(Warning - If cycling stories bore you, please delete now)
Dear Friends
Four days before I planned to cycle up the Col d'Aspin as a birthday treat to myself, I had a minor mishap in training. A cable, under strain, on my multi-gym became detached and I shot backwards, landing heavily on my coccyx. Wednesday 16 September we set off for the Pyrenees, me with a sore bottom and Linda with the massage oils. We checked in to our hotel at Cadeac, close to the river, in the Aure Valley and then drove up to the summit of the Col d'Aspin to see what tomorrow held in store for me. The scenery on the way up was stunning, the bracken and fern were turning a golden-brown colour on the mountainside and small waterfalls tumbled down, sometimes quite close to the road. The air temperature is cooling in the high Pyrenees now and I wondered, should I have bought winter riding gear.
Thursday morning at 9.25am I set off from the hotel in thick fog with Linda close behind in the car and after 3 km arrived at the turning for the Col d'Aspin. One km into the climb and I was in bright sunshine so handed my jacket to my trusty support team. I reached the summit (1,489m/4,885ft above sea-level) in 1 hour 17 mins. 01 secs, covering 16.3 km and climbing 2,300 feet. I had passed Linda many times, parked at the side of the road, taking photographs and checking on my fitness and drinking bottles. She was at the summit to greet me, we took some photographs, had a drink and discussed our next move. I felt in such good shape I decided to descend to the village of Sainte Marie de Campan and have a go at the Col du Tourmalet, the other side to that I had climbed in June. My support team advised against this, suggesting I should be happy with one mountain climb. The descent of 13.4 km took 21 mins 32 secs., reaching speeds of up to 60 kmph. I overtook two camper-vans and Linda only passed me in the last 4 or 5 kms. We had a coffee together in a bar at Sainte Marie and then I started the climb to the top of Le Col du Tourmalet. On three separate occasions, I caught other riders, rode with and then carried on. They were cycling marginally slower than me, but in their defence, they were probably in their late fifties! In turn, I was passed many times by young whiz-kids who appeared, by their speed, to be ridding on the flat. Linda was ever-present, encouraging, photographing and generally looking after me. I reached the summit of Le Col du Tourmalet (2,114m/6,936ft above sea-level) in 1 hour 51mins. 39 secs., covering 17.7 km and climbing 4,300 feet. It was 1.3 km shorter than the other side, but I bettered my June charity ride time by 7 mins. 21 secs. The total day's ride was 47.4 km in 3 hours 30 mins. 12 secs., climbing 6,600 feet. The last 4 km of the Toumalet was very hard going, lactic acid was building up in my thighs and, in hind-sight, Linda was probably right, one mountain at a time is sufficient now I am a little over 50 years of age! But I did it.
Friday morning we awoke to a light dusting of snow on the mountain tops and, surprisingly, no aches and pains. As a very big thank you, the support team was treated to a day's shopping and lunch in Northern Spain.
