Col D'Aubisque - You call that HC??

Our day of rest yesterday did us a world of good, because the ride today, from Lourdes up to the Col du Soulor and the Col D'Aubisque, before the long descent to the finish line at Pau, was a complete joy in every way. We left from Lourdes at about 8:30 a.m., a group of perhaps 20 riders and three or four guides, for a short ride mostly along a bike trail, down to the town of Argeles-Gazost, where we turned onto today's Tour de France stage road. From there we rode all the way to the finish line in Pau, the final 90 km of the days' 199 km stage. The GPS behaved itself, so here is a link to the map and ride data for today. My camera bit the dust yesterday, so the only photos I could take today were with my phone; my apologies for the quality. I should have a new camera tomorrow and will get photos from others in the group later as well. In any case, the climb of the Col D'Aubisque was about 29 km in total. The middle section, about 8 km, was at a steady 8-9% grade before crossing the Col du Soulor, then a short descent before the final climb up to the Col D'Aubisque.

The climb was surprisingly easy. I settled into a steady pace of about 9-10 kph in the steep 8% section, and really felt as if I could grind that out all day long. When the pitch lessened to, say, only 5% or so, it almost felt as if we were coasting on a flat section. I rode the entire mountain with my friend Bill who, with his wife, has been on the trip all three summers with me. It was nice to have company on the long climb, which was steep but not nearly as challenging as Mt. Ventoux was just four days ago. The fact that we were riding about four hours ahead of the actual peleton meant that the roads were lined with tens of thousands of fans, campers, cars, people walking up the mountain and hundreds of other cyclists. It was the kind of party atmosphere that we experienced on Alpe D'Huez in 2008 and on Mt. Ventoux in 2009, and it brought a whole new level of excitement to the day. We all agreed that this was the most magnificent scenery we had yet seen, and I'm just sorry not to have any photos. But if you watch the TV coverage of today's stage, anything you see from 90 km to the finish will be roads that I rode today.

The mountains were awe-inspiring, and the road between the two Cols was perched along a cliff, with sheer drops just off the edge to our right. Below we could see herds of cattle grazing, and occasionally we could hear the sound of cowbells coming up from the valley. We stopped briefly at the summit of the Col D'Aubisque, where there was a big crowd, and took some photos, then began a descent that went on for some 60 km altogether. The first 10 or 15 km were steep and very, very fast. The road was nice, with big sweeping turns and just a few tight hairpin turns. There were several tunnels, which is always fun, and I descended at speeds of 60-65 kph for what seemed like a very long time. Eventually we regrouped at the bottom and continued for another 45 or 50 km in a paceline at a steady speed of about 40 kph, stopping once more for food and drink, and then finally cruising in to Pau in two parallel pacelines, chatting amiably and enjoying ourselves completely.

In Pau, we were surprised by some short climbs as we approached the end, then at 2 km from the finish, we stopped at some barricades before being allowed to ride the last stretch inside the barricades all the way up to the finish. This is the kind of VIP access that Custom Getaways does so well, and we really appreciate it so much.

At the finish, we turned into a parking lot where all the team buses were parked, and found OUR bus parked between the Garmin and the Lotto buses. After changing into dry clothes, we walked over to the VIP Izoard area, 100 meters from the finish, which was our home for the next few hours. On one side of the street (that would be the OTHER side) was the general public. On our side, we had a special area with an open bar, plenty of food, umbrellas, tables and chairs, and an unfettered view up and down the finishing stretch. And a HUGE TV screen about two stories high, right next to our area, where we could follow the stage. This photo of me shows how close we were to the finish. We wandered off now and then to visit the various tents where you can buy "official" TdF merchandise, and then other tents that sell all of the various team kits. Suffice it to say that I contributed to the French economy today. Finally, the riders approached and the level of excitement grew. Of course we saw it all on the big TV, so we didn't miss anything at all. I got right at the barricades and took the following video of the leading group streaking by in the final sprint. I swear that they were really going this fast - it's not speeded up at all!

As soon as the stage was over, we headed back to the buses, hoping to see some of the riders arrive at their buses, but there weren't too many to be seen. Some saw Levi Leipheimer emerge from the bus and ride off on his bike, presumably to the team hotel, but not much else was reported. We got trapped in a massive traffic jam of team buses and cars on the way out of town, but amused ourselves by checking out all of the details of the bikes atop the team cars that were stopped next to the bus.

A one-hour bus ride got us back to Lourdes, and after cleaning up, nine of us went out and found a wonderful restaurant where all had cassoulet, a local specialty, and of course, plenty of wine.

The plan tomorrow (if the weather is OK; it's drizzling now) is to leave here at 9:00 a.m. and ride to the summit of the Tourmalet. I have a feeling that's an HC climb that I WILL find challenging!