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Tour de France 2011Tour de France 2011
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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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  • TravelerTour de France 2011
    Day 4

    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

  • TravelerTour de France 2011
    Day 5

    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

  • TravelerTour de France 2011
    Day 5

    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

  • TravelerTour de France 2011
    Day 6

    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

  • TravelerTour de France 2011
    Day 6

    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

  • TravelerTour de France 2011
    Day 7

    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

  • TravelerTour de France 2011
    Day 7

    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

  • TravelerTour de France 2011
    Day 8

    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

  • TravelerTour de France 2011
    Day 8

    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

  • TravelerTour de France 2011
    Day 8

    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

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