Tour Trip (Chapter 4)

Tuesday 7/20

Woke up to a beautiful day in southwest France. Had breakfast and the scheduled ride today was either the Tourmalet or the Col du Soulor and the Col Du d'Aubisque. We would ride from the hotel in Lourdes down a bike path for the 10-15 miles to the base of Pyrennes then head whichever route we chose to ride. The tour riders with a rest day the next day, Wednesday, were facing their toughest day in the mountains yet, the 200km Bagneres de Luchon to Pau stage. In this stage they would climb 4 mountains including the beyond category Tourmalet climb from the east side, descend down the west side and finish with a 25km-30km race to the finish in Pau (pronouced Poe). Not sure what everyone had planned but a group of about 35 or so headed out from the hotel and within a relatively short time split into a couple different groups. The group that I latched on to consisted of about 15 or so. One of the riders, a cycling friend and Christian Pastor, Barry McCardy had been on several of the Tour de France trips before and said he planned to ride the Tourmalet. The rest of the group were planning on riding to the base of the Solour, eating lunch then either doing the climb or watching the stage from there. I told Barry that if I did no other climb I wanted to do the Tourmalet, the most storied climb of the Pyrennes. This year was actually the 100th anniversary of the Tourmalet as part of the Tour de France so it added special significance. He told me he would be slow but that I was welcome to join him. We split off from the group at the appropriate point (he had a GPS with the French maps) and proceeded towards the base of the Tourmalet. I am not sure where the actual start of the climb starts but the ride there and to the eventual top was breathtaking in more ways then one. We stopped a small town just up from the base of the climb called Luz St Sauveur, a really neat little town built on the side of the mountain with cobblestone streets buildings that could have dated back to the 1600's. We stopped at a convenience store (sorta) and bought provisions for the day. Later that afternoon the tour riders would descend down this side of the mountain and we were bound to get stuck somewhere in between and needed to make sure we had enough food and water. It was a hot day and even at my best, it would take at least 2hrs or so to reach the top. Shortly after leaving St Sauveur we hooked up with a real friendly guy Dave Hughes from North Wales. He was very talkative and had ridden the east side of the Tourmalet the previous day. He as a strong rider in addition to being a nurse and landscaper in the UK, quite the resume. We talked about pretty much anything and everything and the next thing I know Barry is about 100yds behind us. Barry just recently returned to Atlanta from a seven year stint in Dallas, Texas and admitted that he had let himself get way out of shape. He had pared his weight down and gotten himself in reasonable shape but these are difficult climbs even for seasoned riders in excellent shape. He yelled for us to go on, so we kept on trucking, pedal stroke by pedal stroke. The grades according to the information I have average about 10% for the first third, 8% for the second third and 10% for the last third. The total climb is 19km or just under 12 miles and I can tell you there wasn't even 100yds on the whole climb where it leveled out to allow me to catch my breath. It's just up, up and up. I'm guessing, but about 6k-8k (5miles or so) into the climb there is another small town. Dave and I stopped at a store and he bought some more water, each of us a coke. This would be the last opportunity for water or food until the summit. We knew we were cutting it close because they close the roads about 2hrs before the riders arrive for the publicity caravan to pass through. We might and as it turned out, did get stopped 5k (3.1miles) from the summit. There was no shade except the shade offered by a portable dumpster. When we arrived we were greeted by another guy Marc from Amsterdam. The sides of the roads were pretty full of spectators almost from the start of the climb earlier in the day. There were campers, small RV's and people lining the route pretty much the whole way. Some of these people had been there for a few days and would only see the riders for maybe 20 minutes or so as the whole group would descend. The atmosphere surrounding the Tour de France is a pop festival type atmosphere. It's an amazing logistical accomplishment moving nearly 2400 miles over three weeks with only two rest days. In addition to the riders, you have the publicity caravan, security in the form of motorcycle police before and after the riders, team support vehicles carrying mechanics, additional bikes and the team managers and support personel, Tour de France referees and officials and the press in the form of camera men on motorcycles and of course 3 or 4 helicopters hovering over the whole 190 or so riders. It is quite the spectacle. After the publicity caravan comes through and the initial security and tour officials there is an anticipation that builds the excitement to a fevered pitch. Because the riders were ascending the Tourmalet from the east and then descending down the west slope (where we were), you were constantly looking up at that top of the mountain. The first indication being the sound of the helicopters just on the other side of the summit and then their appearance at the top of the mountain followed by more security, tour officials and press. You could barely make out the cars let alone the riders as they crested the summit and headed down the swithbacks leading to our place on the descent. On this day there was a small breakaway group of about six riders including Lance Armstrong who having been eliminated from contention for the overall tour was trying desperately to win a stage. The Tour de France general classification (overall winner) is almost always won by a strong climber. Although there are points and rewards for the best sprinter (green jersey), king of the mountain (polka dot jersey) and best young rider (under 25) the white jersey, the overall tour winner, the rider with the total lowest elapsed time over all the 21 stages plus the prologue wins the general classification and the storied Yellow Jersey. There are many races within the RACE and just to win a stage is a very lucrative and sought after accomplishment. Actually, just to finish the most grueling endurance race in sports is a tremendous accomplishment. This race would eventually wind up with approximately 170 of the almost 200 riders finishing. Most of the 30 or so who did not finish withdrew due to injury, some of them pretty serious. The early stages of this tour witnessed an onslaught of crashes that eliminated some of the favorites after just a few stages. These guys are really tough. Cadell Evans one of the earlier favorites, crashed on the cobblestones of I believe stage 3 with a cracked elbow. Lance Armstrong flatted three different times on the cobbles and was involved in two minor crashes and one major crash when his pedal struck the curb going around a roundabout. He was traveling in excess of 25mph, flew over the handlebars and skidded on his back for 20 or 30 feet. He suffered no broken bones but alot of road rash. He retrieved his bike and finished the stage but along with the other earlier mishaps saw his chances of winning the yellow jersey disappear. In all the TDF's that he had competed in some 13 or 14 he never was really involved in any serious crashes or injuries. His luck would run out in 2010.

The riders would descend past us over about a 20-30 minute period, then the sweep vehicle would mark the end of the procession and we were allowed to resume our climb. Well, looking at the summit from 5k's was very intimidating. Had it not been for Dave and Marc egging me on I may have been inclined to stop and head back down. A lot of climbing comes down to mind over matter. With my heart racing at about 165 beats per minute I'd pedal away. I would have to stop about 3 times during the last 5k to let my heart rate drop. I finally made it to the last swithback and an older french mad sitting in a lawn chair at the side told me that the top was just beyond the next turn and that I was just about there. I stood up out of the saddle and powered my way to the top finishing strongly, actually kind of surprising Dave, Marc and myself. At the summit there is a restaurant on one-side, a gift shop on the other side and a metal sculpture of a cyclist just above the roadway on the side with the Tourmalet summit sign. We hung out at the top for about an hour or maybe a little longer, taking pictures, watching the stage finish on TV from inside the restaurant and having a beer. I would go to the gift shop and purchase the coveted Tourmalet cycling jersey. We exchanged email and phone info then Dave and I headed back to Lourdes descending down the east side. Marc was camped at a campsite off the base of the west side so he headed back down the side we ascended from. The descent was unbelievable, 16k of all out screaming down the mountain passing RV's and cars who probably were probably in lower gears. Dave was pretty impressed by my descending. For whatever reason, I enjoy the exhileration and danger of flying almost silently down a steep grade at 35+ mph for miles on end. A lot of people fear the descents. Yes if you crash, it could be very, very ugly. Just don't crash. Well, from the top of the Tourmalet back to Lourdes was 35miles. It took Dave and I just about 1-1/2hrs to go that distance including about a 10minute stop under a fruit stand awning to get out of a short lived rain shower. Mission accomplished!