It rained a good portion of the night and it continued to rain as we packed up and left in the morning. As we rolled out, the inn-keepers were moving the tables from the center of the atrium and moving the plants in — to water them…..

Apparently the French say ‘it is raining like a cow pissing.’ This morning it was raining like a heard of cows pissing. We delayed riding after breakfast to see if the rain subsided. It did lighten up by 10 AM, so three of us took off in full rain gear. Robin borrowed a ‘cape’ from Terry. It was more of a poncho and it covered the handlebars in the front. While such an article of clothing would be good for a comuter going about 15 kph, it really didn’t work for the type of riding we were doing. Robin ditched the cape after about 10 km..

Due to the rain as we ascended Marie Blanc, I left my camera in the sag vehicle and didn’t take any photos on the ride for the morning. The rain subsided near the top and was just foggy and cloudy for the remainder of the climb. We couldn’t see much at top. The ascent was incredible — 3 – 4 km 11+% gradient, some at 13.5%. Very difficult. The first portion of the climb was rather easy, the last 5 km were the worst.

Dick saw the message on the road: “Hell starts here” when the gradient started at 13%. Unfortunately my French isn’t good enough to translate these messages quickly, especially when I’ve been riding near oxygen debt for 40 minutes, so I didn’t see this message.

The descent turned out to be very easy. The top was wet, but not steep. And of course, the clouds and fog cleared and we rode in mostly sunny skies. There was an incredible plateau halfway down Marie Blanc, very picturesque and filled with farm animals. Where was my camera!?! The rest of descent was easy, as well.

We had lunch at a delightful little cafe in Laruns. The sun was shining and it was relatively warm. The warmest it would be for the entire day. Here’s Laruns on the way out of town towards our next challenge — d’’Aubisque.

The ascent to d’Aubisque was great, and relatively easy. The road gradient was much easier than the ascent over Marie Blanc in the morning, nothing over 8 – 9%. However, it was relatively long. We rode 10km along a valley to the official start of the climb, and then another 16km to the top.

Here’s one of the few positive messages for Lance. I wouldn’t have seen it were it not for the ‘nature break’ I took.

Many of the roads used for the Tour de France are frequented by other cyclists, as well. Consequently, there are many signs informing cyclists of where they are relative to the tops of hills. Here was a common sight. This sign shows the name of the climb, the height at the top of the mountain, altitude at this point (1560m), distance to the top of the mountain (2km) and gradient for the next kilometer (7%). I did see some signs that read 13.5% on the way up Marie Blanc in the morning, but I had left my camera in the sag vehicle….

Note the minimalist barriers at the side of the road. Because of the fog, I couldn’t see over the barriers to what lay beyond. Maybe that was just as well….

Of course, we ran into more herds of goats, just lounging around. At the top of some mountains the goats were rather friendly; these however, pretty much minded their own business.

The top, of course, was shrouded in clouds and fog, and just a bit chilly.

And what was to become a recurring theme, the weather on the descent was rather nice — sunny and warm with some banks of fog rolling through. We descended just a bit (350m) into yet another magnificent valley before the small climb to Col de Soulor.

The descent from Col de Soulor was great. Some of the roads were a bit moist, but we flew as the roads were relatively straight with very few tight switchback corners.

I was almost nailed by cow crossing road just in front of me. Robin and I were taking it easy down the mountain at about 40 kpm; he was just ahead of me about 100m. He flew past a few cows walking along the side of road and one cow decided she wanted to walk on the other side of road. Sooo, she just started across road just as Robin flew by and I missed it by about one foot.

I ended up behind a car that I couldn’t pass. oh, well. We completed the descent on dry roads. I remembered how much fun descending is; we hit 65 kph on the straight sections at the bottom. I think Terry beats us down by 10 minutes or so….

We had another good meal and more than a few beers at Argelès Gazost that evening.

End of day 3. Statistics:

• Start: Lurbe/St Christeau
• End: Argelès Gazost
• Distance: 82 km
• Climbs: Marie Blanc, Col d’Aubisque, Col de Soulor
• Total gain: 2152 m

We woke up to clear skies but some fog on the mountaintops. This is one of the few days it wasn’t raining and cool as we started out. And this would be a good omen as we ascended the highest peak in the trip on this day — Col du Tourmalet at 2115m. We suspected fog would lift by noon, and it did.The first part of the day was through the Georg du Luz. This turned out to be a 3 to 6% gradient for 17 km. Then the climb to the top of Tourmalet – another 17 km. It turned out to be a warm and sunny day; perfect for cycling.

Terry and I rode up together after leaving Dick and Robin. We passed this dude on a hybrid bike with packs on the back. We thought he was local to the region as he was wearing no helmet. We saw him the previous day going up d’Aubisque and then again descending. He was stopped on the side of the road on the descent (of the d’Aubisque) and I slowed to ask him if he was OK (in English) and he said he was fine — in English. On this day he stopped to talk to Dave as Dave was stopped waiting for riders and found out he is actually from Manchester and lives just a few miles from Dick!

For this trip he flew to Toulouse on Wednesday, rode down to roughly the same route we were one and was attempting some of the climbs we were doing. Earlier in the year he had tried to complete the same ten day route we were on but a few of the climbs were closed due to snow. So, he wanted to return to the Pyrenees and complete climbs he missed on his earlier trek. He then had a flight back from Toulouse on Sunday. He wasn’t sure if and/or how he was going to make it back to Toulouse for his evening flight….

He had two flat tires in two days. Dave stopped to help him today and found his tires and tubes were old and worn out. A closer inspection of his bike revealed rather questionable parts quality and dire need of maintenance.
[rant]
For most of us, optimizing time while on cycling trip such as this makes for an enjoyable time. That includes riding a well-maintained rig that can withstand the rigors of the Pyrenees. Spending time fixing bike problems while on a trip like this is an extreme waste of time. $100 of quality parts and maintenance before a trip can save prevent significant headaches and lost time.
[/rant]
With 6 km to go, I start to see Elvis and Terry slowly pulls away from me. With about 5km left, he’s about 100 meters ahead of me and I need to stop. We were well above the tree line. I’m sure glad the weather is sunny and warm as the view is fantastic so I take some photos. I reeeeeally needed something to eat and I had nothing left in my water bottles.

As I’m re-mounting my bike dreading the coming finale up the mountain, Dave pulls up with the van. Whew! I chow down two energy bars and a bottle of water and fill the other with energy drink. By this time Terry is 2 km ahead of me and I try to catch him near the top but to no avail… Dave stops again for photos of us as we near the top. Here’s Terry (which is mostly what I saw when he was pulling away from me….):

And me:

Terry beats me to the top by 6 minutes or so. The last km was 10+% and it hurt. Dave is there with the van and we quickly take photos and then chow down lunch. Dick, Robin and the other English guy arrive a bit later. We take group photos, finish our lunch and start down. The view from whence we rode:

And the group shot. The British dude is second left; Dave was taking this photo so he’s not in this one.

As usual, Terry, Dick, and Robin blow by me on the descent. My hands are numb after 12 km of ‘falling’, so I stop for a minute to recover. I make it to the bottom many minutes after those three and wait for Dave. Dave is 20 minutes behind us. The Engish guy had another flat and Dave assisted him.

Dave and Robin swap support duties and Terry, Dave, and Dick and I ascend d’Aspin. It was a pretty easy climb of 13 km. The first 6 km were relatively easy and the remainder 7 km were 7% gradient or so. I felt muuuch better on this climb than I did on the Tourmalet.

I finish the 13km in 50 minutes, terry is 2 min behind me. Dick is 15 minutes behind us. Dave and Engish gent are 30 minutes behind us. Here’s Terry:

Dave and the British gent sprint for the top:

When everyone has arrived we gather for group pictures and feed the goats. Here’s where we came from, with Tourmalet in the background.

…and where we were headed:

Those bloody goats… The goats at the top of this mountain were some family’s pets as they were very friendly and new exactly where to look for food. Most cyclists carry extra energy bars in their jersey pockets. These bars have nice crinkly wrappers and are rather loud when opened. I strongly suspect those goats have been fed many energy bars in their sorry lives and have learned where cyclists keep the bars. Soooo, I saw more than one goat sneak up on some unsuspecting cyclist and yack an energy bar from the back pocket of the cyclist’s jersey….

Here’re Dave and Dick:

Terry, Dick, Dave, myself, and the British dude (Robin is taking this shot):

The descent was very fast – 5 – 7% gradient. We get caught behind cars and they pull over for us. The hotel was great and included a pool; I think we peaked in accomodations that eve. Dinner included leg du canard.
End of day 4. Statistics:

• Start: Argelès Gazost
• End: Arreau
• Distance: 79 km
• Climbs: Col du Tourmalet, Col d’Aspin
• Total gain: 2342 m

We woke up to, guess what, rain….

Fortunately, it mostly stopped raining on the ascent to Col du Peyresourde. The roads were beautiful — I think they were re-surfaced due to a recent Tour de France stage. The ascent was decent — 17 km of 8 – 9% gradient most of the way. The valley from whence we rode:

It was cold and misty at top, I put my pants on and descended. Robin arrived as I was leaving. Here’re the group at the top. Me:

Robin:

Dave and Dick:

The descent was long and mostly dry. Very easy and fast, I flew. I also stopped a few times to take pictures. Here’s the usual small mountain town dominated by L’église:

A quick lunch at Luchon. It was a rather large town so we had small problems finding everyone. Terry was driving the sag van and was last to arrive. But we found each other in the end.

It was cool but we had lunch at a café outside. We had a four course meal of soup, a salad with tongue, lettuce, tomatoes, rib-eye with scalloped potatoes, and dessert. The meals in recent days had been changing; the portions were larger, the preparation a bit simpler, and the wine with the meals a bit younger and simpler, as well. This meal was no exception to the changes we were experiencing. While definitely not an expert in French cuisine, I would guess that we were definitely ‘in the country’ and experiencing good country cuisine. This was a great meal although a bit large and filling for most of the riders. I was still hungry from the previous day so I finished off Robin’s rib-eye and potatoes.

I start sagging duties in the afternoon. Of course, the rain started, again…. The ascent to Col du Portillon (on Spanish border) was misty and wet. Some sections were very steep — 13+%. Robin’s altimeter registered 17% for some long sections, as well. The map showed 9.5 km to the top of the mountain, which was also the Spanish border. Here’re Robin and Terry getting soaked:

The Spanish border was at top of the mountain. There was no duane, just a sign post. I guess neither country was really worried about invasions of any sort from either country. In fact, the post said nothing about the Spanish border, just the French border. Robin and Terry arrived first, they change clothes and start the descent into Spain:

Dick and Dave arrive just as Terry and Robin start down the mountain. They also change clothes and start the descent into Spain:

The descent was mostly dry but steep into the Spanish valley.

At the bottom, the road was very busy as it was Saturday afternoon and the towns were crowded with shoppers — mostly at the Tabac shops and gas stations. Those items are cheaper in Spain than in France.

The hotel in St. Béat was definitely ‘one star’. Cash only, no telephones in the rooms, communal toilettes and one shower — very spartan. We arrived in town in late afternoon and had some time to kill before dinner was served so we walked around town and tried to visit L’église du St. Béat, but the gate was closed. St. Béat is basically a bend in the river nestled between two mountains:

Here’s L’église du St. Béat during the day…

…and at night:

As we returned from our walk about town, we met a cycling group from the UK. They were stowing their bikes in the garage and removing packs from the bikes. We spoke to them at dinner and found they were doing the same route we were, but in the opposite direction of us. They were self-supported — as in carrying their own bags. We just happened to meet them in the same hotel at exactly the half-way point.

They mentioned they had done a number of these self-supported bike trips in various places of the globe, but primarily ride in western Europe. They’re a bit more adventurous than we, however, as they only book accommodations a day or two before arriving in each town. A bit risky for me, but good for them.

While the hotel was rather primitive, the dinner they served, however, was incredible. I think the restaurant included five from our group, the four from the UK, and one other couple. The presentation was simple, but the food was fabulous. Again, I’m guessing this was good French country cooking. The salad consisted of melon, lettuce, cheese, lots of tongue, walnuts, and mushrooms. Second course was a cheese omelet. Third course consisted of large steaks and fried potatoes and mushrooms. And then, of course, dessert. I definitely wasn’t hungry after that and was fully topped up.

We needed to walk off that large dinner so we headed off in search of some Scotch and beer and found a bar that was showing a football match between Madrid and Celta? Beckham and Renaldo were on the Madrid team. We could only watch the first half as the bar closed at 9:30.

End of day 5. Statistics:

• Start: Arreau
• End: St. Béat
• Distance: 71 km
• Climbs: Col de Peyresourde, Col du Portillon
• Total gain: 1554 m

We experienced another nasty thunderstorm during the evening at St Béat but the clouds cleared out and the morning turned out to be nice and sunny. Chilly, but sunny.We bit our adieu to the other cycling group in the hotel and took off. Since the first climb of the day, Col du Menté, started right outside town, we took a couple of laps around town to warm up. The climb up Col du Menté was good, excellent roads, 9% gradient average. Given the rain we had the previous evening the roads were wet. Fortunately traffic was very light as well so we had no problems in the morning.

Terry, Robin, and I descended to start of Col du Portet d’Aspet. Dick was sagging in the morning, Dave was riding and was about 30 minutes behind us. Near bottom of d’Aspet is a memorial to Fabio Casartelli, a Tour de France racer killed during the descent of a TdF stage in 1995. I missed the memorial completely. AAAAARRRRGGGGHHHH!!! It is a large memorial that also includes a plaque along the stone wall. Robin and Terry were yelling at me to stop and take a photo. I must have been in the zone….. Fortunately Dave and Dick saw it and took some photos.

The climb up d’Aspet was very steep — 489 meters in 4.4km. Since some sections were not so steep, others were downright walls. I had trouble keeping the front wheel on the ground going through some of the switchbacks. Robin clocked some sections at 17%. 26 minutes to the top for me, 27 for Terry, 28 for Robin. More photos at top and then down to Audressein for lunch.

The road gradient on the west side of the mountain was not as steep as the east side (which we had ascended); consequently, the descent was muuuuuch less treacherous than I expected. Dave and Dick were an hour behind Terry, Robin, and me.

We had lunch along the Lez river. A few local kids entertained us with their bike jumping skills. They constructed a small ramp and were jumping mountain bikes over it. The older kid was very good; fortunately none of the younger kids fell…. Here’s Dave enjoying a cool, refreshing bottle of IsoStar:

Robin took sagging duties for afternoon and the rest of us took off to the last climb of the day — Col de la Core. After a full lunch, Terry and I weren’t sure how quickly we would ride, but I stormed off and actually felt good. Rain threatened and the top 5 KM and the top of the mountain were wet, but we had mostly dry roads for the descent.

Terry trails me by 6 minutes to top. Pictures all around and Terry and I took off for bottom. Here’re Terry and me:

Dave n Dick:

The valley from whence we rode:

And our destination:

As we rode through some small towns near our destination, we rolled by a rugby pitch with a match in progress. A hunting dog pealed out after us from the bunch of people watching and ran along side us for a couple of KM. He stopped to take a pee and then caught up. He then stopped to take a drink of water from the ditch and caught back up. By that point, we just decided to let him lead the way; we couldn’t shake him. Then, literally, the dog turned into a doorway stoop of a building and the building just happened to be our hotel. What an escort. Of course, the hotel dog was sleeping in the doorway and I have a sneaking suspicion two just wanted to play… I suspect they play together most of the day.

Dave and Dick were an hour behind. It was a great hotel with not many other guests for the evening. Dinner included leg of duck and lots of bread and wine. We were all hungry as we had three mountain climbs for the day. We had YATDD – yet another thunderstorm during dinner. I think it rained hard (thunderstorms) every evening on the trip up to this point. The power flickered a few times while we were eating dinner.

End of day 6. Statistics:

• Start: St. Béat
• End: Oust
• Distance: 73 km
• Climbs: Col de Menté, Col de Portet d’Aspet, Col de la Core
• Total gain: 2140 m

Cloudy and very cool in morning, fortunately, the sun peaked out after breakfast. The day turned out to be mostly very cool and cloudy; no rain, however. Terry sagged in morning. Robin and I took off for first climb — Col de Latrape. It was a pretty easy climb, mostly 7 – 9% gradient, but some sections were 11%+.There were many, many homes up in the hills here, probably vacation homes as shutters were closed and no autos nearby. They were either summer homes or winter homes, I couldn’t tell. Many of these were very nice. Vacation homes for some sort of community. Here’re samples of valleys we rode through. The second photo below doesn’t show any specific landmarks, but the photo has good color and texture and turns out one of the few moments of sunshine for the day. I just had to include it here:

Robin and I completed the climb, Terry showed up, and so we took pictures all around:

The descent from Col de Latrape was nice and easy, dry roads, only 5km long. We started up Col d’Agnes — 10 km with 8.2% avg gradient. It was rather steep at the bottom, many sections were 12% or better, but it leveled off near top.

A nice quiet road up to Col d’Agnes.

Here’s yet another valley on the way up Col d’Agnes. I can see why there are many vacation homes in this part of France.

Dave took over sagging and arrived at top with the van and took pictures all around. The top of Col d’Agnes was basically a sign marking the top of the mountain and, of course, cows….

Yes, we are definitely in the French countryside. Not even a small café for a quick espresso. Bummer.

A rather large herd of cows walked by as we were taking pictures. I had to wait to descend until the herd made it across the road.

We then had a quick descent to a lake and café. This is actually one of the very few lakes we saw on our trip. Lunch in the café parking lot. The café is in the distance in the photo below.

Terry decided to forgo lunch and took off on his own. Dick and Dave arrived at cafe about 20 minutes after Robin and I. After lunch, Robin, Dick and I took off to Port de Lers. It was an easy 4km ascent. The route was really just along the ridge through a mountain top meadow. The meadow was full of animals – horses, cows, sheep. At Port de Lers, nothing but sign and horses. Pictures all around.

Dick, Robin and I descend. The road was very narrow and somewhat bumpy, and fortunately not very technical. I think cars that met each other would have had to wait for one car to pull through while the other one waited. There were just a few hairpin turns. Most of the steep descent was in deep woods and we flew through the woods on the narrow road. Robin hit his max speed (65 kpm) on the descent. I’m guessing I was close to that.

The descent and final push into Taraçon-sur-Ariège consisted of 12 km of rather steep stuff and then 15 km of 3 – 6% gradient. We passed, and rather quickly at that, a gentleman on a three-wheeled bike. We on cycles didn’t stop but Dave in the van stopped and chatted for a bit. Apparently the gentleman was also doing the Raid Pyreneén, just in the opposite direction as us:

Terry told Dave to meet him in a town at the bottom of steepest portion. But he was not there when we arrived…… Robin and I carried on whilst Dick shed some clothes and deposited them in the van. Robin and I flew down the remainder of the road and wound our way around the destination town and found the hotel with Dave’s help. But where was Terry? He had no map and didn’t know the name of the hotel…. Dick found us about 20 minutes later.

Dave and Robin went out looking for Terry. And found him about an hour later…. We all gathered to berate Terry for not waiting for us in the designated areas (where he told us he was going to be or in the town center, the default meeting point). But after a few beers, the abuse turned rather jovial. In the end we all thought Terry had deserted us and rode to Andora and started a new life….

After a quick nap and walk around town, we all decide that the destination town was basically a retirement community. Our presence lowered the average age significantly. The hotel and restaurant (in hotel) was full of retirees. Unfortunately, it was the only hotel with open rooms for quite some distance. Oh, well.

End of day 7. Statistics:

• Start: Oust
• End: Taraçon-sur-Ariège
• Distance: 72 km
• Climbs: Col de Latrape, Col d’Agnes, Port de Lers
• Total gain: 1698 m

Guess what? We wake up to a light rain, what a surprise… I sag and send the boys off. We get an early start — 9:30. It has taken eight days, but we finally figured out how to not dawdle around so much in the morning. Starting early on this day was actually a good thing as it turns out to be a rather long day. The route is advertised at 86 km, but I it turned out to be a bit longer and a bit hillier. The day’s route also includes the second highest mountain on the trip – a 15 km slog up Port de Pailhères.I buy lunch and gas and also have a difficult time getting out of town. I can’t find the exact road out of town. I mean I have a difficult time getting out of town! It takes me 45 minutes to find right road. Gees! I finally reach Dave and Dick about 11:15 and provide them support. But first, some of the valleys I zoomed through to find the boys:

I need to trudge on to help Robin and Terry. I fly up the moutain and find Robin about 5 km down from first summit (Col de Marmare). I feed him some lunch as I suspect he wouldn’t see the van for the rest of the day. I then fly up the hill to find Terry. I find him at the top of the second hill (Col de Chioula), patiently waiting. He said he had been there 15 minutes. He was flying on his bike. I fed him lunch and he took more food for Robin and waited for him. I then fly back down the hill to find Dave and Dick and I actually find them only about 7 km behind Robin. I stop at the same spot I found Robin on the way up and provide some water.

They trudge up to the top of the Col de Marmare and I feed them lunch there:

The road up Col de Marmare was rather narrow (barely one car width) but the gradient was easy and consistant. Dave and Dick suspect the road was once a narrow gage railroad. Hmm. While it didn’t rain, the roads were wet up the first two climbs. I swap with Dick and I take off about 2 pm. He completes support for the day.

I suspect the other two boys are on their way up Port de Pailhères and will not see the van for the rest of the day. I actually believe I’ll not see the van for the rest of the day. I make to the top of the second hill, have someone take my picture and start descent.

Fortunately the rain holds off for remainder of day. It was an easy descent down to Ascou and then start the trudge up Port de Pailhères. 8.5% avg gradient for 15 km. The first 5 or 6 km were mostly easy — some sections were 2 – 4% gradient. That only meant the top sections were steep. And they were…. The top 8 km or so were 9 – 9.5% advertised but some sections were 12 – 15%. Ouch. Here’s Dave almost to the top:

I made it to the top in the clouds and fog (but no rain). Terry and Robin are long gone so I didn’t see them for the remainder of the day’s ride. The temperature was rather cool at the top. I find someone to take my photo:

As I prepare to descend, Dick shows up and mentioned that Dave was only a few kilometers behind. I start to descend rather than wait as the temperature is rather cool and, because of the fog and humidity, I was getting rather chilled. Here’s Dave at the top:

50 meters over the top I find the other side of the mountain mostly clear and sunny. I try to take some photos in between banks of fog. And, as what has become expected, I find incredible valleys and meadows on the western side of the mountain. This experience has become rather routine on this trip. I wonder if the mountains were formed such that the eastern sides are steep and the western sides are lush and replete with grazing meadows? Or maybe the crew that created the roads on the eastern slopes were morons and built them on the steepest sections of the mountains while the crews that built the trails on the western slopes took the time to find gentler paths…

The descent was dry and the top 8 km was very technical. Lots of writing on road; TdF must have been here this year. The bottom section of the road was rather rough but navigable.

I start trudge up last Col and then down into the little village for hotel. The last ‘mountain’ turned out to be a farmer’s feedlot. Yep, we’re in the French countryside…

The destination town (Escouloubre) was a very sleepy little town. The hotel was really a newly renovated hostel but rather quite nice accommodations. I finally find it and also find Robin and Terry outside drinking beer. They had only been there 15 minutes. So we wait, wait, wait for Dick and Dave. I go down to centre ville to wait for one of them to guide them to hotel. Dick shows up about 6 pm. I show him to hotel and we dump bags and he goes after Dave. They show up about 6:30.

We all agree this was hardest day — 2500 meters of climbing. Some things were not yet completed in the hotel, but it definitely worked for us that evening. We were the only guests that evening, as well. The meal was really‘french country’ – beef noodle soup. pate and meats, boiled potatoes and carrots and roast beef, cheese course, then warm apple tart. Mm, mmm.

Lots of local wine (in jug) was included in the meal. We drained about three jugs and had a good discussion with the owners and their helpers. I believe they produced canned goods — jellies, etc. and were in the process of building a production facility behind the hotel. We finally stagger off to bed.

End of day 8. Statistics:

• Start: Taraçon-sur-Ariège
• End: Escouloubre
• Distance: 86 km
• Climbs: Col de Marmare, Col de Chioula, Port de Pailhères
• Total gain: 2271 m (advertised) but Robin’s altimeter showed 2500 m

We wake up to…. sunny skies! But it is rather cool – 12 deg C. We had another good country breakfast – bread and corn bread. We would need all of the carbohydrates we could stuff as this was the longest planned day of the trip – 113 km.

We enjoyed sunny skies all day. It is amazing how weather affects peoples’ demeanor. While none of us were outwardly ‘crabby’ the previous days while we rode in the rain and fog, everyone was definitely upbeat and downright cheery this day – and even after eight days of riding….

Robin drives sag vehicle in the morning. Since we were reeealy in backwoods, I’m not sure where he would find a shop to purchase lunch supplies. The ride up Col de Jau was nice and easy.

The air and landscape was definitely dryer in this part of the country. I ride with Dick and Dave and Terry takes off on his own. The first challenge of the day is Col de Garavel at 1256m. But since we started at 930m of elevation, this was an easy jaunt.

After this little bump, we enjoy a beautiful ride through the woods and hills. Now this is French countryside at its best.

But we did run into just a small snag – the local utility company was trimming trees near some power lines and we had to walk around them.

To complete the story of the local utility company and their efforts, here’s the local power generation station. It takes water from the little stream racing along the valley (picture above). This little station looked unattended. I’m not sure the capacity of this little station, but maybe it generates enough power for the dozen or so houses in the valley?

We rode past yet another gorgeous country house that serve very nicely as a winter home. There was no vehicle in the drive; if there was, I would have gone to the door and asked them to sell the home to me, right then and there…. “Oh, dear, I’ve purchased our winter vacation home!” Hmm. I don’t think that would go over too well….

We all make it to the top of Col de Jau. Terry first, then the rest of us.

After a short rest and some snacks of energy bars and cashews, we roll over the top and there it is! The Mediterranean! All downhill from here, right? Right…..

We fly a looooong ways down the hill – 30+ km and have lunch at Eus. I think the air temperature increased from 12 deg in the morning to 33 by lunch time at the bottom of the hill. It was toasty. The landscape and architecture and food and everything else really smacked of Mediterranean.

After lunch? Another 65 km and Col du Palomère and Col de Xatard. The day continues very warm and traffic increases as we near civilization. Lots of vineyards, olives and fruit groves. Terry drives sag in the afternoon. The road to Col du Palomère follows a gorge for quite a distance. The mountains and terrain are also a bit harsher in this part of the Pyrenees. The mountains seem to be comprised of a rather hard bedrock which makes roadmaking rather difficult. The roads are narrow, twisting, and the mountain up from the road and down from the miniscule guardrail is rather steep. It doesn’t help that the road surface is rather poor, as well.

Here’s Robin meandering along the trail, er road. I think everyone wore their helmets going up this mountain….

Dave and I run into a young couple from Holland who were camping around the area and were sort of lost. We leapfrog them for 30 km or so. They were in the western Pyrenees a few days earlier and were fed up with the rain and decided to ride the eastern section in hopes of finding better weather. Ya think? Here’re this couple, myself and David (in the background) making it to Col de Palomère.

Finally we descent into Céret. The town is definitely bigger than what it looks like on the map. We have drinks outside the hotel, check in, have a shower, then out for the evening meal. Dinner consists of a big salad and Pailla – family style. This was the best Pailla I’ve ever had (sorry, dear…). We have more wine than we really should and then off to bed, dreaming of sandy beaches and an easy ride into Cerbère.

End of day 9. Statistics:

• Start: Escouloubre
• End: Céret
• Distance: 113 km
• Climbs: Col de Garavel, Col de Jau, Col de Palomère, Col du Xatard, Col de Fourtou
• Total gain: 1820 m

We wake up to bright sunshine and warm temps. We have a quick breakfast in the hotel and then depart at 9:30 – our earliest departure time ever for the trip; we’re finally getting the technique down… Dave sags for day.Everyone is cheery and in good spirits. We get lost only a couple of times as we try to wind our way through the various villages to Cerbère. But hey, this the Mediterranean coast of France; we don’t mind. After some good-natured ribbing thrown Dick’s way, we find our way to the coast and meander our way to Cerbère.

The traffic out of Céret is horrible – just like the first day out of Hendaye. We’re finally out of traffic after 20 km. and into the low hills.

The planned profile says we mostly descend from 300m to 0 with a small climb 80m. Ha! We end up doing 580m of climbing for the day. Since we stay off the main roads and in the low hills we constantly climb and descent, climb and descend. We finally hit the coast after 40 km. and the temperature gets very warm….

The views of the Mediterranean are fantastic, but unfortunately there is lots of traffic. We travel along an ‘N’ road for 20 km to Cerbère. The road goes up and down, up and down…. We meet probably 20 or so cyclists in the last 25 km going in the opposite direction. Maybe they’re starting the Raid Pyreneen and heading west?

Cerbère!

There is not much in Cerbère. I think guide book says the only reason to stop in Cerbère is for the official end of the trip. From the short time we walk around time, I think the five of us also lower the average age of the people by 20 years or so….

We complete the traditional wheel dipping (sort of) into the sea on a rather rocky beach, and the (warm) champagne flows freely.

First, Robin:

Dick:

Terry:

Dave:

Russ:

And the group:

We rest a bit, eat whatever is left in the back of the van for lunch, pack up the bikes and head for the hotel. The hotel is 10 km back up the road from whence we came. No one is really anxious to get back on their bikes after champagne and beer and climbing back over the last hill to the hotel so we load the bikes onto the car and drive back to hotel.

We then have to remove them to store them in the garage. Maybe it would’ve been easier to just ride back….

The advertised length of trip was to be 800 km total, but robin says he road 700 km for his portion; he sagged three times at 40 km each, so total was 820 km. He logged 50,000 ft (15,240m) of climbing, again, for 4/5 of route, so that makes 19,050m of total climbing for the trip. We have dinner in the hotel, classic french cuisine, enjoy lots of beer and wine and lots of reminiscing.

End of day 10. Statistics:

• Start: Céret
• End: Cerbère
• Distance: 54 km
• Climbs: Nothing noted or planned
• Total gain: Advertised -300m – Actual 540m

Ahhhhhh, a rest day. I don’t care what the boys on the TdF think or how their bodies react to a rest day, we all needed to rest…. We all head off to Argelès-Sur-Mer for the Argelès plage. Dick brings his bike to ride back to Banyul as the rest of us plan on driving around for the afternoon. The conversation amounted to discussions of jellyfish and cloud watching.

The beach was huge but not many people. This time of year is the off season, but the weather and Mediterranean are still very warm. Now here’s a bunch of cyclists with their classic cyclists’ tan. We paid good money for that tan!

In the afternoon Dick returns to beach and rest of us drive around and end up in Perpignan. We do some shopping and urban wildlife watching and return to Banyul for local product shopping. We had dinner at different hotel, unfortunately it wasn’t one of the best so I won’t write about it. More drinks, talking, cigars at hotel pool and we get to bed very late.

The next morning we pack up bikes, bid adeiu to sea and drive off to Toulouse. There was a nasty thunderstorm overnight (surprise, surprise), and the temperature in the morning was very cool — 15 deg. This was very different from yesterday’s 30 deg. The drive to Toulouse very, very windy. I can’t imagine trying to drive a mini-van loaded with five guys, their gear and five bicycles on top for 340km back to Toulouse. Thanks Robin and Dave.

We check into the same hotel we stayed at as we prepared for this trip. Interestingly enough the hotel manager was in a very good mood and wanted to know all about our trip. We retrieved the bike boxes and car seats from the storage houses (they’re still there!) and pack up bikes and remove car rack all in two hours. It threatened to rain again! Consequently we were motivated to finish the packing and get back to the relaxing portion of the trip.

We provided “the shelf” an appropriate memorial for its tireless work – before it got dumped into the trash…

After we finished packing and returning the van seats to their upright and locked position we headed off to Carrefour and InterSport for some shopping.

I had hoped to purchase some Campy equipment for the next season of riding (chain, cluster, etc.). But, unfortunately, no Campy chains or cogs, bummer. The clerk said they didn’t stock much high end equipment in the off season. Makes sense. So, we just bought some Isostar and other gifts and headed off to dinner.

The mood and events that evening seemed somewhat anti-climatic. We all felt we should have been celebrating our (con-)quest, but we were all rather worn and ‘knackered’ so we just sort of relaxed, drank (again) too much wine and beer and talked of running off to Andorra…

The next day was air travel day. Robin and Terry had very early flights out, then Dave, then me, and finally Dick. All arrived home safely and no damage to their equipment.

All in all, this was yet another fantastic trip. Other than a loose mounting bolt on Dave’s taillight and my TSA fiasco, we had no mechanical problems – not even a flat tire. We had no personal blowups, not even a dustup. We kidded each other for gaffs, but then bellied up to the bar afterwards for beer and wine.

Next trip? Hmmm. Tuscany was mentioned, Dolomites were mentioned… But we’ll save that story for another year.

End of days 11 and 12. Statistics:

Start: Banyul
End: Toulouse
Distance: 340 km (by van)
Climbs: on and off the van a few times
Total gain: 3m