one venue for coffee.
In addition, I am not talking about the dinner and wine we enjoyed at a highly recommended restaurant. Three of us had pizza while the rest carbo loaded with pasta - tomorrow is a big day with two major Cols to overcome including the famed Col de Tourmelet on our way to an overnight stay in Ageles-Gazost.
And finally, I am also not referring to the birthday of one of our collective favourite people in Julie L'Estange. Happy birthday Julie; hope you have a great day and the Thursday friendship ride proved a great start to your day.
What I am referring to when saying in the title that "it's not about the bike" is that today was highlighted by much, much more than cycling.
Lourdes is a place of deep religious significance to the Catholic faith. The reasons for this are referred to in the Route Map page of this site so I wont repeat them.
We arrived at Lourdes, checked in to our hotel, unpacked and went to explore.
In general, what we initially witnessed at best, disappointed us all. This appeared to be one tacky, cheap almost dirty little place with streets lined by what appeared to be down market souvenir vendors pedalling religious statues and holy water along with t shirts and other cheap memorabilia.
We ventured on down through the town until we heard the most magnificent Italian singing.
Opening up before us was an open space in front of a magnificent church and the beginning of a parade with flag bearers carrying what we now know to be flags of their Order of the Church and primarily from Italy. Our subsequent investigations revealed that it was Italian day in Lourdes.
This was quite a show.
The parade wound around the town and as the flag bearers ceased, a cross bearer appeared and then following the cross bearer was a parade of the sick. The first in the parade were those being wheeled in beds and were obviously the most seriously ill. Then followed hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of wheel chair bound people and their attendants. This went on and on and on and on . It was truly confronting and moving.
The purpose was that the sick and disabled would be blessed.
The public mass went on for hours as the sick and disabled assembled at the end of the parade in the huge square area in front of the church.
We are all quite certain that one of the bed ridden participants was Chopper Reid - who we know to be terminally ill. I kid you not - we believe it was Chopper Reid.
"Pants Off Phil" identified a group of 3 men who appeared to have an official role in proceedings and approached them asking if they spoke English. We were all keen to understand more about what was going on and Phil thought he had better find out for us. The 3 gentlemen he approached were not only involved, but were Irish and spoke perfect English.
Not only did they fill us is on what was happening, they asked if we wanted to visit the Grotto and see where the miracle of Bernadette Soubirous occurred and to do so without having to endure the crowds and line ups.
Yes was the answer and off we went on a 5 minute walk to the Grotto. From there, Peter, Damian, Ern and Phil (Pants Off) went onto the Lourdes Baths and had the experience of bathing in the Holy Water. A unique and wonderful thing to do indeed.
It was then a short line up to touch the flowing water of the Grotto. All but Craig and Colin (both non Catholics) participated in this ritual.
Lourdes is a contrast of the extremes. It is a contrast of the tacky commercialism of what would be Religious Tourism and the Deep Spiritual ceremony of the Catholic Church. It is extreme and we were extremely lucky to experience the latter on what was a formal day in the local calender.
We were also fortunate to link up with our new Irish friends and have the introduction to the Grotto and the Baths.
Our Irish friends also introduced us to the World's Best Coffee where they bought us not one but two rounds. Which at 6 pm may well mean some sleepless nights for some in the team.
Over coffee we learned some interesting things about our Irish hosts:
In saying this, I am not referring to the train transfer by 6 of us from Nimes to Lourdes while Damian co-piloted the bikes, bags and "Pants Off" Phil by road.
I am also not talking about what is simply the worlds best double shot espresso at a non descript coffee place in Lourdes. The coffee shop in question does coffee, tea (which one of us had) and small bite size chocolate bars. It does absolutely nothing else. No food, no anything else, just coffee and our caffeine experts agreed with the claim that this is the worlds number one venue for coffee.
In addition, I am not talking about the dinner and wine we enjoyed at a highly recommended restaurant. Three of us had pizza while the rest carbo loaded with pasta - tomorrow is a big day with two major Cols to overcome including the famed Col de Tourmelet on our way to an overnight stay in Ageles-Gazost.
And finally, I am also not referring to the birthday of one of our collective favourite people in Julie L'Estange. Happy birthday Julie; hope you have a great day and the Thursday friendship ride proved a great start to your day.
What I am referring to when saying in the title that "it's not about the bike" is that today was highlighted by much, much more than cycling.
Lourdes is a place of deep religious significance to the Catholic faith. The reasons for this are referred to in the Route Map page of this site so I wont repeat them.
We arrived at Lourdes, checked in to our hotel, unpacked and went to explore.
In general, what we initially witnessed at best, disappointed us all. This appeared to be one tacky, cheap almost dirty little place with streets lined by what appeared to be down market souvenir vendors pedalling religious statues and holy water along with t shirts and other cheap memorabilia.
We ventured on down through the town until we heard the most magnificent Italian singing.
Opening up before us was an open space in front of a magnificent church and the beginning of a parade with flag bearers carrying what we now know to be flags of their Order of the Church and primarily from Italy. Our subsequent investigations revealed that it was Italian day in Lourdes.
This was quite a show.
The parade wound around the town and as the flag bearers ceased, a cross bearer appeared and then following the cross bearer was a parade of the sick. The first in the parade were those being wheeled in beds and were obviously the most seriously ill. Then followed hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of wheel chair bound people and their attendants. This went on and on and on and on . It was truly confronting and moving.
The purpose was that the sick and disabled would be blessed.
The public mass went on for hours as the sick and disabled assembled at the end of the parade in the huge square area in front of the church.
We are all quite certain that one of the bed ridden participants was Chopper Reid - who we know to be terminally ill. I kid you not - we believe it was Chopper Reid.
"Pants Off Phil" identified a group of 3 men who appeared to have an official role in proceedings and approached them asking if they spoke English. We were all keen to understand more about what was going on and Phil thought he had better find out for us. The 3 gentlemen he approached were not only involved, but were Irish and spoke perfect English.
Not only did they fill us is on what was happening, they asked if we wanted to visit the Grotto and see where the miracle of Bernadette Soubirous occurred and to do so without having to endure the crowds and line ups.
Yes was the answer and off we went on a 5 minute walk to the Grotto. From there, Peter, Damian, Ern and Phil (Pants Off) went onto the Lourdes Baths and had the experience of bathing in the Holy Water. A unique and wonderful thing to do indeed.
It was then a short line up to touch the flowing water of the Grotto. All but Craig and Colin (both non Catholics) participated in this ritual.
Lourdes is a contrast of the extremes. It is a contrast of the tacky commercialism of what would be Religious Tourism and the Deep Spiritual ceremony of the Catholic Church. It is extreme and we were extremely lucky to experience the latter on what was a formal day in the local calender.
We were also fortunate to link up with our new Irish friends and have the introduction to the Grotto and the Baths.
Our Irish friends also introduced us to the World's Best Coffee where they bought us not one but two rounds. Which at 6 pm may well mean some sleepless nights for some in the team.
Over coffee we learned some interesting things about our Irish hosts:
- two of the three are cousins and work in the family business. The business is gaming - poker machines and horse racing and the business operates in the "un regulated" sector of the gaming industry.
- the third runs Northern Ireland's best fish and chip shop.
- all are very successful business people and give a week of their time each year to help with a trip of people from Ireland to Lourdes. This always takes place in the last week of September and they have been doing this for the last 6 years.
- this year, they are part of a team of 45 volunteers from Ireland escorting a group of sick and elderly that numbers 980 - yes 980.
- the biggest group they have helped with was for the 150 year celebration in 2005 - that group from Ireland was over 2000 people.
It was a remarkable couple of hours topped off by a coffee with three very interesting people. I think also when we left them to follow their dinner recommendation, we all had a little feeling of guilt in that we all wondered just what it was they were after. They were after nothing at all other than to help and assist a group of Australian tourists who were showing genuine interest in what was happening on a special day in Lourdes. They even bought the coffee, despite our protests.
Tomorrow it is back to the business and cycling and a fascinating and challenging day.
There is also a new page on the website dedicated to the food and drinks we have been enjoying in France and Switzerland. Please check the photos.
The gallery has also been updated with an additional Ventoux picture or two and the bikes and equipment page has also been updated to include all bike, including Colin's new frame. (how does it look Robbo?)
Phil H's quote of the day - "Everyday of this tour we turn over a rock and find something new and amazing. What other rocks can we possibly turn over next".
Last and by no means least, there is another birthday on the 30th to celebrate - that of Tracy Sheehan. Happy birthday Tracy.
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Rolling Country and Ventoux Reflections
An apology to begin with.
Our hotel for the evening turns it Wi Fi off overnight. Apparently guests do not require internet access out of hours. As a result, this update is some hours late.
Secondly, yesterdays account of Ventoux was a little light on. Our group was on a high following the accent of the giant and the subsequent research into the merits of red wine and rose as sports re hydration drinks went late into the night.
Back to Ventoux. We were very lucky to actually have a weather window where we could make the climb.
When describing other climbs we have completed, the word relentless have been used frequently. Ventoux introduces a new meaning to the word relentless. There is no opportunity to recover - at all. Kilometre after kilometre of 9%, 9%, 10%, 9% up and up and up.
The radio tower at the summit is the objective and the mountain plays with your mind. You first sight the tower as you commence kilometre 11 (11 to go) and it looks close - very close.
You then spend the next 5 kilometres or so seemingly getting no closer to the objective.
Then, just when you are contemplating the free fall properties of a carbon fibre bike being hauled off a cliff, you are confronted by the additional challenge of a head breeze. This starts with 8 kilometres to go and then builds until the end. But the forecast was for only a 57 km wind at the summit on our day of accent.
Chateau Reynard sits 6 kilometres from the summit and also represents the last remains of vegetation. The cyclist is now at one with his bike, the strengthening wind, the moonscape terrain and that bastard of a radio mast you are aiming for.
Our group of 7 cyclists had all rounded bend that is Chateau Reynard and were battling the last 6 kilometres to the end. There was a roaring noise from behind and one wondered just what the Ventoux was giving us next. The noise was a fighter jet from the French air force doing a pass of the mountain. We decided it was in celebration of our pending collective achievement.
A little more about the wind on the final 6 kilometres. On the mountain, you are completely exposed. There is no vegetation to protect you from its force. It just 'slams' you and has you at its mercy. You turn a corner and and bang - it whips you from the side of from the front and there is nothing you can do but grit your teeth, hold the bars and keep pedaling. The 9% gradient becomes tougher and tougher. And it is a cold wind too - and the perspiration from the climb has wet you through magnifying the impact of the cold in the wind.
But arriving at the summit is exhilarating and satisfying to the extreme.
We did the photos at the summit, put every piece of warm clothing we had on and descended the 6 kilometres to the Chateau for lunch and shopping.
Back at the hotel, post ride beers were enjoyed in wonderful spirits. Dinner involved many pizzas (plus one salad) and multiple bottles of Ventoux Rouge and Rose.
Moving to our latest day, it was a quite tired group who set out from Orange bound for Nimes. Phil took the day off to try and get over his cold symptoms while the rest of us were keen to turn our legs over and enjoy some wonderful riding conditions.
We pushed through some sensational French country side and crossed a wonderful bridge at Caderousse where we saw a power station.
It was then onto Laudun-L'Ardoise where we had morning tea.
A few bumps and more magnificent riding later at it was lunch in the beautiful town of Pont St Nicolas.
A long down hill run, an 8 k uphill and then a long downhill found us in the centre of Nimes and almost at our hotel.
It was a wonderful days cycling through some beautiful country side in perfect French weather.
Our hotel for the evening turns it Wi Fi off overnight. Apparently guests do not require internet access out of hours. As a result, this update is some hours late.
Secondly, yesterdays account of Ventoux was a little light on. Our group was on a high following the accent of the giant and the subsequent research into the merits of red wine and rose as sports re hydration drinks went late into the night.
Back to Ventoux. We were very lucky to actually have a weather window where we could make the climb.
When describing other climbs we have completed, the word relentless have been used frequently. Ventoux introduces a new meaning to the word relentless. There is no opportunity to recover - at all. Kilometre after kilometre of 9%, 9%, 10%, 9% up and up and up.
The radio tower at the summit is the objective and the mountain plays with your mind. You first sight the tower as you commence kilometre 11 (11 to go) and it looks close - very close.
You then spend the next 5 kilometres or so seemingly getting no closer to the objective.
Then, just when you are contemplating the free fall properties of a carbon fibre bike being hauled off a cliff, you are confronted by the additional challenge of a head breeze. This starts with 8 kilometres to go and then builds until the end. But the forecast was for only a 57 km wind at the summit on our day of accent.
Chateau Reynard sits 6 kilometres from the summit and also represents the last remains of vegetation. The cyclist is now at one with his bike, the strengthening wind, the moonscape terrain and that bastard of a radio mast you are aiming for.
Our group of 7 cyclists had all rounded bend that is Chateau Reynard and were battling the last 6 kilometres to the end. There was a roaring noise from behind and one wondered just what the Ventoux was giving us next. The noise was a fighter jet from the French air force doing a pass of the mountain. We decided it was in celebration of our pending collective achievement.
A little more about the wind on the final 6 kilometres. On the mountain, you are completely exposed. There is no vegetation to protect you from its force. It just 'slams' you and has you at its mercy. You turn a corner and and bang - it whips you from the side of from the front and there is nothing you can do but grit your teeth, hold the bars and keep pedaling. The 9% gradient becomes tougher and tougher. And it is a cold wind too - and the perspiration from the climb has wet you through magnifying the impact of the cold in the wind.
But arriving at the summit is exhilarating and satisfying to the extreme.
We did the photos at the summit, put every piece of warm clothing we had on and descended the 6 kilometres to the Chateau for lunch and shopping.
Back at the hotel, post ride beers were enjoyed in wonderful spirits. Dinner involved many pizzas (plus one salad) and multiple bottles of Ventoux Rouge and Rose.
Moving to our latest day, it was a quite tired group who set out from Orange bound for Nimes. Phil took the day off to try and get over his cold symptoms while the rest of us were keen to turn our legs over and enjoy some wonderful riding conditions.
We pushed through some sensational French country side and crossed a wonderful bridge at Caderousse where we saw a power station.
It was then onto Laudun-L'Ardoise where we had morning tea.
A few bumps and more magnificent riding later at it was lunch in the beautiful town of Pont St Nicolas.
A long down hill run, an 8 k uphill and then a long downhill found us in the centre of Nimes and almost at our hotel.
It was a wonderful days cycling through some beautiful country side in perfect French weather.
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