94.1 miles, 7,038 feet--I haven't checked with everyone else to see what their Garmins read for climbing. I've noticed mine tends to read a little lower than many others.
Here's the little course action to awe and inspire😉:
Biarritz to Bielle (vallee d'Ossau)
Our hotel for two nights at the beginning and the final night, 9/10.
Hotel au bon Coin, Biarritz
The stinkin' Garmin was giving me fits. It froze completely twice--no reaction from the lap button or the start/stop button. Only recourse is to hold in the power button and do a soft reboot. It cycles through and comes back to the save/discard ride screen where you then hit the start/stop button and luckily it picks up where I left off. I learned this all by accident when riding with Bill and Nancy Vanderslice a few weeks ago when the Garmin did the same thing. In addition, I am forced to stop and get off the bike to recalibrate the power meter and I have to stop the navigation function and re-load the course as if starting over. It's really a PITA. Garmin's are glitchy and need to improve--but they've been so long without any significant competition to force their hand. There are a few up-and-comers, with their own limitations. Maybe that will force them to re-think their products completely. Otherwise, as they were talking about yesterday in the group--the most often heard words during rides are "f*%&ing Garmin."
It's a little warm--and far more humid than I'm used to, but it's actually bearable. There were a couple of climbs that, for whatever reason, were very warm, air was very still--I was afraid that the entire remainder of the ride would be the same. It was just in those sections, though. It was still warm afterwards, but it was OK.
I probably started off a little faster than I really should have--but it was feeling so effortless.
It was a great ride though. I cannot, with my limited writing skills, truly do it justice. The roads are fantastic and lightly traveled for the most part. We ride through small towns, each dominated by an oversized cathedral. There are many tree lined stretches of road, like you see in the movies where there are trees lined up along both sides of the road--not sure why they do that, seems odd to have large immovable objects so close to where cars travel at high speeds. But. . . you don't see many roadside memorials, either, so maybe they're more careful than we are in the states. Surely they must have distracted drivers, right? Geez--if we had tree-lined streets in the US like they do here there would be folks barreling into them all the time.
It's pretty like Napa Valley pretty, but without all the people and traffic. The towns are smaller and quieter. Nothing like Calistoga on a Saturday afternoon. Nothing like Silverado Trail. It's very green. There is a lot of livestock around--cattle and sheep mostly.
We came across our first sheep debris field today. When they move the sheep from field to field they use the roads. It's a huge deal here. Here's a photo from 2010 taken in Provence near Mt Ventoux to give you an idea of what I mean:
So all of those little sheep don't wait to go poop when they get to the fields--they poop where they are. So all the little sheep poop (looks like rabbit droppings) ends up on the road and we get to ride through it. It's not bad as long as it hasn't been raining. If it's rained--it gets everywhere. All over your bike, up your back, a little less up the front because the downtube of the bicycle deflects some of it--but not all. You learn very quickly to keep your mouth closed. The bit we rode through today was a short stretch, maybe 50 yards, and it was more-or-less dry (it hadn't been rained on, but it still flies around a bit).
It's weird, too, standing by them as they go by because you can feel all of the heat rising out of the flock.
August appears to be the month of festivals in the Basque region. We saw signs in just about every town announcing the dates, several ending just yesterday. One ran for 5 days ending yesterday. They close the stretch of road that we rode on--which is significant because there aren't a lot of alternate ways around the area. It was funny because there were several cars still parked in the road--not on the shoulder, of just off the road. They were IN THE ROAD, the owners probably sleeping off the festivities somewhere close by. The signs of the party were all over the side of the road and on the road--leftover garbage, not a lot, but enough to know there'd been a lot going on. The garbage bags were still hung along the fences lining the road. I have a feeling they take there festivals pretty seriously.
It was a tough ride, long-ish day. I think I ate enough. Loaded up on everything I could find once we got to the latest hotel (L'Ayguelade--rated No. 1 in Bielle, France, in Trapadvisor). Of course it's the only hotel in Bielle. I like it, the people are nice. The room's nice. Dinner was very good. Some serious thunderstorms going on, lot's of rain (not Houston-like rain, but a good ol' thunderstorm). Should be clear for us by morning.
Short video shot by another rider with me, in my usual spot sucking wheels.
Tomorrow--Col d'Aubisque--a 12 mile climb, did it in 2006, hard climb, hoping I can feel recovered enough to make a good go of it. Feeling a little timid. . . .
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