July 18th - Shopping in Pau then headed home via London

We spent the last morning shopping in Pau, or at least trying, many of the shops were closed Sunday & Monday.  Beautiful old town with a lovely chateau in the middle, old cobbled streets.

Kathy, Maddie & Moira at the chateau in Pau

 Lovely cafe in Pau

View of the mountains from Pau

We then drove to Toulouse, for our flight to London, Sophie met us at Heathrow - it was great to see her, she had a fabulous two weeks visiting with her French family, in the Alps and then the South.  We all headed in to London to spend the night with Jenny & Mike.

July 17th - Last Ride Col d'Aubisque

Col du Aubisque.  Woke up to rain, after coffee & croissant we set out up the Col.  The ride starts out in the trees and climbs out into the meadows, this was my favorite climb of the trip, the views are spectacular, lots of waterfalls.  About 4km to the top, came across a flock of sheep in the road, I was trailing a guy from Belguim, he made his way through the sheep with me following close behind.  There were two Pyrenean Mountain dogs guarding the flock, they got between us and the sheep and kept a very close eye.  This being the last ride of the trip I put everything into the climb, managed to complete it in 1:35.  The top was very cold, the mist had rolled in and the wind had picked up. 

July 16th - Last Day viewing the Tour on Col d'Aspet - Transfer to Pau

 

Johnny & Patrick waiting for the Tour

Yellow Jersey goes by

Lots of extra bikes

We had planned to ride the Col d'Aspet, the same day as the Tour, we got there too late to access the climb the Gendarmes had already closed the road by the time we got there.  We situated ourselves at a rotary, it was interesting to see the peloton split and rejoin as they went through.  The day was also considered a transfer day and we moved on to Pau, Caroline, Patrick and I went out for a short ride around town, was good to get the legs moving again.

July 15th - Keith's 3 Col Day - Caroline watched stage finish at Lourdes

July 15,

Three col day.  Alan and I decided the night before over a couple of beers, wine etc. to try a three col day, how smart were we.  joe and Johnny came up with the piece de resistance The Port de Balles, Col de Peyresourde and the Col d'Aspin. 

The Port d’Bales starts out in Mauleon in a very picturesque valley and follows a stream for a few kilometers at a 3% grade, total climb is 19km and 1185m vertical, it is very steep once you leave the river.  The Bales is where Schlek lost his chain last year and lost the Tour. We descended down the valley to the base of the Peyresourde, there  the climb starts immediately, the sun was out and very hot. The climb was wide open, good road. Reached the top and had coffee and Crepes, sandwiches with Johnny and Alan.  Descended on a great road into Arreau for the start of the Col de Aspin.  The final climb of the day was very tough. We did not hang around too long, started the descent back to the hotel.  Drafting Johnny along the valley floor doing 36-37mph was a fun experience.  Total milage for the day was 113km and about 8,500 feet of vertical climbing, a long tough one.

Caroline & Moira rode to Lourdes - a relatively flat 35k - thankfully!  They met up with Moira's sister Kathy, and her daughter Hilary - in for the weekend to see the Tour. They watched the crazy pre-tour caravan come through, Hilary & Maddie collected lots of Tour loot, hats, bottle openers, candy - all sorts of important items... They had front row seats at a cafe about 500m from the finish, really exciting to watch the Tour come flying through

Tour Caravan - Can you imagine driving across France in this for 28 days??

Tour Caravan - Men in speedos throwing detergent - crazy people!

The Yellow Jersey

July 14th - Tourmalet & Tour de France

July 14, 2011

Moira, Johnny & Patrick - Top of Tourmalet waiting for The Tour

Col De Tourmalet.  Tour day, lots of activity on the climb lots of fun. I really liked this climb and would do it again. Very long very tough.  We were very fortunate with the weather, no rain and a little sun shine.  Could not make the last 20m the police stopped me, will have to come back another time and complete the task.  I managed to descend to Lemonge (spelling) where I met the rest of the team had hot chocolate and watched the tour go by.  I thought I could climb, seeing these guys going past  drafting was a special experience.  Got a flat on the way up and leant my bike against the fence. Note to self be careful where you pee, could be a shocking experience.

Tour rider showing us how it is done!

July 13th - to the Pyrenees

We had a long transfer day from Provence, however we did manage to climb the Col de Espan (spelling).  I found this to be a tough climb, we started from the village immediately below the Col, it took about 3km to warm my legs, once going it is an amazing climb with great views looking back down the valley.We had a long transfer day from Provence, however we did manage to climb the Col de Espan (spelling).  I found this to be a tough climb, we started from the village immediately below the Col, it took about 3km to warm my legs, once going it is an amazing climb with great views looking back down the valley.  One of the more interesting aspects of the climb is that you get a to see where you have climbed from, it is not possible to see the road above but looking down you can see the road snaking through the trees.  When we got to the top it was cold and raining, Patrick, Alan and I descended the other side, we waited for a the others in a very nice restaurant with a wood stove. Patrick and I completed the ride to the hotel in pouring rain, cold but fun.

July 12th - Gorges Nesque

July 12

Late start with a drive to Sault with a very nice ride down Gorges Nesque. The ride to the gorge goes through the lavender and wheat fields  very picturesque with the contrast between the purple and the yellow gold.  Ended up the day in Bedoin, with lunch. Moira and I had a tough decision to make, glass of wine or a ride back to the hotel, sense prevailed and we ordered a bottle of rose.  We had a lazy afternoon back at the hotel with drinks and cheese with the team.

July 11th Mt Ventoux - Twice for Keith!

July 11th

Big climbing day again up Mount Ventoux, Moira, Joe and I set off from Bedoin, the average grade at the start was very manageable, however that did not last long about 3-4km into it the grade went to 9-10% and that was as good as it got for the next 15km, we were in the trees which did offer some respite from the sun, very hot.  Once out of the trees you get a great view of the summit, very daunting. Completed the climb in 2:15.  I caught up with Caroline and Patrick who had accented from Sualt about two turns from the top, great effort all round.  We descended to the Chalet Ventoux for lunch.

After lunch Joe and I descended to Sault to attempt a second climb of the day, the road surface was very rough, not the best descent I have made. The lavender fields around Sault are amazing.  It was extremely hot on the climb out of Sault, the gradient a lot more manageable than from Bedoin.  We stopped at the Chalet for water and supplies, I took off about 20min ahead of Joe to complete the last 6km he finally caught me with 50m to go, just like the real thing.  Completed the climb in 2:08, legs were cooked.

July 9th Glandon, Croix de Fer & Telegraph

Drove down off Alpe D’Huez with Joe T, Moira and Patrick.  The plan for the day was to ride the Col du Glandon, Croix de Fer, the Telegraph and finish off with the Col du Galibier.  Riding with Patrick we took a wrong turn before the Glandon and rode the Col de la Patrick, very scenic, it was very steep, double digits in a number of places, great views across the valley to a waterfall on the other side.   Joe finally caught us about 1:30 into the climb, we had to turn around, the decent was amazing, very fast with a  good surface..

Patrick and I managed to get ourselves back on course and started up the Col du Glandon which is a long climb with a few down hills which only meant that we had to climb back out again, at one point three quarters of the way up we crossed over to the other side of the river and faced an 18% climb for about 200m , this was the toughest part of the climb.  Took photos at the Col and headed on about 2.5k to the top of Croix de le Croix Fer

Had lunch at the restaurant at the top, omelets all round, needed the protein, The rest of the team showed up for lunch  soon after we sat down.  Patrick and I descended the Col de  Croix Fer into Ste jean du Maurian.  The top of the descent was great, Patrick helped me with descending technique, towards the bottom the road got very rough. The ride through the valley floor to the base of the Telegraph was hot and uninteresting.  the climb up the Telegraph was mostly in the trees, there was plenty of shade, met Caroline about 3km to the top, she was looking really good riding with Johnny. Time to the top was  1:14 and Moira was 1:15 Caroline 1:50.  At the top legs were done, total vertical climb for me for the day was 10,177 feet, biggest day I have ever done.  We all descended the 4km into Valoire for drinks.  The Galibier was out of the question had we not made the wrong turn at the bottom of the Glandon we might have had a chance to do it.  Joe T left us and ascended the Galibier, we did it the easy way with Johnny at the wheel.  Caught Joe at the other side in a torrential down pour.  Back home via Alpe D’Huez in the car 

July 8th Alps d'Huez

Bourg d'Osians

Today we arrived in Bourg d'Orsians the town at the bottom of the Alps d'Huez climb - after a great lunch and wander around the town, we took a warm up ride and then launched straight into the climb.

Alps d'Huez is just 14km but 21 switchbacks, in some places the grade was 14%, it was a long tough ride, torturous is maybe a better word.  As always the scenery was spectacular - but as we were huffing and puffing up to over 1800meters we didn't enjoy it as much as we might. Great sense of accomplishment to say we have done this famous climb.

July 7th Col du Madeleine

July 7th - this was our first day - we rode the Col de la Madeleine - about 15 miles, but a gain of 5000 ft it was a long ride!  Beautiful views, waterfalls, quaint villages & cottages really a great day. 

Keith at the top of Madeleine

Milking Time - Movable Cowshed