In Capvern les Bains

Woke early today, bugger. We are in no rush and I still wake up at 7'ish. I lolled until 7.30 then thought I may as well got on with the diary! So I worked on that for an hour or so. After Paul got up we walked into town. There is a lovely path through the forest which we followed for a bit and then used a switchback path to drop down to the Tourist Info office where we checked email for free! We walked up through the town, basically one main street. It is a bit run down, a lot of closed buildings. The town is a thermal town so I would have expected it to be doing better but obviously the thermal business is not so good in France these days. It is Sunday so of course nothing is open :( There was a small shop attached to a bar where we got some food then we went back to a nice chair in the shade that we had seen in the forest where we sat to eat before going back to the hotel to rest.

I worked on the diary most of the day and Paul went outside to read for a while. At lunch we went to a nearby picnic table where we ate baguette and some terrine we bought earlier. Paul attracted a cat and proceeded to get rid of some of our cheese and to earn a new friend. We ate the entire Flute, finished Paul's cheese, along with a tomato and the terrine. A good meal.


Back to the room again for the diary and TV until dinner time. Paul had been quite excited about dinner for some time and we had been debating whether to get a Chateau Mouton Rothschild 1975, a Bordeaux red. It was 190 Euro and we had checked on the internet it was a fair price, especially in a restaurant. In the end we decided against it because we didn't think that they would decant it and also it would really need to be decanted before the meal rather than we when we arrived. A good choice I think. Not to mention the money saved :) Instead we got a Chateau Latour Martillac 1980, also a Bordeaux red. I told Paul he could just drop the Martillac if he wanted to impress people! The waiter came out with the bottle in a special carrier. It generated considerable interest from the other tables. The waiter was actually sweating as he took the cork out, he broke it as he did yesterday but he managed to get it out without getting any cork into the wine. (After all it is 29 years old!) The wine was a lovely brown colour again and what struck me is that the smell reminded me of an aged port. Naturally it had great length. This one was 70 Euro. For the meal we went al a carte and got a duck gizzard salad followed by steak. To be honest I actually think the meal yesterday was better than today's. You just don't know in advance. The wine however was excellent, a fine finish to our rest day!

100 Cols Club Day 4

We got to have a bit of a loll today, we'd decided on breakfast at 7.30. We didn't have too much to eat today either as we get lunch on the mountain before we leave. So after a leisurely meal we went back to the room and packed. There is one rider in the club who has just recently managed to achieve 10,000 Cols. He was there, he saw us packing our touring bike and introduced himself. We chatted a lot about touring and cycling. He's from a Flemish region and speaks English. He's toured in the US as well. After checking us out, i.e. giving back the key, we rode up the Col, again. I managed to keep up with Paul. He dropped me several times but I was able to come back. He claimed he was taking it easy but whenever I was behind him the speed would go up. I sprinted at the top but he didn't compete.

There were tables set up. Drinks and nibbles. We stood around for a while then we got the bikes and rode up the dirt road to the Col just off to the side. Paul raced me this time. He thought I'd given up after I had to stop to let a car through. However I gave a huge charge and was doing almost 30 coming up behind him, he started to sprint and crossed my line, I had to swerve onto the grass, hit some pot holes and stopped. I think he should have been relegated for that!


We took lots of photo's, too many really, of the meeting, the Cols, the montains. We talked to some other people for a while. I gave one of the 100 Col members, Chantal, my email address, she and her husband are coming to Oz, cycling, and are interested in where to go. At 12 they had speeches and presentations. They introduced the entire club staff. Thanked the organisers. They introduced the foreigners. Claude did us last, gave a short speech about my tour, 11 weeks, from where to here. We all got a big cheer and photo's taken of us. There were 5 foreigners, so Australia made up 40 %! They gave out certificates for achievement, 500, 1000, 2000, 3000, 7000 and 10000. Chantal got a 3000! The mature aged gentleman I passed on the first two days who was weaving all over the road, he got a 1000 award!


Next they brought out a huge drum of something, an aperitif, like punch, definitely alcoholic. Then nothing happened for a while so we started to get ready to go, but Mario said that there would be lunch, so we stayed. Lunch was nice, buffet of course, salads, jambon cru, melon, roast, baguette, water, small bottles of red wine. Very nice. I wondered about dessert, and then there it was, the nice apple pie from the other night. Very cold. Finally we had to depart, we said goodbye to Gerald, Mario and Claude. We got a few cheers as we departed on the touring bikes.

It was a great descent. We used the road Claude had come back on the day before as well. After one missed turn we got on to the main highway and rolled down the valley. We went through Arreau for the third time this trip, fourth time ever. Then I stopped because I thought I had a puncture, it turned out to be a broken spoke. So we went back to Arreau, again. We went into the town and Paul went to look for a shop, he asked, and as usual no, none in this town. We talked to some Cent Col members who were riding home and then I had to do the deed and try to true the wheel. Amazingly we did it, Paul knew which way to start the process and then after doing a bit here and there it worked out really well! First time ever.

We resumed our route down the mountain. I led for quite a while to control things while I looked at the wheel. Then when I was happy Paul took a lead, time trial mode again. He said he was taking it easy, 32 kph into a head wind on the flat in a 30 zone through Sarrancolin. Hmmmm. Just after Heche was the turn off for the Col de Coupe. Average 22! I was a bit undecided, so hot and dry, but I felt Ok so why not, one more Col :)


It was a lovely climb, cool in the trees, actually much nicer than riding one the main road had been. After a slow start on the Col I really got going, nice. At the top we took photo's, of course, then there was an unbelievable descent, just so long. Really nice. We then hopped onto another route, D14, and followed a river valley. Yet more descending, tree lined as well. Just lovely. Eventually we needed to get up out of the valley so we turned up the D82. A nice climb, tree covered again, but so long. 6 K's, granny the whole way. I managed to stay around 10 all the way up the climb until the last 500 metres or so. I was actually out of water, and it was really hot, again. My average dropped under 20, bugger. There was no bar in town, so we continued on up the hill to the main road and descended into the town of Capvern. We got a Coke and sculled it immediately. Then it was into the town of Capvern les Bains.

It took us a while to find the hotel Paul had picked, right at the very bottom of the valley that the town, which is a Thermal town, is in. Naturally the hotel was full :( But there is another Logis in the town and they rang and booked us a room there. We should have guessed from the name, Belelvue, it was out of town and up a hill. To be honest though we both had to agree that the view was really good.

It was only 42 Euro, a big room and a great shower, you can stand up in it!!! We showered and then we had to go down for dinner, already 7.30 pm. Everyone else in the hotel was waiting for 7.30 so they could go in for dinner. We had a quick look around the hotel and its grounds. Paul is really impressed, straight out of an Agatha Christie novel. They have a TV room, a dining room, a breakfast terrace, what looks like would have been the smoking room and, amazingly, they even have a bridge room with bridge tables!


For dinner we had already decided on the dearer four course menu, only 22 Euro. We were going to get a carafe of Rose to go with it when I pointed out how cheap some of the wines were. Paul was so excited! He was making plans for a big meal tomorrow. But then I pointed out it's really better to have it today, after all we are hungry tonight! So we did. We got a 1986 Mercurey Burgundy, only 25 Euro. And it was good! Very good. Amazing length, a lovely aged brown colour, really delicious, and only $40 Australian for a 23 year old bottle.

The meal was good to. First off there was an aperitif regional, like Kir but quite strong. Then we had a small trout with an almond and butter sauce, delicious. The main was a lamb steak, not really a chop, with a cassolette, beans and vegies, quite tasty. The lamb was very tender as well. It all went really well with the wine. Then sadly the wine and main were finished and we had a trio of crepes with a chocolate(?) ice cream, a meringue and it all seemed to be drowned in Cognac. A great meal with a great bottle of wine.


Afterwards we went for a short walk around the area, we were both a little bit sloshed. Then we sat on the terrace as it was cooler there. Eventually we went up to the room and did all of our washing, took ages, mine especially. Bed around 11.30, still quite hot.

100 Cols Club Day 3

We got up slightly later today because the ride we are planning is shorter and there is no harm being 10 minutes later to breakfast. After a leisurely breakfast we packed, went down and loaded the bikes. It was quite pleasant out, only a little bit chilly but I put the thermal top on anyway. We then climbed up to the top of Col, this is the first time we have been all the way to the top. I took my time as it is not the main event today. Paul was taking cow photo's again, lots of them. After the obligatory Col photo it was down and it was quite a nice descent, fast in places, 64 kph. We ended up at the high end of St. Lary, which was good.


We rode through the town and with no problems at all onto the Col route. Only 1.7K's of flat so far today! The climb is rather intimidating, you can see it from a long way away. The climb starts with two incredibly long straight sections. It turns out that they are not straight, they wind along the side of the climb so you can't see that far ahead, which is just the way I prefer it. The first half of the climb is difficult, but not too difficult. I came upon Paul and Claude about 4 K's up the climb stopped by the side of the road. There was a nice waterfall there, I think Paul had been there a while. I didn't want to stay long as you just cool down. From there I rode all the way to where the road divides without a stop, about 8 K's. There was a big sign with St. Lary 1700 left or 1900 and 2400 right. Of course we took the right road. St. Lary 1700 is the Pla d'Adet, we wondered if this is famous from the Tour but I think that is the Plateau d'Abet.


The first few K's of the climb from here is switchbacks. And, unfortunately, there is quite a bit of gravel. I knew that the road had some gravel near the top but I thought that meant a K or two, not 8 K's! I stopped for a snack, a mini fruit cake from the lunch pack, after a K or so more. Claude was not too far behind, Paul not too far ahead. Then there was a huge stretch of switchbacks going up the side of the mountain. A couple of K's later Paul stopped for a photo of me, so I thought I'd get one of Claude when I got there.


But he wasn't in sight but I did get several switchbacks all in the one photo. A few hundred metres on Claude came into view so I took another photo. Sometime later the final long straights to the Col came into view. I was going quite well. I expected to get to the top at midday but it might be 11.45 now. I stopped again, the fruit cup this time. The road might actually have deteriorated even more in the last few K's. Just near the top there was a tunnel, pitch black, with cows in it. A car came up just as I was about to go in so I followed it as it had lights. The tunnel was almost flat which was good. Then there was just the final two straights, they were not too long, but quite rough. In no time at all I was at the top at last. I arrived at 11.41, pretty good, 2 hours 41 for 17 K's and 1500 metres. When I got to the top the bike hit some gravel and just stopped! Good enough.

I walked around for a bit to stretch. Then I sat with Paul and ate lunch, all of it, I was very hungry for a change. Lunch today was a demi-baguette, a piece of pork, pasta salad, water. Claude arrived about 15 minutes later, we clapped. He was really gritting his teeth for the last bit. Naturally we then took a bunch of photo's. I even walked over to the other side of the Col, past the cars and ski lifts for a couple of photo.


Another 100 Cols member had arrived earlier, VTT, and told us about another Col, 15 minute of gravel. Neither of us were keen. However he explained it all to Claude who was keen, so, given it was only a short ride, and since we were here we decided to join Claude. It was steep. Very steep. We had to walk sections of it. In a few places we could ride on the grass, in others walking was the only option, 3 kph. Then there was a short, steep descent to the Col itself. Naturally more photo's, then back up the hill and down the other side. It was a bit difficult on the descent because of the rough gravel.


We had a short rest and then it was time to, finally, tackle the 17 K descent back to St. Lary. It was very difficult, hard on the hands with all of the breaking required. At times we were only doing 6 to 8 kph because of the gravel. On a 10 % descent that is quite difficult. I managed to get up to 40 on a couple of the smoother stretches, eases the hands too. Then it got much rougher for a while. Very tiring. Finally we got to the long switchback section and it seemed easier, longer sealed sections. And then the end of the gravel. There is a small town around this spot so we went for a drink. Coke for everyone, I had two crepes, everyone else two boules of ice cream. Then I had tea and the others coffee. We talked with Claude about touring, this trip, places we've been in the past and about PBP. Claude did every PBP from 1979 to 2003! 7 times!!! I wanted to pay for the drinks to thank Claude for all he'd done but he insisted and it is hard to argue when you don't speak French.

Next we got our payback for all the hard work in the morning, a magnificent descent for the the remainder of the Col. 74 kph for me, many times just under 70 as well. The long sections with windy bits are almost straight in parts if you cut the corners so it was wonderful. Just as wonderful was that at the bottom we joined Claude in his car for the trip back up to Val Louron. It was such a relief not having to ride back up the Col :)

It was stinking hot in the valley so it was a lovely to be driven up. Claude went back up a different route to the way we came down. It had very, very narrow roads at the bottom. We almost clipped a building in one spot. We stopped at the top so that Claude could check for a place for the end of the event picnic tomorrow lunch time. There was a regional information sign and it talked about the bells the cows wear. Claude explained that the belts used to hold the cow bells are made of wood, not of leather! Just as we were descending it started to rain, big heavy drops. We had to stop a couple of time because there were lots and lots of cows beside and on the road :)


I was really hungry by dinner time today. It was a good spread tonight, see the photo. Gerald joined us, we talked for ages. No one is in any rush as there are no rides tomorrow. (Although a lot of people are going for one first.) There are going to be fireworks so we went back to the room for a while, then back to see the fireworks. The appointed time came, 9.30, and went. 10 pm came and went.

We waited one more song, the kids from the adjacent tower were all dancing, there were still no fireworks so we left. I went to take a final look down at the valley below, Paul went to the room. Almost immediately the fireworks began. I power walked back for a look. Not bad for such a small group.

100 Cols Club Day 2

Thankfully not quite as difficult today! But again we had magnificent views and stunning descents.

Paul got things going again as he did yesterday. Breakfast was pretty much the same as yesterday, however there was also cereal today, they were on time too. We ate with Claude. He has done 3200 Cols and been in the club 33 years. We then met Claude at 7.50, a few minutes late. He loaded the car and then we were off down the valley. The descents were a bit terrifying at first, after all I haven't been in a car in 6 weeks! It turned out to be another beautiful morning. The clouds were just blowing off the top of the hills as we left. Valle Louron was filled with a light low level cloud.

There were very few cyclists on the Peyresourde, not that much traffic either. We parked right at the bottom of the pass, no problem. Then we went with a small group of cyclists including Claude and Gerald to the centre of town for the start. In the end, aside from us, there were only 8 VTT and 1 Road cyclists there. They all set off at 9.20 up the Col du Portillon. However we went a different way as we are not doing Portillon, we did it in 1998 and see no point in exhausting ourselves on it. I let Paul lead down the valley, then I led back up the valley for most of the way.


The first climb of the day is called the Col d'Artigascou, it started with a great set of switchbacks. The road was really narrow, rock lined to hold it up with a small rock barrier, very pretty. Not too far up the pass was the town of Melle. I was already hoping there might be a bar there as I was thinking about a Coke. Of course what I should have been thinking about was an OPEN bar. Oh well. The town was quite nice, one road wide winding for quite a way up the valley.


After that the climb seemed to get a lot steeper. Not too far along I saw Paul passing someone. It was the mature aged rider from yesterday. He was weaving all over the road and in the end had to walk some of it. I guess it was pretty steep, I was doing 5.5 – 6 most of the time at this point. Some time after that Paul yelled down to me and took a photo, so he was not that far ahead. The roads are actually pretty crappy here, lots of pot holes and rough sections. Then we passed into a pastoral area, i.e. cows, and then the roads got really crappy, almost gravel at times the road was so bad. There were a few spots where there were nice look outs and I stopped at one spot under tree that was a great little picnic area with table. Not long after that we passed through a freebie Col, Col d'Artiheaux. It was a cutting that went from the original valley into a new one, much cooler here, all tree covered. There was a long steep section in the shade and then there was Paul at the top. He said that he actually had no real idea it was the top but there were four other club members there so he knew it was the Col.


We stopped and same as yesterday ate half our lunch. Quite pleasant in the sun and fairly cool at altitude. There were a couple there on a tandem, hard work. We set off again and there was a very short descent, and it was slow too because the road was so bad. We turned off to go to the next Col and this is where the road actually became officially a gravel section. Again it was a good thing Paul has his new tires! The road climbed quite a bit, but it was quite pleasant in the shade if a bit difficult. A group of MTBers went by, I think Paul gave the first one a bit of a fright. Then we had a descent down to ski resort and then a further descent to Col de Mente. Paul let me win :) We took photo's and then Mario yelled out, he was there with 2 others under a tree just finishing lunch. So we joined them at a bar next to the pass for a Coke, and also to get some more water. We got some group photo's too.

Next came the long descent, we did this with the others. I chatted a bit with Mario on the descent. It turns out everyone else started at St. Beat, no one else wanted to do the Portillon either, so the one cyclist we saw at the start may have been all on his own all day. At the bottom Mario and the others turned off to do an extra Col. We didn't want to keep Claude waiting this afternoon (and that's the story I'm sticking with) so we continued on. There was still more descending to be done after that. There were also a couple of climbs, I think one of them was a Col, I'll have to check. Finally we turned on to route for next Col, Col du Buret. It was dead easy, I did 12-13 kph all the way up the Col, lovely. It has been very hot lately and I have been riding with my Audax jersey fully open, it is very cooling. I was saying again to Paul that I am channelling Andy Schlek, after all he too has a white jersey which he opens all the way :)


We stopped for the second half of our lunch at a nice picnic table just after the Col, in the shade. Then there was the last Col of the day, the 8 Km climb of Col des Ares. It was actually quite nice too, after a slow start I maintained a good speed, again 10-13 kph. I got passed just near the top of the Col :( There was a bar/restaurant at the top of the Col so we stopped for a drink, I had a Coke. While we were there the yellow jacket guy from yesterday, who Paul gave the tow to in the afternoon, turned up. When he saw Paul, he was so pleased, a huge smile! Alas for him we were finished so we left. There was a very nice descent which we turned off early in order to do an extra Col that Mario told me about. It was as easy as he said! Paul won the climb of course. We then returned to our descent, very nice, and reached the valley floor. It was hot! We were then on the flat valley road going back up the valley to Luchon. We took turns leading, Paul did the last 7 K's to the finish at 32 kph all the way.

Claude was not there so we left a note and went into Luchon. We had a nice walk, bought an ice cream each and then stopped at a bar for a drink. No Kir for some reason :( After an hour or so we went back to the car, I stretched and then I started to pencil in today's route. Not long after Claude turned up, we packed and then started the long drive back. Claude said that many of the VTT riders started at the top of the Col de Portillon. They organised one car at the top and another one at the bottom.

We dropped our stuff off, washed face and hands, and then had to go immediately to dinner as we were quite late. Dinner tonight is 3 salads, 2 baguettes, fish on rice, cheese, blueberry slice for dessert and some Rose. We have decided to do Col de Portet, 2200 ish tomorrow. Claude said he is doing that and Paul would like to do a 2000 metre climb as we haven't done one yet this trip.

100 Cols Club Day 1

What a difficult day! We had magnificent views and stunning descents, but it was such a long day.

Paul got up at 6 am, just as planned. Ugh. We went to breakfast at 7, we didn't want to miss out, but as it happened the staff weren't there yet. After a couple of minutes we were in. It was a good breakfast, baguette, jam, ham cheese, tea, juice. Very filling. They also gave us a plastic bag with lunch in it. We then went and got the bikes ready, then waited around a bit. No one was meeting or anything. We chatted for a bit, someone set off down the mountain on their own. Based on what Mario had said about the club being rather independent, and given the time, 8.20, we decided to just go too.


The descent was very nice. I stopped for a bit and made a short video. There was a clear view of the Col de Peyresourde which was to be our first climb of the day. It was a bit strange descending without the panniers, you need to be careful because the breaking characteristics are completely different when there are no panniers. We caught the guy who left earlier so we followed him down the rest of the mountain and then through the town of Loudenvielle. It saved us from having to work it out for ourselves :)

We road started to climb so we stopped and took off our Goretex jackets, we didn't want to get too hot. Of course then the road went down again. Oh well. Finally the real climb started. The guy who was ahead stopped to take his jacket off and we passed him and I didn't see him again until the top of the pass. The pass was really nice, and given that we didn't have panniers, relatively easy. I did around 8 kph all the way up the pass! Pretty good for me. I passed a mature aged gentleman who was weaving all over the road, I didn't see him again all day. Nearer the top there are some long straight sections. Paul obviously stopped for a bit because I almost caught him. So on the next long straight I stopped to take a photo but Paul was just a bit too far ahead and went around a corner before I could get him. Oh well. While I was taking the photo I got passed by someone, he was standing up the whole time, for all of the remaining two K's of the climb.


At the top Paul was sitting in a bar, so I went in too. Coffee for him and a port of tea, two cups, for me. The wind was quite cold at the top of the Col so it was nice inside. We told the owner where we were going and that we would be back in the afternoon. Or so we thought!

We set off again for a fabulous descent of the Peyresourde. I have absolutely no recollection of the climb but I certainly the remember the descent from watching it on the Tour. It has a lot of switchbacks at the top and then there are a lot of long straight bits, not at all what I like to go up. There were some good high speed bits too! 62 kph on the descent. There were hundreds of bikes coming up the Col, very nice. I wonder if there is an event on. (Not to mention a lot of cars.)


After 9 glorious K's we turned off. The guy from the morning descent was there taking off his jacket again! He must have passed us while we were having a drink. We took our jackets off too and then followed him. I thought that since I out distanced him on the Peyresourde I could pass him again. Nope! I tried but the first three K's are quite hard, double chevron, 10 %. We were very equally paced, but every K he would just slightly get ahead. In the end I gave up the chase, I didn't want to exhaust my self. The road is quite nice, narrow, windy, lots of trees, small old towns. After about 6 K's I stopped at a bar and had a Coke, very nice, also filled up my water bottle and ate a small cake that was in the lunch bag today. Then back to work. The climb itself was quite pleasant, steep but scenic. A few K's later there were quite a few huge eagles flying around. I tried, fairly unsuccessfully, to get some photo's. I did get a photo where you can just make out a pair of them sitting on rocks.

The final 3 K's of the climb are all fairly visible from the road and I couldn't see Paul anywhere, so I assume he had already finished. 3 K's ahead of me in 16 K's! I wound my way to the top and Paul was sitting by the entrance to a walking track, probably once a road, which we could take to another Col, an optional one today. However I was hungry so we ate half of our lunch sitting in the sun. Very pleasant. Then we rode up the optional pass route which was rough, mainly gravel, with some fragments of road in the middle of it. Two members of the club came down while we were riding up it. There were also lots of walkers on the path, plenty of them eating at a walkers hut about half way along.

At the top we stopped to enjoy the views and take photo's. I hadn't even noticed that there were three club members there, and two of them turned out to be Mario and Claude. They took photo's for us and then we got group photo's of the 5 of us. Last night we had decided to not follow the whole club route, instead once we got to here we would just head back the way we came. However, given the difficulty of the Peyresourde we've decided to just continue with the Club route even though it is further. It seems the sensible option, or so we thought!


The others left, we stayed a bit longer to enjoy the view. Then we descended back down, reasonably fast. Paul was going at a pretty good rate. Amazing what having a set of grave tires allows :) Back to the top of the original Col the others were there including 5 or 6 other Col club members. We took some more photo's, probably to many again. The others warned us of the dangers of the descent that we were about to do. They weren't kidding, the first corner was a doozy. It swung right, and continued to go right, and further right. And, as it turned right the road actually narrowed, quite a bit. There wasn't even a white safety line pained on the side of the road to protect you :) The whole descent had bits like that, steep, very steep, sharp bends. It was actually a magnificent valley that we went into and I have to day that I would really hate to have to ride up it. Also it was long, damn long. So long that after half an hour I wanted it to finish so that I didn't have to ride so far back up the hill later this afternoon. In the end almost 40 minutes of descent in one pass!


We met the others again at the bottom, getting water from a fountain, it was lovely and cool and I refilled both bottles. Mario explained that they are doing a different route to the club route. So we won't be following them. They headed off while we stood and finished off our lunch, then we too continued on. Oh no, further descents. Finally we finished the descent and swung on to the D26, we went past a 2 star town, Saint Bertrand de Comminges. There was a big church on the top of a hill, but we didn't want to do any more climbing. Another thing, we've already done 80 K's and we are so far from home!

We were actually making pretty good time on the flat, around 25. For a while there was another group just ahead, about 40 seconds or so, but we didn't catch them before the hills started again. Just after the 90 K mark we came to St Arroman which where we got water yesterday. They saw us go by and yelled out hello again. We went over the Col again and then onto the valley road. Paul powered us up the valley to Sarrancolin.

There were loads of Cent Col members here, the VTT event started and finished here. We bought 2 cokes each and shared a cake. The guy from this morning went past again. Paul wanted to catch him so we did. He led for a bit then I said “Paul, you should take a turn”. So he did, and he switched into time trial mode again. We were doing 30 kph up the valley! There was a nice tail wind but it was still all I could do to hang on in parts. In Arreau we split off from the other guy, we don't want to do the climb to Val Louron in the sun, so we will go up the valley on the left, Vallee Louron, like we did yesterday.

Paul led again for a while. He dropped me, waited, dropped me again. I needed water and Paul just kept going. Oh well. There is only one shop in the valley and so I needed to get it there and then. In a way it was better because then I could continue up the valley at my own pace. I met Paul at the base of Val Louron, gave him the key so that he can shower as soon as he gets there. Then I drank the second coke I bought earlier. Then it was up the pass, again. It was a much nicer ride today, in the shade, and of course no panniers. I finished at about 6.30 pm, and thankfully Paul had already showered. He'd done the climb in 34 minutes, me 45! And 45 was good for me. The total for the day was 140! Not at all what either of us had expected.

We had dinner with Gerald again tonight. He did 10 Cols in only 42 K's, but it took 10 hours! Dinner tonight was lamb, peas, pasta with butter, baguette, cheese, pumpkin lentil soup, mixed fruits x 2. We asked Mario about tomorrow and he said that there is a group start at 9.15 in Luchon. I put our names up as requiring a lift to the start tomorrow and Claude, the club president, came and offered to take us in his car! That's a relief.

Sarroncolin to Val Louron

I had a lovely lie in today. We agreed not to get up until 9 since there is no point leaving early today as we don't know what time we can get into our hotel room. When we got up it was sunny out so we decided to go and get breakfast first before doing any packing, the better to let yesterday's clothes, which were still damp, to dry.

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.

Gimont to Sarroncolin

Paul woke me as usual just after 7. At least that is aside from when he woke me with his snoring during the night, as usual :) We packed and were ready in no time but there was no one about at the hotel. Breakfast doesn't start until 8.30 and it was only 7.30, so we went into town on our bikes to get bread. Fortunately there was no problem getting any. I had expected everything to be closed but there was a small super market that was open. We went back to the hotel and ate on the balcony of our room. Very pleasant. I then went and paid and we left around 8.30.

We had to follow a yellow road out of town and I was planning to try to get onto a white road that ran along the other side of the river, however there was so little traffic it didn't seem worthwhile. I guess not many people are working on a Monday morning. We then had a lovely ride down the valley. I was tired from yesterday so rather than wearing myself out following Paul I just led all day. We still managed to average almost 20 for the first couple of hours. We stopped at the one star town of Simorre for a snack. After the rest we just continued on down the valley towards Boulogne. The last little section was on a hilly white road, it was very nice, windy, up and down, along the top of the valley with occasional picnic tables along the way. When we got to Boulogne we had our second morning tea, this time we got an eclair, scrummy, and another drink. We also bought a complet petit, it is basically a small loaf of wholemeal bread about the length of a demi-baguette only fatter. Paul is planning to cook the fish soup he bought a few days ago for lunch. He doesn't want to have to carry it up into the mountains :)

The plan was now ride about 8 or 9 K's to the next town, and then because it would be about 12.30, we'd stop somewhere and cook it. However it didn't work out that way. The ride was quite hilly and there was no where decent to stop. After that town the road started to be less hilly and then we got on to a lovely section that just went on and on beside what I guess you would call an aqueduct. It wasn't that wide but it was carrying a huge amount of fast flowing water. The road was obviously climbing very gently and the route was just really nice. We just kept following the aqueduct and in, subjectively, no time at all we were at the end of the current section.


The road we were on joined a wide red road, however it was almost deserted, must be a Monday thing again. We followed it for 3 K's to the town of Pisan where we had lunch at long last, 78 K's and around 1.30 pm. We went to a patisserie and got a slice of quiche, which she heated up, a drink each and a pudding, French Pudding I guess. Then we went back to a picnic area and Paul finally got to cook his soup. We ate the quiche with bread while he was cooking, so half an entree each. Then we had the soup with baguette, we actually put some bread in the soup and Paul added cheese to his as well. Finally we had the pudding. So 1 and 2 half courses!

We left around 2.30 and we just had a few narrow white roads to navigate in order to get to the target town of Heche. There were a lot of towns and many roads but we went quite well. At St. Arroman we stopped at a water fountain for water but it was dry. However a couple of guys came out and talked to us, they knew all about the 100 Col club and Raid Pyreneen. They got us water, tried lifting up our bikes and wished us well. They also informed us that in 500 metres time we would start a 2 K Col!!!! I checked in the guide, they were right! So that makes 25 Cols for me :) Paul beat me up of course, in fact he raced up it. I think it is the first time he really exerted himself today. He said he was looking after his knee.

Not long after that we got to the town of Heche. First thing we checked for was a restaurant, no problem. Second thing was a camp site. Oops. When we eventually found it we discovered that it was 2 K's out of town down a hill. So nope, we aren't staying there. There are quite a few towns up the valley so we decided to just keep riding. It is only 13 K's to Arreau where we have stayed before and that is not so far. Fortunately the next town Sarrancolin had camping and a very nice looking restaurant, so we stayed there. We got there just after 4 pm and with 104 K's, the longest day this tour, so far.


After setting up we walked into town. Paul got very excited again, lots of shops with animal bits hanging up and in tins. However hard as it is to believe I really wasn't in the mood for a camp cooked meal. So Paul had to miss out and we restauranted instead. We first had a nice walk around town, very Pyreneen. There is a 13th century church, of course, for Saint Ebon and there are even some relics of him there, of course. The church actually reeks of age, very solid stone construction, nice.


We eventually ended up at the restaurant, too early though, at 6.30. So we had a drink, I got a Kir and Paul a Belgian white beer. We sat there with those, and some free nuts, for an hour watching highlights of World Cup 2010 qualifiers, then into the restaurant. We both decided to go for the 20 Euro menu. I had Salad Gascogne (duck gizzards again), it was huge, and Paul had ham and charcuterie, also huge. Then we both had the lamb and vegies, and guess what... huge again. All washed down with wholemeal baguette and red wine. For dessert I had an apple tart and Paul a Basque tart. Finally I had a tea, Paul was too stuffed. All in all an excellent meal!