The Climbs: Col de Portet-d'Aspet; Col des Ares; Port de Bales
Another day in the Pyrenees, and another great day on the bike.
The route started out along the valley of Cousterans to St Girons and provided a relatively flat start to the day with the exception of some very short climbs (including the Cote de Carla-Bayle which took us into a ‘free-thinking’ town; although the best they seemed to have managed was the occasional triangular window).
This first portion of the day was done in the driving rain and we feared that the rest of the day would remain the same, not a great prospect considering the mountain passes that loomed later in the day. However, as we passed through the Grotte du Mas d’Avil (a huge cave with a road through it...) the weather began to clear and the rain stopped. Not quite sunny, but a good temperature to cycle/climb in.
We passed through the valley of the Boulgane towards our first big climb of the day the Cat 2 Col de Portet-d’Aspet. Once atop this col we headed down a particular steep and dangerous descent, stopping to see the Casartali Memorial (a professional died on the descent here in 1995) on the way.
The simple Col des Ares (Cat 2....funny how these things are becoming inconsequential now) was negotiated before we arrived at the base of the Port de Bales the Hors Categorie climb of the day. Having saved by legs for the last few days I decided to give them a little stretch on the way up this final climb of the day and shot up. Still the climb was harder than I remember from my previous visit... very picturesque though and crazy cows everywhere.
A final long and fast descent into Bagners-de-Luchon and another stage was done!
Tomorrow is the hardest day of the Tour, the highlight being the Tourmalet. Can’t wait....
S
Time: 8hrs 5mins
Distance: 183.6km
Av Speed: 22.7km/h
Total Ascent: 3207m
Av HR: 121bpm
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