150 km / 3350 m+ / 3600 m-
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| Happy up a climb! - photo courtesy of PhotoRunning.fr |
Neutral section was a few km to get us out
of town. Starting the first long climb up Col du Soulor (967m altitude gain over 18.5km), the pace slowly picked up. The lead pack got away. I was content
in the 2nd peloton. The pace was quick and it felt good.
My peloton had around 18 riders. We rode thru a
few cute villages. The grade was mostly 7% average. The peloton stayed together on the short descent.
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| On the ridge going thru the mountain! - photo Manu Molle |
Next ascent up the Col d’Aubisque (240m altitude gain over 10km) was short though scenic, especially closer to the top on the
ridge. Last year, we rode in fog with barely 10m visibility. Our peloton
dwindled to a solid group of 9. Good
pace again.
I laughed seeing the sign warning of the
upcoming “Passage Canadien”… i.e. cattle gate crossing.
Long descent. I started without waiting for
all the guys who stopped at the feedzone knowing they would catch up. Many
sharp corners with a few cow-patties to watch out for. As I could now see the
tight turns, I was amazed at the speed we descended last year in the fog.
Around one corner there was a herd of cows
on the road. It took a little maneuvering to figure out which way to go around
the stubborn creatures. I made it safely, then continued down quickly. I flew
solo!
Made it most of the way down before Tom from
Switzerland caught up to me. I was amazed how fast he went and tucked into
his draft. Apparently he had 53x12 gearing.
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| going up Col de Marie-Blanque - photo Manu Molle |
Slowly the
peloton reformed. Together we climbed Col de Marie-Blanque (577m altitude gain
over 11.5km). A few riders stopped at the top to refuel. I continued
on the descent.
With a peloton of 9 forming again, we worked
together under Jon Bula’s helpful instruction on the next 40 km section of
rolling terrain.
Into the start of the 4th climb
Col d’Ahusquy (833m altitude
gain over 14.5km) I hovered at the back of our group.
The grade started with a range of 11% to 15% quite consistently, ouch!
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| Sweat-Laden! - photo Haute Route |
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| 2013 photo of same climb - photo Will Levy (while he was racing!) |
At the feedzone midway, I was happy to stop
and grab a couple orange slices. The next section was flat before the final
steep grade to the top. It boggles the mind to know the climb is considered 5% average grade with so many super steep sections!
The road was rough and narrow, Canadian
bike path-size, with a yellow line painted down the middle for guidance not so
much that a car width actually fit on one side. The landscape was lush green
with hills very close together. Felt like the Pyrenean back-country! A road
that seemed barely used. Cows were free to roam all over.
I continued at a reasonable pace. With a
few kms left, the grade went down to 4% though the wind picked up. The ridge-top
road rolled over green hills to the stop timing mat.
I refilled my water bottle then made the
neutral descent on a super cow crappy bumpy road. Descent was an 11% grade that
required braking due to the narrow road and unexpected bumps. Braking took its
toll on my neck muscles.
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| I saw similar horses though huge herds of them on the road. It would hurt to hit one of them! Photo is of Alain Guimond from Quebec giving a lasso motion - photo Manu Molle |
On-route, I passed another stubborn herd of
cows. Dodged them safely. Around another corner, was a herd of wild horses. I yelled
out to them “hey hey hey”. They all looked up, gathered to one side looking
towards me for direction. Awesome creatures!
Finally made the descent to find Bill Hewlett from UK
and Tom Kaminski from CH kindly waiting for me to join them for the last 11 km timed section.
The others from our small peloton already left.
We waited for more riders to gather. It was
hot waiting in the sun. Finally a huge group of 20 riders arrived. We all flew
into town together.
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| Gael, the amazing osteopath that kept me going! |
Lunch had amazing grilled chicken skewers
which were appealing after the day’s effort. Bummer the grilled veggies were so over-cooked and tough to
differentiate. I put the lunch in a bowl to take away to eat later. I preferred my own recovery foods first.
The village we were in, St Jean Pied du Port, had an old medieval
town with a stone wall and cobblestone streets. It was a very cool place to check out.
My accommodation was 1 km away though seemed longer with the steep hills. I was happy to see we were staying at a vacation facility of condo-like buildings. We had a kitchen again which was great to cook up some real food. No internet available again. Kept so busy each day, it was tough to find a moment to jot down a race update.
My accommodation was 1 km away though seemed longer with the steep hills. I was happy to see we were staying at a vacation facility of condo-like buildings. We had a kitchen again which was great to cook up some real food. No internet available again. Kept so busy each day, it was tough to find a moment to jot down a race update.
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| Excitement with Andrea Nicosia and Paul Hamblett working together. Andrea now has the Leader's jersey and Paul (Triple challenge rider) is in 2nd overall GC - photo courtesy PhotoRunning.fr |
I lost my camera somewhere in the race
village, doh. Bummer, I lost my photos of the old medieval town.
The Lanterne Rouge had a run-in with a pony
in that neutral descent section. The pony darted out at the last minute. Fergus
flew over the pony with the bike landing without harm. Pony whinny-ed and was ok.
Fergus hurt his side and collarbone, though finished. He was a trooper and even
completed Day 7.
All Haute Route POSTS
All Haute Route POSTS
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