As we wound up through the trees Nick passed us in his van with a wave and a shout of encouragement. I sat in front of Bob and started spinning a steady metronome beat on my pedals. We crested the summit of the Col d’Aspin in 53 minutes. Nick was surprised to see us so quickly. A short stop at the summit to refill our bottles and we plunged down the other side. The road swept away like a ribbon of silver against the green pastures. This was a superb road, freshly re-laid for the Tour de France and as smooth as silk. I shot ahead of Bob, flying along at more than 60kph before hitting the brakes to get around the hairpin bends.
A long, undulating slog along the valley bottom brought us to the Col de Peyresourde (cafe at the top is pictured above). Shortly before the turnoff we were joined by a French cyclist. He chatted away in fast French while sitting right in my slipstream, getting an easy ride. I told him in French that I didn’t understand and that I was English. So he then spoke slower and louder in French!
At the bottom of the climb he raced off having benefitted from me pulling him along. He quickly built up a lead of several hundred metres. I grunted and snarled at my tired legs, and started to push hard. I wasn’t going to let Johnny Foreigner beat me. I drove on, sweat pouring in rivers down my face and arms. I began to draw him in. Bob asked if I was OK. I told him I was going to make the French man pay! I caught him after 5km, rode up to his wheel, reeled off a stream of English pleasantries and rode passed him with a wave. He hung grimly onto my back wheel, I pushed harder, he hung on. Suddenly he was gone, falling back off our tail like a drowning man attached to a stone.
The top came and went and the descent was stunning, hitting 80kph on smooth roads. It was possibly the best descent so far, certainly the fastest.
From the bottom we had to battle a headwind for more than 30kms but we kept pushing the pace. We went over the tedious but pretty Col des Ares and then the Col de Buret before getting to the Fabio Casartelli memorial, pictured below, at the foot of the Col de Portet d’Aspet. Casartelli died on the descent from this col in 1995. Fresh flowers mark the exact spot where he died. The beautiful memorial has tributes from many cyclists left on it.
This is a really tough climb with gradients hitting 16 per cent. It’s not long, just under 5kms, but boy do you have to work every single metre.
Bob had a good lead. I was really struggling and my gears and legs were not really enough, but I didn’t stop at all. As we got to the last 500m I stood up on the pedals and start a grotesque parody of a sprint. I caught Bob and he reacted, the two of us racing for the line at the summit, lungs heaving, legs like jelly. Bob got it by a nose!
From the top of the d’Aspet it’s a long descent into St Lary. It was here that we met Derek, a friend of Nick’s and a demon cyclist. He’s a veteran of five, yes five, raids. Derek sat in the front and put his head down – he road at 40-45kph all the way to St Girons. I pedalled furiously to stay on his wheel. Bob sat on my back wheel and we powered our way to the hotel. Derek didn’t let up at all. My front wheel occasionally rubbing the side of his back wheel or bumping it only made him ride faster. I’ve never sat on somebody’s wheel like that. As soon as I moved out of his slipstream my speed dropped like a stone. Derek just kept on at the front, and kept saying “take the tow, it’s fine”. So I did.
When we arrived in Massat, our destination for the night, we had averaged 42kph for the last 50kms, after riding 110!
I collapsed off the bike, every single part of me hurting, that is except the important man parts. They seemed to be totally numb.
DAY 3 STATISTICS
Distance 167km
Total Ascent 2900m
Max speed 80.6kph
Avg speed 24kph
Calories 4823
TIMINGS
Col d’Aspin 53 mins
Col de Peyresourde 58 mins
Col de Portet d’Aspet 27 mins
Lovely write up! I did exactly the same cols last year but from the other direction. The Portet d'Aspet is certainly easier that way! The Aspin I thought was one of the most beautiful climbs I've ever done, even though on a roasting afternoon with too much lunch in my stomach I found it incredibly tough.
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to reading about the next few days as they'll be climbs that will be mostly new to me. Best of luck.