I was based in the pretty spa town of Bagneres de Luchon, and immediately on arriving it was clear that pretty much in any direction it was going to be very much uphill....
IMG_20220911_163957 by Verena Zimmer, on FlickrI had decided to hire a bike there, and once more was delighted to find myself being what must be one of the most average people on the planet. I had told the shop my height, and despite the guy being armed with lots of tools and things, I basically just sat on the bike and everything fitted, even the helmet! no adjusting needed, and it did me great all week.
I had three days of riding on my own ahead, conveniently matched by some obvious cols to take in, so I decided to get stuck in straight away, before I had time to think and start doubting myself...
First up on the Monday was Superbagneres, then a ride up the Valle du Lys which was pretty and had a nice little cafe for my first crepe.
IMG_20220912_171501 by Verena Zimmer, on Flickr
IMG_20220912_171422 by Verena Zimmer, on Flickr
IMG_20220912_171527 by Verena Zimmer, on Flickr
IMG_20220912_171230 by Verena Zimmer, on FlickrThen I headed up to the Hospice the France, which I had heard was supposed ot be quite a tough climb as steeper and more changes in gradient.
I stopped at one stage to "take in the view", aka have a bit of a sunbathe in one of the lush meadows, before making it to the top.
IMG_20220912_141759 by Verena Zimmer, on FlickrHad a couple of little scares on the way down, once when I hit some tiny uneven spot and put the brakes on too hard then skidded a bit (woke me up! and I think that was quite useful for the rest of the week). Then when I braked and thought I felt something very hot on my hand, only to find that it was in fact a wasp that had decided (!) to park itself at the base of my thumb (no gloves) and got itself squished when I braked, and me well and truly stung - also a little skid near crash experience (I bought some gloves the next day...)/
Tuesday was rainy, but warm, and thunderstorms forecast, so 'a shorter ride in the morning up to the Col du Portillon, and down the other side into Spain a tiny little bit, just because, and then a walk in the afternoon.
I was starting to learn then that I think it is all about getting a slow, steady, sustainable pace, and that way getting up those hills all in one go, which I was chuffed from Tuesday on in to find myself able to do. I always thought I was more of a cart horse than an Arab....
IMG_20220913_153445 by Verena Zimmer, on FlickrWednesday was also forecast thunderstorms, but turned out to be another gorgeous, hot sunny day, and by now I was starting to get more confident, and the legs were still feeling good. So I went up to the Col de Peyresourde, back down the back road way which was gorgeous, and then back up to the ski place at Les Agudes/ Peyregoude.
IMG_20220914_210718 by Verena Zimmer, on Flickr
IMG_20220914_210606 by Verena Zimmer, on Flickr
IMG_20220914_125246 by Verena Zimmer, on FlickrBack to Luchon for a bit of lunch and fill up my water bottle, then headed back out again and up to the Vallee du Lys again (for the cafe again, this time for a gorgeous tarte au myrtilles (blueberries).
Thursday was a sort of rest day, went for a nice walk and waited for my friend to arrive. It was his apartment I was staying in, he was bringing a car and knows the area well, and had offered to take me over to ride the Tourmalet, which was of course really exciting. We picked the worse of the two remaining days weather wise, as we were also planning a mountain walk, to ride up the Tourmalet. It was cloudy on the way up, but we just about peaked up above the clouds at the top. Great to see so many cyclists there, and quite emotional near the top where all the paintings are on the road, so much cycling history there! The view from the top down the other side:
IMG_20220916_140339 by Verena Zimmer, on Flickr
FB_IMG_1663656339863 by Verena Zimmer, on FlickrSaw quite a few bikepackers on the Tourmalet road, putting us to shame....
The ride down was a bit interesting, as cloud turned into very very very dense fog - basically couldn't see a thing, and just try and follow the white road markings.... nearly ran into a herd of sheep!
Fog turned into proper rain - it was almost like being back home!
Last day was a bit of an epic, absolutely amazing walk up to the Port du Venasque, and on up to the Pic du Sauvegarde, because it was such a perfect day weather wise. Hundreds of photos were taken of course, here's just a couple of my favourites.
FB_IMG_1663655767235 by Verena Zimmer, on Flickr
IMG_20220919_200247 by Verena Zimmer, on Flickr
FB_IMG_1663655851417 by Verena Zimmer, on FlickrDefinitely somewhere I want to go back to, and ride more... and more....
