Day 5 - Saint-Gaudens to Bagneres-de-Luchon

Thursday, September 10th

Route Map and Elevation Profile

The bikes were stored in the breakfast room overnight - there was even a bike rack, so this must be a regular thing in this hotel.

Unfortunately, it started to drizzle during the night and the view of the Pyrenees was no longer as inviting as yesterday.

It was supposed to be relatively flat until the climb started, so this piece of 15+% gradient was totally unexpected. The old hands reckon it's left over from Kevin's day (he was the previous owner and known for cycling sadism).

 

What that means is you take an unnecessary detour just to do an unnecessary climb, then return the the "flat".

Then we discovered that the bridge over the river was closed for repairs and they weren't going to let us cross...

...until we introduced our secret weapon - a diplomatic, French speaking, English woman! It works every time in France.

This is the Garonne - the river that eventually flows through Toulouse and Bordeaux to the sea (see earlier blog entry).

Just up the road are Roman ruins (on the right) and an abbey - right on cue the sun comes out for the rest of the day! The weather gods are smiling.

The route then follows a small river slowly into the foothills of the Pyrenees to our first (and only) rest stop of the day.

There's a small fort, or house (?) just above the town.

And a nice bar/restaurant where everyone stops for a coffee and a deep breath before the big climb.

Port de Bales - 19km of Happyness (yeh, right...).

Do the maths - that's an average (!) gradient of 6.3%.

Then, every kilometer to the top, the current altitude and the average gradient for the next kilometer...it got to 11% average for a few kilometers - ouch!

The road is wooded for the first 15km.

Then opens out to un-wooded grassland for the final push to the summit.

I'm not sure whether it looks steep looking up...

...or down?!

With only ... to go, we've left all the trees behind. With only 1km still to go, the gradient is stil stuck on 7.5%. 

 

One last look back before the final 500m push to the top! I'm over it already...

King of the Mountain? Not! Well, at least I made it...

And what else did I find - two other cyclists riding similar bikes to mine.

Meanwhile, Bike Adventurers keep arriving at the summit - this time it's Linda with all the gears you'd ever want for a climb like this.

The descent was always going to be much easier, if a bit too exciting. So here's the achievement - 1200m in 19km. Try doing that in reverse - you certainly need to rug up, and man up (and don't go over the edge)!

This is the TdF stage that Michael Rogers won in 2014 - OK, so perhaps I let my imagination get away a bit on the descent.

Here's Luchon looking very inviting sitting in the valley.

Because the van was still at the top of the pass, those who got here "early" had to spend an hour drinking in the bar - life's tough...

I got a room with a view, and a proper bathroom this time. I'll be happy to spend my rest day looking at this.

Only negative - the church bells, but at least they don't chime the hour until 8:00am!

The main street is very pretty, and full of bars, cafes, restaurants and cyclists!

So the search for the perfect dinner goes on...

We did find a nice Pizzeria, and some had fixed menus, and some had steak.

Bonne Nuit.