Ride overview from Relive.cc
Col d'Aubisque was tougher than I remember from 2006. Am I just forgetting? Or is it because I'm older. . . ?
No Garmin crap outs today. A minor miracle.
I used to think I was a pretty good climber. This group of guys is pretty deep. I was feeling somewhat discouraged most of the way up the Aubisque. I did better for much of the rest of the day, but once the road heads upwards for more than, say, 1/4 mile, I'm not able to keep up. Maybe I'm just as fast as I ever was--and they're just faster, simple as that. It took me almost 90 minutes to get to the top--about 10.4 miles and 3,900 feet. Kind of middle-of-the-road. I felt OK, it wasn't too hard and I was alone virtually the entire climb so it was very beautiful.
Today's Friday, our rest day in Collioure on the Mediterranean coast. We've ridden across the Pyrenean foothills in 4 days. Now, starting tomorrow, 8 riding days back (plus another "rest" day). I have been meaning to update with the daily goings on. Day 2 was Tuesday--we got into Mane and it was kind of late, then dinner, then crappy wifi--a pretty common problem so far. I thought it would be easy to make wifi phone calls. It's easy to make the call, but the person I'm calling (my wife!) can't hear me. I can hear her but she can't hear me. It's a bit frustrating. Oh. . . to finish the thought. . . I've simply not had the time or the energy to update every day. Plus as I get writing I get to thinking, "what a bunch of crap, nobody wants to read this." It's difficult to write well.
So. . . here's the day two report. It was hard from the start with Aubisque. I finished well, descended well, aided in the pace lines. It was a good day overall. The group sticks together pretty well on these stages. We'll see how things go when the big climbs start on 9/2.
The Mane hotel was so-so. Old, but most places are. No AC, bad wifi. Poor food--not lousy, just OK and not nearly enough for what we're doing. I end up finishing the rides and downing 2 beers, make a sandwich, snag what I can from the coolers, and then wait for dinner. I have no idea how I'm doing with calories. I have a feeling I'm behind but I have no real way of telling. There are no scales to keep track of weight. I do eat better during the rides thanks to the frequent presence of the support van. Nevertheless, I can tell I'm fatigued or, rather, I can tell that my body's not recovering great since days 1 and 2 my HR was approaching 160 at peak--good for me and a sign I'm going well. The last two days the max has been 136. I'm not quite sure what to do about that. It doesn't bode well for the climbs to come. Not that I won't be able to finish them, or do them, but that everyone will have to wait for me (we tend to re-group at the summits--actually, we've been very good at that and the condition of the group as a whole is very good).
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| Headed towards Laruns and the base of the Aubisque. |
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| Headed up into that. . . . |
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| At the summit of Col d'Aubisque |
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| After cresting the Aubisque, there's a bit of downhill before continuing on to Soulor. This is looking towards Soulor. |
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| On D938 in, or near, Mauvezin-See if the link, below, works: |
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| Uh. . . cows. On the road between Aubisque and Soulor summits |
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| Sheep are out there if you enlarge the photo enough. You can hear their little bells from a long way off. Sheep are cool. Didn't manage to see any flocks crossing the road with their shepherds. Maybe on the way back. |
hotel L'Ayguelade, Bielle, France.
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