37 km, about 1400 metres of ascent. Details (I've set this to open in a new window, on the basis this might be more helpful than having to click backwards and forwards, as before. Opinions welcome)
Good grief, but I'm a terrible climber. I'm not built for it at the best of times, at 1.92m and broadish I'm never going to be a great grimpeur even at my racing weight, but carrying an extra 8 or so kilos of fat around just makes it ridiculous. This point was driven home to me today when a whippet-thin Frenchman on a nice Bianchi greeted me cheerily as he danced past me on one of the steep sections going at least twice as fast as I was.
Today was the Hautacam. Not used as often in the TdF as the Tourmalet and the Aubisque, but it has put in a few appearances, notably in 1996 when Bjarne Riis rode away from the opposition here, laughing, to win the Tour and prevent Indurain from collecting six in a row. Of course, we now know that Riis was one of the most enthusiastic dopers of that doped-up decade, they called him "Mr 60%" because epo use had pushed his haematocrit levels so high.
Anyway, I could have used some performance-enhancing assistance today on this brute of a climb.
Thirteen kilometres at an average of 8% is no joke, but it's harder than the bare statistics would lead you to believe, because the gradient isn't consistent, it's going from 13% to 6% and back again, so there's no point at which you can just settle into a nice rhythm and grind it out. Not until the last two kilometres, anyway, which are a relatively benign, and consistent, 7%. So if you fancy trying it, be consoled - most of the hard work is done by the 11km marker.
Similar to yesterday in that one is straight into the climb as soon as one is out of town. The first kilometre is hard, hard enough to put negative thoughts in your head when you think that there are 13 to go, but it does ease off in kms three and four. And as always, one just plugs away at it until one gets there.
And once there, just to add insult to injury one finds that there's another col, the Col de Tramassel, 1.2km further on - and 100m higher. So, being in the vicinity - and discovering that it's the location of the only cafe that is open today - there's really no option but to go for it.
By this point I'm absolutely crawling along, old ladies on zimmer frames could have comfortably outsprinted me to the finish line.
As usual, however, the views are something else.
That little smudge of a town is Argeles-Gazost, where I'm staying.
And in the other direction...
Another potentially lunatic descent, if you wanted to throw caution to the winds, which I most certainly did not. In that I was unlike the guys I encountered who were skateboarding down. Quite extraordinary, in leathers and motorcycling helmets and being followed down by a car filming them, these guys were doing over 40 mph. Fantastically skilful, as they flicked the boards sideways and put a hand down to brake through the bends, and it must have been exhilarating in the extreme. I won't be trying it, though.
There's so much good cycling to be done here, and the weather has been so kind (24C today) that I'm staying here an extra day, until Saturday. Tomorrow, something a little less challenging, I think.
2 comments:
Crumbs - I'm exhausted just reading your account! Sounds gruesome. Really good to be able to attempt some of these famous climbs yourself, in that it will further inform your appreciation and tracking of the TdF and the acievements of the riders.
Yes, it puts it in a bit of perspective. Riding up these beasts is one thing, one can go at one's own pace, but racing up them must be brutal in the extreme. Racing down them is definitely not for me!
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