Day 28 - Bédoin, 34 miles

Well the weather gods were not on my side today as I awoke to thick cloud and rain covering the top half of Mont Ventoux with no sign of it moving. With only die hards and people here for only one day going up I'll keep my fingers crossed for the morning and some sun.

With a quick bit of research I found a nice ride out towards Sault via a small village called Flassan. The road twisted up through the forest to about 950 metres (about half Mont Ventoux) and with the weather starting to draw in I soon found myself riding in the clouds and rain. With the weather not improving and hopefully a big ride tomorrow I decided to call it a day and descend back down and wow was the descent cold.

As I rolled back into Bedoin I bumped into a group of English club riders I'd met the night before and my decision to not climb Ventoux today was justified. Not sure if I've ever seen a group of fit clearly very good cyclists look so broken both physically and mentally. As they all stood there shivering they described the ride as horrific with freezing rain and gale force head winds once in the clouds. With the same 60kph winds but sun predicted tomorrow it will hopefully at least be a little warmer.Read more