Etape du Tour - We got the T-shirt
Posted Monday, July 16, 2007, 5:10 PM by Lonely Planet
After 6 months of training, and 4 days of travel and preparation, the big day finally arrived.
At 7am on Monday, more than 7000 cyclists rolled out of Foix, and headed into the Pyrenees to cross five major mountain passes on the Etape du Tour route to Loudenvielle.
The first 30km was fine, then came the first pass. The Col de Port. Steep.
Then came the second. The Col de Portet d'Aspet. Steeper. Then the third, and the fourth. You guessed it, longer and steeper again. Only the last pass of the day, the Col de Peyresourde, was a minor respite.
All in all, the 200km route included about 100km of uphill, with a total ascent of about 4500m. That was hard enough. But on top of the gradients, the heat was intense. Up to 40 degrees at times. So hot, the tar was melting.
Sometimes when riding a bike gets hard, it feels like the road is sucking the tyres. Today, that's really what was happening.
Sometimes when riding a bike gets hard, it feels like the road is sucking the tyres. Today, that's really what was happening.
But despite these obstacles, we all completed the distance in the allotted time. It was a long day in the mountains, and the roads were as hard as hell, but the scenery was stunning and the camaraderie was magnificent. Well over 1000 people dropped out, so we're all proud of our achievement.
Will we do it again next year? Tonight, as we recover in the bar, it's far too early to say...
Lonely Planet author David Else is in France to take part in L'Etape du Tour - cycling through the Pyrenees on part of the route of the Tour de France. This is the 7th of a series of blog posts.
Labels: cycling, Etape du Tour, Europe, France, Pyrenees
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2 Comments:
Congratulations David!
it is strange i have the urge to cycle now?
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