The climb up Mount Ventoux

What an absolute epic climb.  This is one of the handful of mountain climbs that serious cyclists want to conquer, and believe me, it is worth it.  The Tour de France has featured this climb a number of times since the 1950's (but not this year).  Of note is the memorial to British cyclist Tom Simpson located about 1km from the summit.  Simpson died in 1967 while climbing Ventoux during a stage at the TdF. 

We started our ride in the small village of Malaucene in Provence for a short 10km warm-up ride over to the base of Mt. Ventoux near the village of Bedoin.  The weather at the base of the mountain was perfect - sunshine, 60's, a little wind.  The summit at 1910m was immersed in clouds.  The climb from Bedoin to the summit is about 1620m over 22km with an average gradient of 7.5%.  There are several long sections in excess of 10%.  There is no relief on the way up - just climbing.  Scenery is spectacular -- the lower part of the mountain reminds me of park roads through Ebbetts (CA) or Smugglers (VT).  The top part of the mountain is above the tree-line and has a famous "moon-scape" appearance that you see on TV.  The fastest ascent to the summit from Bedoin is about 56 min by Iban Mayo in a 2004 time trial.  For amateur cyclists, anything in the 2hr range is considered good.  For me, the ascent went smoothly until the last 5km, just past a place named Chalet Reynard.  The weather at the top of the mountain was extreme -- 50 mph wind gust, fog, and rain mist. Feel-like temps (wind chill, etc.) were probably in the 30's.  The wind gusts were so strong and persistent that many cyclists got blown off their bikes, including me.  In an instant I was blown from one side of the road to the other by a nasty wind gust...but no worries, I was able to unclip, brace myself (& bike), re-group, get back on the saddle (no easy feat), and fight the wind to the summit.  While at the summit I heard horror stories of other cyclists not doing as well - several were literally blown off the road.  Anyway, the Biksesyle tour guys arranged for van transport down to Chalet Reynard, followed by a careful descent down the mountain to Bedoin (for lunch) and then back to Malaucene. What an experience. 

On Tuesday (7/22) we had a more relaxed experience by riding about 40km along the Canal du Midi.  The canal was built in the 17th century as a short-cut for boats navigating between the Atlantic ocean and Mediterranean sea.  Next to the canal is tree-lined a bike path that meanders through scenic farmland (see pic below re: sunflower field).

It was a flat ride, and a chance for the flat-landers among the group to show-off a little.  In other words, we hammered that bad-boy all the way to Toulouse where we spent the night. Out in front initially was tour-guide Peter F., followed by Brisbane-based Chris T. who really put the hammer down.  I followed Chris for a decent pull, and then along came Melbourne-based Sophie R. who definitely took it up an notch.  We passed a local rider somewhere near the end, and of course he couldn't let us go by w/o a spirited challenge, so next thing we know he is out in front leading us through the last part of the ride to a stopping point just outside Toulouse.

A shout-out to Glenn M. who hung in there with the front group of riders, and to George H. who had been off the bike for several months due to injury, but choose this ride to test his legs, and did great.

A great day on the bike.