it started one Sunday morning...Sat nav decided to park me in the car park next to the biggest and loudest bell ever... Since it woke me up at 6...I decided to have a ride up col de Aspin west from St Marie ,the climb was 13 km with the average % of 5.5... I coped quite well ,the views were pretty good and it was a good starter hill... I had some lunch back at the camper and decided to test myself and do the Tourmalet ,this was the highest mountain round this area... this was the grand daddy of the Pyrenees with 18.2 km and not a single km below 6% and the final km 10% followed by the ramp of 13% ... I reached the top but it was far too touristy for me and too many people sharing ache`s and pains ... next day after selecting a nice quite car park...[yes sorry no campsites for me..] and having sausage and chili [out of a can]for me dinner... I got up [with no feeling in my legs]and decided to do Luz Ardidan.. Notice my bike I think ,wait I know it was the heaviest and probably the worst bike to do this challenge but because it was rubbish that was the challenge... It was hard ,the Alp d`heuz of the Pyrenees with 30 hairpins ,the coming down especially with my back brake not working was brilliant.. the views were something else as well.. I still had time for another ride later on and decided to do a ring of about 18km and maybe find another place to park the bus for free camping.. found some lovely scenery and more important a bath... it was freeeezing ...... > but a lovely spot to camp for the evening... I got up next morning to go to a hill called Soulor ,this was only 7km to the top but the gradient was a average of 8% ,it also took 12km of nasty hills to get there... This was one of the hardest rides I have ever done ,even people with lightweight carbon fibre bikes were walking up it ,they gasped as I passed them.. ;D I did think about stopping but my head was saying do it do it... C the 19km of views on the way back made up for my pain... another free camping spot in the book... the next day I decided to rest and watch the tour de france ,I take my hat off to those guys... 8) I did find a nice carpark ,but later on I was joined by other freeloaders... the van was lovely and I treated it with respect.. the best thing about it was the sunroof... a few pictures of the tour.. my free stuff chucked at me ,made excellent gifts when I returned home all in all it was a good holiday ,I spent under 65 euros [excluding petrol]and saw some lovely sights and came away a little bit fitter... O
Crikey you are fit mate ive been round that area quite a lot, a mate of mine used to live in Argeles. south of Lourdes lovely part of the world. im going to Toulouse next week and hoping to catch the Vuelta in Andorra
nothing like a bit of uphill to get the heart lungs and legs working ) .... quite like the idea of doing something similar myself next year .... being 50 and the tour's 100th 8)
Great piccies. Been meaning to get back out on my bike for ages but the weather just hasn't been nice enough. Looks like you don't have that problem.
Going Sunday night...(like waking up somewhere different) Just looking at this post, so I can put a location in the sat nav ... Mrs lef was just asking me questions ,where abouts are you going ,reply dunno ,have you got a route planned? reply ,no ,have you any supplies in the camper,er no... But I have game of thrones 1 to 4 ,beer ,wine and fuel... what more do I need....
It would have been easier to build a straight road than that wiggly one, then it wouldnt take you so long to get up it.
I should have gone a couple of years ago, perhaps a challenge I should set myself for after my hip replacement which is in October, something to aim for next summer. I like the idea of doing it on my mountain bike hard tail ... leave the road bikes for those younger people
Hey Lost in France...absolute total respect!A heavy old flat bar steely,side pull brakes and no Lycra.You are a legend.I have promised myself that one day I will ride those cols.Were you clipped in?There's nothing like riding a steep hill and your legs screaming at you to stop but knowing you won't be able to unclip in time.As Jens used to say..."Legs shut up"
No, just a normal bloke and a cheap bike and trainers ... No stopping for me ,except on the way down ,I feel like I have cheated if I stop... Last time I went a bit unprepared ,now I have brakes...
Monday Morning I woke up to a cloudy morning ... so I thought I would go go up hautacam and see if I could find the sun... There is nothing like been above the clouds... Just me and a few cows at the top... Some very nice pictures on the way down... Decided to have dinner and go to one climb I had missed out last time... Look at the hole in the mountain for the road.. I need a bigger bike... On this climb my bike pedals started clicking... The bearing were buggered ,so packed em with grease... Got back to the van and got a visiteur... Then I got a better offer... Coming down the mountain I overtook this... @rickyrooo1 I saw it again next morning on top of another hill ,the owner said he had no chance racing me down...
Barn find barn find... I missed a turning ,sometimes going up hills I tend to look down instead of crapping myself of what to come uphill...This was on a road to no-where ,just the postie and the owner will probably know it is there ,proper barn find... dinners were sausage,ravioli,and burger de beef... sometimes I can make it pretty This peak was the hardest I had done and I never saw any cyclist going up or down it ,maybe they knew something I did'nt ,but it nearly killed me... On the top I saw this...(french) I had a tick list ...Bit like trainspotting.. splitscreen 0 68-79 bay 1 T25 12 T4/T5 64 in fact I lost count.. Aircooled English one from Manchester.. Another boring view picture... Essential vehicle in the mountains... Don't worry ,I have loads more pictures including 200 of plants and shrubs etc that I found...
I had no plans Wednesday ,I was at the bottom of col de Aspin, so decided to ride to the top to see what is happening... passed a T25 on the way down and this t4/5 then the tour came past ,anyone want to buy a keyring? here's Froome later on I moved to this spot...
Decided to bike up to another top lake.. decided to go rock climbing, so left the bike at the bottom of a steep hill... snow in 38 degree August... It was a spur of the moment thing going up in Trainers ,then someone was on the descent in flip flops... spotted this Because I was near the spanish border decided to take the tunnel...It is only one way traffic so you have to wait 10 minutes..No pay or border control unlike "other " countries.. Dunno what this says... At the supermarket this strange thing was parked... The t25 did well ,6 big hills and Spain and back, I did'nt even look in the noisy cupboard... Till next year ,where I plan to lose another half a stone and get a bike that works...
Hey Lost in France...check out the UK online cycling stores like Wiggle and Ribbles.They usually have good new bike bargains post Tour.As I said previously if you can ride those cols on your old flat bar steelie you will fly up them on a new drop bar bike.I got back into cycling 10 years ago and couldn't believe how comfy new bikes were.You are mechanically minded so have a think about buying the frame group set and wheels separately.That way you get exactly what you want!I took a deep breath....and bought a Pegoretti frame...and got to meet Dario.Superb bike.And of course it has to be Campagnolo.Ribbles are the cheapest for groupsets.
Great stuff. I'm a fan of tours/mountains on an old bike - nothing wrong with a steel frame or flat bars IMO, and old mountain bikes can make good tourers with sensible tyres. That said I prefer sandals to trainers - especially when it rains - and I like old-fashioned toe clips. Get those cranks done up properly tight or they'll round off and keep working loose. In fact, that might be where the clicking was coming from. Magic scenery, and good work.
