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Tour de France 2011
  • Dan Bowen

Tour de France 2011

Posted this on blogger years ago, but got fed-up with faffing around with image hosting and decided to repost here on Find-penguins. Read more
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  • Trip start
    July 8, 2011
    Dan BowenTour de France 2011Traveler

    The rendevouz

    July 4, 2011 in England ⋅ ☁️ 23 °C

    Today we get together for our next big tour; a ride from the Bay of Biscay to the Mediterranean, timed to co-inside with the Tour de France. The big ride is book-ended by a cruise-ferry voyage and a trip across France by rail, plus a few shorter rides thrown in to take in the sites.

    This should have been a strait forward case of my riding from Bristol to London per #the plan#. Naturally though, the same focus on my planning that saw me commence my last tour after an all night session putting my touring gear together has caused complications... Things started to unravel on Saturday, when I decided to attend the St. Pauls Carnival in Bristol with my friends rather than prepare my gear. My quick stop into the office to tie up loose ends on Monday morning was also hampered by botched engineering works which saw me arrive (and hence leave) considerably later than planned.

    I ended up leaving my house in North Bristol at about 16:10, a shake down ride to Bath (going very gingerly, to test the balance and handling of my fully loaded and towing bike) took until 18:00 #Bath pic# and decided that it was best to catch a train and get there today.

    In the space of that short ride I managed to accidentally find my way onto an unoffical Cross-country mountain biking course. I also got a tack strait in one of my tyres, which is the cycling equivalent of slipping on a banana peel; it happens in cartoons, but I never thought it would actually happen to me.

    All in all things aren't boding too well, but there is a promise of Shepard pie to keep me going to Epsom.    Read more

  • Dan BowenTour de France 2011Traveler
    We're really excited for Becky, but it was all very emotional; even the cake was in tiers.

    Bye bye London

    July 5, 2011 in England ⋅ 🌧 18 °C

    Today was a day of working in London, followed by meeting up with our Friend Becky who is leaving for a several year long posting to Australia.

    Princi on Wardour Street in London, does brilliant cake and coffee, and is open til late. The staff there were also what I would describe as properly genteel.Read more

  • Dan BowenTour de France 2011Traveler

    Day 0: Le Prologue

    July 7, 2011 in England ⋅ 🌧 16 °C

    Today we set out from Epsom to Portsmouth, from where we embark properly on our journey.

    ...its fair to say it hasn't gone well. One of our number developed a problem with knees. Of the 65 miles from Epsom to Portsmouth, we managed to ride only around 30 of them. For the last few miles the ailing team member had to be towed (as in with a rope, rather than aerodynamically).

    We shan't get into who towed whom, but Chris's bike is the one at the back in the picture.

    We took a train down to Portsmouth, and stayed at a camp site in the adjoining Southsea.

    Tomorrow we work out our next move.    Read more

  • Dan BowenTour de France 2011Traveler
    Sat on a tank at the D-Day museum in Southsea.
    Upon learning of Chris's plan to withdraw from the tour, Pirate-Duck urged Chris to reconsider...Nearly getting blown over.The hover craft leaves for RydeTook a picture for my pirate obsessed friends Mike and Jenn; regrettably this was as we got.

    Portsmouth and le départ

    July 8, 2011 in England ⋅ 🌧 16 °C

    It seems Chris's knees developed a problem due to the weight of his touring bike, so retiring was the right thing to do. He may join me later in the journey by plane.

    When we tried to work out what needed to swap back and forth between bikes, there were only a handful of items that needed to transfer (as I most of the shared gear was on the trailer). It seems odd that I still need almost every thing now that its just me & Duck, but essentially everything is scaled to two people: bigger tent, bigger pots etc, so being as I can't shrink them I'm stuck with the extra weight.

    Being the big, tough touring cyclists that we are... we spent much of the morning skulking in our tent away from the rain, and substantial sea winds. Even so, before we parted ways at the International Port, we did a fair amount of mucking about in Southsea and Portsmouth.

    We visited the D-Day museum in Southsea and had a close look at their tank displays. As we rode along towards Portsmouth, the three-wheel bike articulated over speed bumps in a very satisfying way. The strong winds, and large windage of the touring bikes almost knocked me over a few times.

    We saw the hovercraft to Ryde set off - passenger hovercraft service are a pretty rare thing. Sadly we were ejected from the historic dockyard, which was fun. They had apparently sussed our plan to short cut the ferry crossing by commandeering a ship of the fleet... or possibly they have a no bikes policy.    Read more

  • Dan BowenTour de France 2011Traveler
    Unfortuantly a thick bank of clouds on the horizon deprived me of my desired picture of a sunset.The sea wall protecting the harbor at Bilbao, topped with wind turbines, as seen from my porthole.

    The Voyage'

    Jul 8–9, 2011, Celtic Sea ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C

    Shortly after I bid Chris so-long at the International Ferry port I joined the ship. Having staggered up to my cabin (Deck 8, starboard side towards the bows) with all of my touring gear, save the bike and tent we set off for Spain.

    The scale of the ship warps the perception of speed, the vessel appears to lumber forward, but my GPS reports that we are making headway at around 30mph (very fast for a big ship). Stood out on the deck, near the bow of the ship, the wind is fierce (I was seriously worried it was going to blow my tripod and camera overboard) and I can better apprehend our speed of travel.

    By night fall my GPS showed our position as being in the English Channel, directly south of Exmouth and North of Perros-Guirec in France. The sky had become overcast, which was disappointing as I had hoped for a brilliant star-field, being so far out from shore (and hence light pollution).

    Although the stars weren't out, the lights of other vessels in the busy shipping lane of the English channel could be seen across the horizon. I was woken in the night by one particularly pronounced roll of the ship, but I've fortunately experienced no sea sickness or the like.

    By the time I rose, we had passed Brest and were off Nantes in the Bay-of-Biscay. Around noon I caught my first sight of wild dolphins, playing in the wake of the ship. A guide from the Orca association assured us that we were yet to enter prime Whale and dolphin spotting territory, which begins about 3 hours out from Bilbao, but I saw only a handful more (and none close enough to be properly photographed).

    The rest of the afternoon was occupied with watching for whale and dolphin and reading on the deck (Jules Verne's "Around the World in 80 days") and generally attempting the pretense of being rather more civilized than I consider my self to be.

    I've long been fond of slightly archaic modes of travel, and a day long sea voyage to Spain well into the era of jet travel would certainly seem to count.

    My impression of the cruise-ferry is that it is an elegant mode of travel; it allows a traveler to attain a state of repose beyond the reach of those traveling by air. It certainly suits me down to the ground. Two of my failings when it comes to holidaying are that I hate to wait and I'm not very good at just relaxing. The cruise ferry seems to be a good solution to this problem, as I'm making progress whilst relaxing.

    I've a cabin, there is a cafe', restaurant and bars, amongst other facilities, so the effect is like chilling in a hotel, but I'm actually making headway. The engines produce a gentle thrum. The swell causes a rocking of the ship, barely perceptible whist sat, but quite noticeable when walking the deck.

    The fittings in my cabbin make a quite, slightly forlorn creaking as the ship pitches, which I imagine to be not far off the sounds that the timbers of a sailing schooner, or man-of-war might have made were I making this voyage 200 years ago. Altogether I find it quite therapeutic, as it reminds me that I'm on my journey.

    The sea wall protecting the harbor at Bilbao are topped with wind turbines; they were my first close-up view of Spain seen from the porthole of my cabin on the Cap Finestre as I packed my gear.    Read more

  • Dan BowenTour de France 2011Traveler

    Bilbao

    July 9, 2011 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C

    Once I disembarked from the ship, things got rather more sketchy. Navigating out of Bilbao was difficult to say the least (my electronic mapping pulling the old trick of showing non-existent roads). I believe I made an unintended and (as is always the case when riding a three wheeled bike) all too conspicuous visit to the red-light district.

    On the plus side I did get a few cheers of "Wales" on account of my flag, and a filthy look from a gentleman driving a mini with a St George cross on the roof.

    In the end I wound up taking an inland route rather than the coastal one I had indented. Consequently come 23:00 I had encountered no camp sites, and not wishing to continue in the dark I propped my self up against the bike on a back-road and had a snooze.    Read more

  • Dan BowenTour de France 2011Traveler

    The Biscay Coast

    July 10, 2011 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C

    About 2 in the morning it started to rain a nasty drizzle. I packed away my sleeping bag, as being down-style its ability to insulate is seriously compromised by getting wet. I pulled out my tarpaulin and hid under there until first light at around 06:30. It was also around this point that I found a lot of the water I was carrying was no good, I had forgotten to change it after the ferry crossing and having been treated with SIS powder, it was fermenting.

    Undeterred I got an early start, but even with the rain and the cool morning the effort of hauling my heavy bike up the inclines had me sweating a lot, and I was becoming seriously dehydrated. Early on a Sunday everything was closed, so my food was dwindling too. Needless to say being dehydrated and on the cusp of "the bonk" whilst dragging your touring bike about in the rain is not the most pleasant way to spend a morning.

    I struggled on and was rewarded with my first ever "arrriba!" when passing through a small village. The good feeling was short lived though, as shortly after I sustained my second puncture of the trip. Being aware that it was Sunday, I elected to patch rather than replace; I generally don't trust patches, but its something I really should be able to do.

    Later in the morning I came upon a public stand pipe atop a mountain pass, and began to feel much better for having had a drink. I was even able to keep up a decent speed despite challenging 7 and 8% climbs.

    When I rejoined the coast, I found the road to be high and meandering over some of the head-lands, but after the difficult climb I was rewarded with a very long coast back down to... the coast. I greatly amused the locals strolling along the beach by slipstreaming some Lycra-clad roadies on my fully laden (and towing) touring bike.

    Met a few interesting characters. So far today I've conversed with people from the Netherlands, California, Belgium and (oddly enough) Spain. By noon I had traveled some 80Km, a good morning's riding considering the issues (and gradients).

    A family of American tourists took some pictures of me as I climbed the hill from the village; they seemed to think I was going quite fast. When I stopped at the parking bay where they were, they were kind enough to do one with my camera.

    A young man from California that I met was taking a small plastic Owl around the world, and photographing it in locations, to prove he had been there... ridiculous, has to be a duck.

    The flat coastal road I had planned to use, it had some quite pretty little islands rising out of the sea. As soon as I saw this I started day dreaming about Darnasus, rising out of the sea and other fictional locations. Luckily I was slip streaming the roadies at this point, so just needing to follow the wheel in front it was Ok for my mind to wander a little.

    The riding today was far tougher than I had envisaged, regular 7 and 8% gradients and the weather and supply situation has also been unfavorable. Even so I've covered 140km since Bilbao, nearly half the distance to Lourds, with a civilized 18:45 finish to the days riding and two days in hand to make the remainder of the distance.    Read more

  • Dan BowenTour de France 2011Traveler

    Camping Oliden

    July 11, 2011 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C

    After the first part of my ride was so unexpectedly challenging, I slept in until nearly 10:00, and didn't break camp until 11:00. I woke to my first sight of blue skies since the English channel. Oddly, this had me worried as the heat can be punishing on a trip like this, but given the choice of sun or rain, sun is probably preferred.Read more

  • Dan BowenTour de France 2011Traveler
    The harbor at Saint-Jean-De-Luz.
    The Franco-Spanish border; not even a sign, it's just denoted by the river.An amphibious car!?

    Saint-Jean-De-Luz, Welcome to France.

    July 11, 2011 in France ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C

    So far today I rode up the coast calling at Irun, crossing the Franco-Spanish border at Urrugne, Saint-Jean-De-Luz.

    The Franco-Spanish border; I was quite disappointed that there was so little fan-fare about it. Not even a sign, the border is denoted by the river.Read more

  • Dan BowenTour de France 2011Traveler
    Duck by the Bay-of-Biscay at Biarritz.Norway is a sandwich here.

    Biarritz

    July 11, 2011 in France ⋅ ☁️ 24 °C

    Biarritz is last point where I will touch the Bay-of-Biscay's shore, so is the start of the coast-to-coast challenge portion of my ride.

    The locals have been quite interested in my journey, and I've furnished a lot of questions about my route and, the "extrawheel". On the topic of the extra wheel, its working out really well; I'm not having to wince quite as much each time I hit a bump as would were all the weight on the bike, and in most circumstances the handling is a significant improvement vs having using only the pannier frames of the bike.

    Having stopped for a photo and a drink (I dispensed with the swim, on account of not wishing to leave my bike unattended) I set out for Pau, taking a northerly route via Dax (no prizes for guessing why I picked that as a calling point).    Read more

  • Dan BowenTour de France 2011Traveler
    The camp site was in front of a nice French farm house, but I was more interested in the flowers.

    Camping Bertranborde

    July 11, 2011 in France ⋅ ☁️ 27 °C

    I finished my first day in France at a pleasant, though misleadingly signposted camp site, where I met a nice English couple who were motor cycle touring through Europe. We had actually left Portsmouth on the same day, they had sailed to Le Harve, and travelled south, and hence we had run into each other near Dax (the most northerly point on the cycling portion of my journey). Additionally the lady and I share a birthday, so it is a small world after all.

    All in all I'm glad to be in France (not least because my French is getting almost reasonable, as opposed to my Spanish which is non-existent), but in honesty I'm growing steadily more nervous about the prospect of trying to ride the Tormalet. I'm finding the hills a significant challenge on my extremely heavy touring bike.    Read more

  • Dan BowenTour de France 2011Traveler
    Had a muffin for breakfast in Dax.

    In this country they drive on the...

    July 12, 2011 in France ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C

    When cycling in France it is important to remember the immortal advice of Sir Michael Cane; that 'in this country,they drive on the wrong side of the road'. I've had about three brief lapses in which I have forgotten this so far, and I think I may now be cured of it. I shall say no more.

    Having hopefully learned that lesson on the quiet country roads this morning, I stopped for a light breakfast in Dax.    Read more

  • Dan BowenTour de France 2011Traveler
    Boiling the kettle for some hot food and drink, whilst I sit in the tent out of the rain.

    Chapelle Notre-Dame at Bétharram

    July 12, 2011 in France ⋅ 🌧 18 °C

    The most striking building, and the only thing that pursuaded me to get my camera out in the inclement weather was the Chapelle Notre-Dame. I made camp about an hours further ride, beyond Bétharram where the chapel is located.Read more

  • Dan BowenTour de France 2011Traveler

    Lourdes

    July 13, 2011 in France ⋅ 🌫 18 °C

    Shortly after I pitched my tent last night an almighty thunders storm rolled in. The rain pounded noisily against the fabric of the tent, but fortunately this irritating sound was largely drowned out by the thunder claps.

    Giving due consideration to my dwindling supply of dry clothing I had no recourse but to remain in my tent until the worst of it had passed, which took until late morning. By the time I had broken camp and completed various bits of pre-col maintainance it was early afternoon before I left the camp site, in a nasty drizzle. I completed the remaining 10Km to Lourdes fairly quickly, although I was still plagued by my slow puncture.

    During the rain, a huge number of slugs crawled into my tent, my kit and places I thought impenetrable.

    Spent a few hours looking about Lourdes; it was very beautiful (despite the rain), but it bustled with Tourists in a quite unnatural fashion. Also bikes are not permitted in the grounds of the church there, so I was unable to complete Mark's directive to sprinkle holy-water on it.

    I chatted with an Irish family (possibly an Irish traveller family?) for a while whilst I changed the inner tube in an effort to rid my self of the slow leak in my front tyre. Their seven year-old was very precocious, and asked many insightful questions about my trip so far, gear and plans.    Read more

  • Dan BowenTour de France 2011Traveler

    Slugs, why did it have to be slugs...

    July 13, 2011 in France ⋅ ☁️ 7 °C

    The weather continued to be attrociously stormy as I approached the begining of one of the most iconic climbs in cycling. I was offered accommodation on several occasions, so I must have looked quite beleaguered, but I was none the less determined to make an attempt at the Col-de-Tormalet.

    Plenty of things were going wrong besides the weather too. It was around 17:00 when I finally got rid of the last of the slugs, which had been hiding in my cool bag, eatin' mah fruit. It had rained all day and I had a fresh puncture in the new innertube which I had to stop and attempt to patch a few times.

    I received many cheers, got accosted by a Belgian fellow who insisted I stop for a beer, where I joined fans from Germany, France, Belgium and the Nether-lands for a drink (mine was a coke). I got an "oh lah lah" from a French lady, and a couple of people running along side in the traditional manner (a couple were even kind enough to push me)

    I regrettably decided that the sensible thing to do was to camp some 2Km (by road, approx 150m vertical) from the summit. I had been in sodden riding kit all day and with the sun down and a brisk mountain wind, temperatures were becoming seriously low.

    When I got into the tent (still sodden from the previous night's storm) I decided this had been the right choice. My feet were pruned, pale and had seriously poor circulation from having been in wet socks all day, in other words, well on the way to a case of immersion foot (aka 'trench foot'). I got into my sleeping bag in an attempt to warm up, and after much shivering and raspy breathing I eventually got almost comfortable.    Read more

  • Dan BowenTour de France 2011Traveler
    An a-lama-ing course invasion.
    Welsh rider, Gerait Thomas is second over the TormaletA rider in le tour grasps for news paper to pad his chest for the decent.

    La Tormalet

    July 14, 2011 in France ⋅ ☁️ 9 °C

    When I woke I immediately realized that not making my self eat, before bed had been fool-hardy. I felt fairly rubbish. After tucking into the plentiful supply of food that I had hauled up the mountain with me I felt much improved and eventually felt up to venturing beyond the flap of the tent.

    I was greeted by freezing mist. The visibility up on the mountain varied throughout the day, but for most of the time everything was shrouded. It gave the place a rather ethereal look, but wasn't all that pleasant to stand around in.

    I completed the last 2Km to the summit at a brisk pace, with all but my tent and sleeping gear still on the bike. I even managed a sprint finish, passing several guys on carbon racing bikes in the final 50meters of the col; eliciting cheers from the crowds.

    I parked my bike up and prepared my traditional mess-tin Welsh cakes, during the only spell of sun-shine of the day.

    As usual I've met a variety of interesting people of various nationalities, including one confused young lady who was wearing an Australian flag, waving a German flag and when asked identified her self as being "from Belgium". Most of Norway is here; I have seen hundreds of Norwegians out today, which considering there are only 4 million or so to begin with is saying something. There are about Three-million Welsh people, and I've met 3 all day. I had a conversation with a few of them, but mostly just shouted "wooo Norway" as I swooped by on my bike. The presence of quite so many Norwegians is a little puzzling, as whilst I'm sure Norwegians like a nice bike ride as much as the next person, being as their country is frozen over for much of the year, I didn't expect cycling to be a major pass-time. Also, they possibly don't realise that the French are serving "Norwegian sandwiches".

    By the time the caravan arrived, the freezing mist and poor visibility had returned. https://youtu.be/kqPOLGKZyzA . You can hear from the sound track of the video how windy it is on the mountain, and that mist really is as cold as it looks.

    The tour director and a many times former champion lay flowers at the monument to Jacques Goddet, who directed the Tour from 1936 until 1986.

    Up on the Col I shared a bar of chocolate with a Mechanical engineer from Kent, and we watched most of the stage together. I am reliably informed that I was visible on the coverage of today's stage so I hope someone recorded it! (I'm the guy with the green hat, blue jacket and great big Welsh flag at the top of Col-de-Tormalet).    Read more

  • Dan BowenTour de France 2011Traveler
    A meal of bread, cheese and a tomato minestrone, all dragged up the Tormalet, and back down again.

    Camping L'Oree des Monts

    July 14, 2011 in France ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C

    Unlike previous Tour de France missions, the need to stop and pack my tent after the race meant I got caught in the considerable traffic coming off the mountain. Descending over a vertical Km caused my rims to heat considerably, and great quantities of steam were produced when I sprayed them with water to cool them.

    Some video from my descent of la Tormalet https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-kDzB7Z22h8

    After two days of seriously cold conditions on the mountain I felt the need to get into a camp site where I could be reasonably warm for a while so I stopped at a camp site along the Col-de-Aspin (which preceded the Tormalet in today's stage).

    I had prepared for wet weather, but not continuous wet weather (I've had only one day of sun-shine since I arrived on the continent) and so am running out of dry/warm clothing. I was thinking that this can't really be helped, because I've received exceptionally bad weather for this time of the year.

    This line of reasoning got me thinking about Captain Scott's expedition to the Antarctic; modern research has shown that everything went against him, and that the weather that caused the disastrous end to his exploration was highly exceptional, which does not change in anyway the fact that the weather got them. Fortunately I'm in Southern France and things can't really get that bad, but my point is SOME SUN, PLEASE!!!!    Read more

  • Dan BowenTour de France 2011Traveler
    The duck, my bike and me stood before the Pyrenees
    The duck checks our altitude using the sign; 1,489m above sea level.

    Col de aspin

    July 15, 2011 in France ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

    I spent the morning getting my self cleaned up and sorted out, then headed out in the early afternoon aiming for a good spot on the stage 14 route. The weather had actually become reasonable, with a little sunshine starting to come into the mix.

    Strait away I had to take on the Col-de-Aspin. To make up for my forced pause on the Tormalet I climbed Col-de-Aspin without so much as a dab of my foot on the floor. In the last 100m before the summit some French guy on a carbon racing bike tried to get by me, fortunately I had been pacing my self for a full day's riding, and had a decent sprint left in me. He was not a happy man when I accelerated away and he couldn't catch me.    Read more

  • Dan BowenTour de France 2011Traveler
    Col-de-Aspin (like Tormalet) made it debut on Le Tour in 1910 (and they never let you forget it).

    Voyage dans la Pyrenees

    July 15, 2011 in France ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C

    After descending Col de Aspin, I made for St-Gaudens, start point for the next day's stage. I followed the D929 north out of the pyreneese, until it intercepts D817. The route is lined with small villiages following the line of the valley and is shadowed by a (probably) disused railway.

    Stopped by yet another puncture I got out the massless-rug-of-picnicking, which Chris added to my inventory back in Epsom and used my pocket knife to make some sandwiches at the road side (goats cheese, and chicken with herbes-de-provance).    Read more

  • Dan BowenTour de France 2011Traveler

    Montréjeau

    July 15, 2011 in France ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C

    After the mountains were left behind I picked up the D817 to head east towards. I stopped at Montréjeau to capture a panorama, looking back toward the mountains and to admire the striking clocktower of Saint Jean Baptiste Church.Read more

  • Dan BowenTour de France 2011Traveler

    St-Gaudens

    July 15, 2011 in France ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C

    I made decent time, and arrived at St-Gaudens by 19:00, despite having to stop to attempt to make repairs to my continually puncturing front tyre.

    Shortly after St-Gaudens a van, driven by some English cyclists I had met on the top of Col-de-Aspin, drew along side and informed me that I was making good time.Read more

  • Dan BowenTour de France 2011Traveler
    Key stats for the Col-de-Porta-de-Aspet; the 9.7% average gradient had me worried!Duck sits upon my stove as I prepare some food.

    Col de Portet d'Aspet

    July 15, 2011 in France ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

    I aimed for the Col-de-port-du-Aspet. A mere Cat 2 Col, and but a speed bump compared with the Tormalet at a just 1,100m tall. Even so, though it is a relatively short climb, it has a 9.7% average gradient. I'm told at points the gradient reaches 13% (which seems accurate having done it) which is not good when towing as much weight as I am.

    None the less I finished the climb at around sun set, with the required sprint-finish.

    The usual revelry that goes on a col ahead of the tour de France was getting into full swing by the time I pitched my tent.

    I made a soup using some culinary advice I obtained from Sir Ranulf Fienn's book "mind over matter" in which he and his walking partner cross Antarctica on foot, by which I mean I put some butter in it because apparently that sort of thing is the best way to get calories in.    Read more

  • Dan BowenTour de France 2011Traveler
    Duck!An early break-away pushing for points.

    Le Tour de France - Stage 14

    July 16, 2011 in France ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C

    The morning was spent jockeying for position on the Col, so I didn't have time to prepare the customary mountain top Welsh cakes. Instead I ate up the remainder of my bread and cheese.

    The Swiss outnumbered by Norwegians, Brits, Aussies, Germans, French and Belgians attempt to make up for their deficiency in numbers.

    Even though its the first climb of the stage, a breakawway was already forging ahead to scoop to king of the mountain points for the col, and the sprint points that follow it.

    The tour provided its usual spectacle, and then in the early afternoon I set out for Carcassonne. I had the best part of 140Km to travel, through some not ideal terrain.    Read more

  • Dan BowenTour de France 2011Traveler

    Saint-Girons

    July 16, 2011 in France ⋅ 🌧 25 °C

    After descending the Col-de-port-du-Aspet, I had a fairly hard slog through the undulating foot hills of the Pyrenees on my way to Foix. The going was tough, and I took a break in a cafe' to watch the close of the day's Tour stage, as the riders climbed to the high-altitude finish.

    The head-wind in the lower lying areas of the Pyrenees was punishing, and I had to pedal /down/ any hill shallower than about 3%.    Read more

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