We walked into town to get a slice of terrine, but there were only pates, so Paul picked a duck pate and then we got some bread and a prune flan slice. I can't believe we are having pate for breakfast, but oh well. We went back to the camp site and sat at the bar area as there were quite a few tables there which weren't in use. Quite pleasant. Once we'd finished we packed and finally left at 11 am. It is only 7 K's to the next town, Arreau, which we visited in 1998 after we did the Col d'Aspin. The ride was reasonably pleasant however there was a lot of traffic, so it could have been better. Arreau is a full on tourist town and so we checked out all the junk stores. I got a painted rock which has a polka dot jersey rider going over the Col du Tourmalet and a small house also of the Tourmalet for my train set!
The next point up the valley was only 6.5 K's, Borderes-Louron, but there was nothing there so we just kept on going. 3.5 K's later was the turn off to the road which leads to the road that climbs up to Val Louron. This, and the previous section, were actually a bit steep. However I reminded myself every metre now is a metre we don't have to climb later :) The day is actually lovely and sunny, quite hot when the wind is not blowing. The main road goes over the Col de Peyresourde which we did in 1998, once we turned off it the road was just rolling hills until the base of the climb. However there were no shops along the way, at least that were open, so when we got to the base we decided to see if we would get some food somewhere else. Fortunately a couple of hundred metres away was a pizzeria/shop which was open.
So we stopped for lunch. We decided on a simple three course lunch, naturally, of charcrute, steak and a dessert. Neither of us wanted wine given the climb ahead :) The charcrute was quite nice, raw ham, ham, some sort of sausage like salami and yet another piece of pate, we wouldn't of had any at breakfast if we had known. The steak was lean but a bit too chewy for my liking. Dessert was a crème brulee for me and ice cream for Paul, all washed down with Coke.
Finally we could put it off no longer and it was time to start the Col. Bloated. It was hot, damn hot. I struggled to get going a bit at first, doing about 5 kph, I managed to get into something of a rhythm and lasted for 4 switch backs before I needed to take a break. I opened my jersey about half way down to let in some wind, it made things easier. I was still having troubles at the 6th switch back, and yes they are numbered, so I stopped and opened the jersey fully. Much better. After that I was able to slog away for the remainder of the pass. I remember not long after the 7th switch back I was feeling really good and I looked down and I was only doing 4.5 kph. Oh. I thought I better work a bit harder after that and kept it on 5.5 to 6 for the rest of the climb. The turn off to Val Louron is about 1800 metres from the Col d'Azet and the resort is actually lower than that point, so we had a nice little down hill into the resort. I felt like Andy Schlek coming in with the jersey fully open. Paul, supportive as ever, asked if I rode as fast as him too?
Once there we got our room etc, showered, laundered, did some diary. Our room mate hadn't turned up so we went downstairs to see if there was anyone there that we could talk too. Our contact was Mario who wasn't there yet. We went for a walk then back up to our room for a little while, then down again. We were enjoying the ambience of the moment, although no one to talk to, when Mario came up. Phew, such a relief. Mario explained a bit about the club, how informal it is. I had wondered if there was an information pack, but no there isn't. There are three other international members here, one each from Spain, Switzerland and the UK. So at least there will be one person to talk to! Mario said that the event starts of with a speech and a drink. Hopefully a Kir :)
We went back to the room for a while, then back down in time for the drink. Mario was talking in English to someone else, Gerald, so I immediately introduced us. Gerald has around 600 Cols! Mario 1000!! We all walked around to the picnic tables outside the dining area and they started serving... Kir! Goody. Getting one was just like the card stamping in the 1987 PBP video :) Claude, the president, gave a speech. We couldn't really hear it, but then again it didn't matter since we didn't really understand most of it anyway. He announced each of the international members individually, we got a cheer and some clapping! We then talked to Gerald for a while until dinner was served.
Dinner is served cafeteria style with some stuff self serve and some served for you. Dinner was quite generous and tonight was chicken, mini potato's, pasta with butter, a Garbuie soup, cheese, baguette and Gateau Basque for dessert. There was even a self serve drinks machine that had Rose and Red wine. We sat with Gerald and a Frenchman, Dominic, who is giving Gerald a lift to the start of their route tomorrow. They are both doing VTT, we are on the road, 'le route'. I had expected there to be internet at the resort but there wasn't, so we didn't actually know what the road course was. Fortunately I was able to get the route from Mario. There are no hand outs or flyers it seems. Everyone just brings print outs and their own maps.
After dinner we went back to the room, I started the diary but I didn't finish it, I was just too tired. We met our room mate, Jean Phillipe, he doesn't seem to speak much English. Oh yes, the room is actually two rooms, a kitchen with a sofa and a bed under the sofa that rolls out, and the second room that we are in which is a single and a double. We have to get up early for breakfast and the start, so Paul has set his watch for 6 am, oh no.
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