France 2011: 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