Day 17: The Col du Soulor

39 km, about 1100 metres of ascent. Details.

I do these things for the journey, not for the destination. But were it the other way around, today's destination would still have been worth the effort.

The Cols du Tourmalet and d'Aubisque are still snowbound and therefore closed. After today I'm not sure whether to be sorry or glad about that, because the Col du Soulor, on the way to the Aubisque and from the summit of which these pictures are taken, turns out to be a pretty handy little climb in its own right.

Actually I'm sorry, because it would have been nice to do two of the most iconic climbs of the Tour de France, but there's an abundance of terrific cycling in the vicinity without them, as today's ride up the Soulor shows.

Starting from Argeles-Gazost the total climb is about 19 kms. As soon as you exit the town you're into fairly serious territory with gradients of 7% and 8%, and it isn't long before I'm thinking that 19 km of this is going to be interesting. But after a couple of kms it calms down a bit, and there's a section about half way that is level or, in parts, downhill, so there's a fair bit of respite.

Twelve kilometres in, at Arrens-Marsous, you get onto the col proper. As the sign says, it's seven kilometres from there at an average gradient of 8%. 

Not brutal, but no picnic either. From the 7k mark there's a sign every kilometre chalking off the distance and telling you how much climbing remains. These are helpful, because even when, like me, you're climbing with all the dynamism of a three-toed sloth, they come round quickly enough to keep the spirits high. And the cafes at the top are a further boost to morale - not that much of a boost is needed when you look around you at one of the world's beautiful places.

That 7k back down to Arrens-Marsous makes for a lightning-fast and highly technical descent, which, given that the road is narrow, open to traffic and, here and there, poorly surfaced, I took with extreme circumspection. I'm not sure I'd fancy it much in the wet, I don't have the nerves for that stuff any more; but there was no question of that today, the weather was simply sensational.

Incidentally, this charming little town is built on a hillside so steep that there's a lift installed to take pedestrians from the lower level in the valley up to the main square. No bikes allowed, though, we cyclists have to pedal.

And just in case you haven't had your fill of mountain views, here's the view from the terrace of my hotel this morning. 

Things could be worse.