Lugging a bike bag with bike, kit and civilian gear is hard work. Especially at 5.30 in the morning. Heading for the Eurostar to join Mark and Mal in Provence for some post Etape riding and to see the pros ride the Ventoux stage of the Tour de France. The landscape through the heart of France is fairly unremarkable - flat farmer's field after flat farmer's field but then, still miles out from Avignon, Mont Ventoux looms on the horizon.
Mormoiron
Our villa for the week is just outside the little town of Mormoiron. Nestled amongst the vineyards of the Cotes du Ventoux it's a very pleasant spot. Time to unpack the bag, build the bike, watch the Tour stage highlights and then off to town for dinner/carb loading. Tomorrow morning we take on Ventoux.
Les Cinglés des Mont Ventoux
It seems I'm skipping the frying pan stage and jumping straight into the fire. My first day on the bike in France and I'm taking on the Giant of Provence - not once, but three times, and hopefully adding my name to those in Le Club des Cinglés (the Mad Club...).
Mark is eager to take this on after his seat post bolt disaster forced him to pull out of the Etape. Mal has 'saddle comfort issues' after his successful Etape. Having done the Quebrantahuesos in June I'm happy with the climb - it's the heat that worries me.
First Assault - Bedoin (21.5km, 7.5%)
We're tackling the route which lies ahead for the Pros on Saturday first. This is regarded as the toughest. We set off just before 8am from Mormoiron, a 10 mile cycle to the town of Bedoin. There are dozen of cyclist in the town - this is a real velo Mecca. We head towards Tourist Information and stamp our Cinglés card - the first of 6 stamps that will show we've completed each ascent. The skies are fairly clear, it's not too windy, the temperature is about 18C. We spin by quite a few cyclists on the way (loads of MTBs as well!) and pass the sign marking the start of the climb. The first 6 kilometres and fairly gradual (c4%) but as the road takes a sharp kink we enter the forest and the gradient increases. Encamped along the side of the road are first wave of fans here to see the Tour. The Dutch are in abundance. Mal and Mark drop the pace a little and soon I'm ploughing a lonely furrow through the forest. I'm a bit underwhelmed by the climb at this stage. It's a hard slog but quite monotonous and without great views - sacrilidge I know! With about 10km to go Mal is suddenly passes me. After a bit on his wheel I decide to shift back to a slower pace. As I reach Chalet Reynard, Mark's also on my tail. We pull in together to see if Mal's around. No sign, so I continue leaving Mark to natter to Team Rapha.
The Moonscape
Chalet Reynard marks the end of the forest. There's 6km to the summit and from here there is no vegetation, just the harsh, grey rockface. From here the views across Provence are magnificent. The weather station that sits at top the mountain also comes in to view - it's like the tower on top of Mordor. The wind really picks up now I'm out of the shelter of the the trees and it gets more forceful as you near the summit. The final hairpin and the finish line is in sight up a steep little ramp directly into the powerful headwind so it's out the saddle for the final push. It's a busy little place with the tourist shop doing a brisk trade. Mal's waiting with a cold coke in hand. Time to admire the view and get the all important stamp on the Cinglés card.
The Descent
A very over used word but the descent is truly AWESOME! The first kilometre or two are a bit gnarly as the wind tugs and heaves you towards the abyss below. There's also quite a few cautious cyclists to negotiate. Soon though it's full throttle, aero position and Mal and I are rocketing downhill at 55+mph. It's 20 minutes of thrills (fortunately no spills) and we arrive in Malaucene.
Second Assault - Malaucene (21km, 7.5%)
After refuelling at a local café and getting our cards stamped at Tourist Information we set off just after 12pm. As we make our way up into the forest the heat is stifling. The views from this route are much more interesting as the Ventoux National Park opens up all around us. This is tough though, it must be about 30C and with about 8km to the top I have to stop. As Mal continues upwards I take my last slug of water, take a few pictures and then plough, slowly onwards. Actually, the gradient seems to ease off just after this point and I'm soon cycling throught the desert again, pleased that the wind offers some respite to the temperature. At the summit it's time to fill up with some ice cold water before the descent to Sault. This is a good descent but we're having to peddle most of the way - the winds in our faces and the gradient on this route is less severe.
Final Assault - Sault (26km, 4.7%)
We refuel in Sault. An ice cream goes down very well. On the final climb as we pass through the lavender fields the wind is well and truly on our side and we're tanking it up Ventoux at 16mph. It's just before 5pm now and the sun is lower but the air is really dry leaving you gasping breath but we're making great progress. When we enter the moonscape, the gradeint ramps up and the wind is truly fierce now. On the final ramp we jump out the saddles and make a kick for the summit. Card stamped, refuelled with water, coke and nougat we make the final descent back into Bedoin. Awesome, awesome, awesome! We arrive into Bedoin just before 7pm or beer o'clock to be more precise. Cinglés done! We both agree there's no need to attempt this again.
Cycling in Provence
The next day I take a deserved rest until the late afternoon. Chris, Loti and I decide to do a pre-BBQ bimbe to the Gorge de la Nesque. What a stunning ride! This has to be one of the world's greatest cycle routes. The road is virtually car less and winds along through the scrub at a pleasant, steady gradient. As we enter the gorge the views are breathtaking. The road carves through the rock face and plummets to the gorge below. At the top we turn round and head back to the villa - a great descent.
On Friday Mal and I take a spin out to Gordes. Another good ride with the picture postcard town of Gordes to enjoy.
The Tour de France
Mark and Sally have headed up Ventoux the evening before in the car. Mal and I are going to take on the giant again but this time we're going to be lumbered with a rucksack full of food, water and warm clothing. We're taking the Bedoin route and the road out to Ventoux is mobbed with cars and cyclists. Mal takes off with about 10km to go but I catch him up with about 2km to the summit. The wind is ferocious. At the summit it's getting quite chaotic as the final prep is made for the Tour. We cycle back down to Mark and Sally's camp spot about 2km from the summit on the second last curve lighten our loads then take off 8km down the hill towards Sault to pick up more provisions from Mark's car. On the cycle back up the police have blockaded the roadwith about 2.5km to go so we duck over the railings, rejoin Mark and Sally and then bed ourselves in. Thank heavens we have brought the sleeping bags - it's freezing!
Le Caravan
It turns out Mark has staked a great spot for seeing the Tour but not quite so good for grabbing the freebies thrown from the Caravan. Pretty much everything that's thrown towards us ends up getting grasped by the wind and scattered down the road. I do manage to get a pen, a keyring and some Festina clappers. A sixty year old lady who was standing next to me made a superman dive to try and get her hands on this! I pipped her to the post! None of us manage to get any Haribo...
The Pros
The excitement is building. Mark has twitter updates on his phone so we know there's a three man break ahead of the yellow jersey group. The motorbike outriders swarm by and then the crowd starts cheering as Garate, Martin and then Pellizoti swing by swiftly followed by the Schleks, Contador and Armstrong. Wiggins then come into view and we shout encouragement for all we're worth. We later find out he's managed to keep 4th by 4 seconds!
Final Descent
Post Tour we cycle back down to the car and unload our kit. Mal and I decide to try and weave our way through the madness on the Sault route. It's crazy for four of five kilometres but soon we're motoring past everyone and everything. It's a stunning descent. At the base of the giant we decide to take the route back to Mormoirson via the Gorge. We do a superb bit of paceline, smoking every cyclists on the route - great fun.
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