After flight delays and a 2 hour drive I arrived at the hotel to be met by one of my fellow club mates who looked slightly different after being woken by me at 2am! What seemed like no sleep at all was followed by an early wake up and assembly of my bike ready to be on the road by 8.30am.
First day for me was day 3 for the rest of the guys. The col du Tormalet was the monster to be tamed on the first day. At 2115 metres it is the highest mountain pass in the Pyrenees and has been used by the Tour de France more times than any other climb and is steeped in history. At the top is a statue of Octave Lapize who famously accused the Tour organisers of being assassins for making the riders go up this climb.
We arrived at the base of the mountain at a pretty looking coffee shop that was too good to pass by. One of our group, Phil, went up the climb alone while the rest of us restocked our caffeine levels.
Soon after we were off in a haphazard, splintered fashion with me, Richie and someone else making up the last three to depart.
As it turned out Richie and myself were a good match that day and we slowly started reeling in the other Thames Turbo riders who had set off slightly before us.
We basically rode more or less side by side for the next hour and a half or so, motivating each other and providing the banter needed to push yourself up a mountain in 35 degree heat for that long!
As the kilometre signs ticked by the summit came closer until it was only just round the next corner. Suddenly there was a man in the road taking photos, quick change of expression from pained grimace to effortless smile and his card was thrust into my hand.
It was at this point that my body decided it didn't like cycling up mountains and would much prefer just to stop and give up. I told Richie as much and that he should go on alone, I would see him at the top shortly. The heat and altitude along with sleep deprivation hit me all at once and intense headache and sickness overwhelmed me. The last corner looked impassable.
Richie wouldn't have any of it though and told me to just keep turning the pedals and that we were doing it together.
I'm really not sure how long I would have stopped there for without his encouragement but I pushed on and we cycled over the top side by side, as we had started. We were the first Turbos to make it to the top.
What a feeling!! There was the statue of the cyclist I had read about, the incredible views down the other side and about 20 or 30 other cyclists who had conquered the beast that day.
I was elated.
David, our support car driver was there to give us immediate food and water which was a godsend and the height of luxury at that point.
Shortly afterwards another David cycled over the top then a series of Turbos appeared coming over the brow of the mountain, Mark, Nick, Paul, Sean, Chad, they kept coming.
I climbed up to the cyclist monument with a Turbo flag just in time to welcome Jon to the top.
There was a substantial amount of self congratulation within our group although I would say quite appropriate given the situation and not at all un British!
After about an hour we headed down the other side, down the hairpins and through the villiages. An amazing descent.
We broke the descent into three parts and each felt like an eternity of swooping ecstasy.
The rest of the ride home was scenic and lots of chatting and banter. We were all a bit low on food and energy but the adrenaline took us home to the hotel.
The next few days were very similar with the col du Solour, col d'Aubisque, Hautacam and then finally on the last day the col du Tourmalet again with my friend who came out for the last couple of days.
I took the opportunity I'd passed up the first time and bought myself a Tourmalet cycle jersey on the justification that the one I was wearing was cold and wet with sweat!
We also went out to see the Tour depart one day and had a few lads nights out on the town, culminating in Bastille Day celebrations with fireworks and a street party in our town.
I took a lot of video on my helmet camera of the Turbo cycle train and the descents which I'll come back and post a link to when it's done.
Good times :) Great company!
No comments:
Post a Comment