Gironde Gite(s) Dave & Penny
As I left St Astier at 3pm to make my way to Pau on the edge of the Pyreneeian range and the stage finish for the next day, the tarmac was melting under my wheels as I headed from the wine growing region of Duras in the Lot-et-Garonne through the forested flat land of Gascony where Armagnac is made. I kept up a good pace (17pmh) but the heat did not abate until after 8 O'clock and I made 90 miles before I stopped an hour later when I bedded down in my 'bivvy' bag 30 from my destination, After a night of watching shooting stars I awoke for a breakfast of porridge and apricots (soaked overnight) and set off for Pau as the heat began to build again. I reached the barriered streets of Pau and after going under the 1Km to go inflatable and a brief coffee I set out along the reverse of the course to see if I could get to the top of the Col d'Aubisque final climb of the day, that also included the Peyresoured, Tourmalet and the Soulor, if I hadn't stopped for a coffee I'd probably have made it but the roads closed and it was a definite "Ferme" from the Gendarmes and I could only make it to Laruns the town at the base of the climb.
Johan Museeuw (nice man)
I had the consolation of riding the 30Km to get there with the Belgian Ex-World Champion and multi single day classic winner Johan Museeuw who was riding out to a 'Meet and Greet' along the course. At first I was just sitting on his wheel not knowing who he was, to be fair he did not try to drop the 'tourist' he was in an immaculate 'Museeuw' bike with jersey and shorts to match but every Tom Dick & Johan can get that sort of gear these days so I just followed along with my heavily panniered bike. He took a few calls (i-phone) I was forced to pass him (shucks!) and we struck up a conversation " Are you working on the race?" "No not really, I'm a sort of writer" " A journalist?" "No I'm writing a book, you might know who I am" (modestly)" Bloody Hell! You're not a writer you're an Ex-World Champion (surprised!)" He still had an impressive physique (shaved legs) with a deep scar down his left calf (racing accident), he did genuinely seem modest about his career I suggested that he get some (world) championship bands on his jersey and I had to let him go as the roads got steeper as we got to closer to the mountains as I did not want to be seen to be trying too hard to keep up.
Tour in town
After the race had been through I mounted my bike and began the 16Km climb to the top of the Col d'Aubisque, it took nearly 2 hours (with a few stops) and mostly in bottom gear (39 x 26) especially the 13% bits. As I began to climb the rain began to spot and the cloud rolled in to cover the mountain, It was fairly pleasant and kept me cool but the riders descending from watching the days events were having to take care on the bends and dodge all the traffic that had been on the mountain. I stopped at the ski station at Gourette for some water and the visibility was only 30 meters, on the top it was less, a Spanish rider and I took photo's of each other infront of the pinnacle, he headed back I headed on to the Solour, as I descended the cloud cleared a bit and I had views across the valley to the Asson decent to Pau.
d'Aubisque summit
The roads were lined with SUV's, every flat & not so flat space taken, I stopped in the Cafe at the Solour summit had a chat to some of the campers, some had done the Etap a few days before and were tanned/burned by their experience but I had to decide where to stay the night, the top very exposed although there were a few tents I was worried if it was as cold as the night before at this altitude I would be in trouble, I had my cape on and there was just some drizzle. I decided to descend and find some cover in the trees as rain was predicted so as I passed the hundreds and hundreds of vehicles here for the duration, I dropped down and found myself a secluded spot on a bend with a river to wash & cook, the grass had been trampled by the days events so I marked out a pitch under a tree and settled down with pasta & soup with sweets & Madelaine's courtesy of the caravan.
As I settled down to sleep thunder and lightning began and I was glad not to be on the top, but as the night went on and the rain got worse I was huddled in my bivvy with just an opening for my face and a worst storm developed in which it was impossible to get much sleep although I managed to keep fairly dry and warm in my sack.
The morning came with drizzle and a fog of low cloud, I cooked breakfast and packed my wet gear away descending to the town of Argles-Gazost (where the drink pastis is made) on the way I caught Nick ? (Archer RC) also with panniers on a camping holiday in the region. We went for a coffee to discuss the potential for the day, It was obvious to me that the weather was here to stay and with all my gear wet and no way to dry out a return was the only option, Nick was going over the Col du Tourmalet & Aspin (it had been closed to traffic for three days now!) to get away from the Tour which had completely overrun the region and the slopes of the Tourmalet were like some cycling Glastonbury at 2000 meters and I decided it was better to beat a retreat and watch it on the TV. This is what I did, I took the 15Km cycle path along the old railway to Lourdes and then on to Tarbes by lunchtime I took off some of my wet gear on the way although the weather did not improve much all day. I had marked out a nice route along the Baise river from Mirande and thet is what I stuck to, my phone had given up the ghost in the night and even a passage through Lourdes could not resurrect it so I had to resort to a payphone to get Fi to make the journey to meet me in the Gascony forest as I clocked up 120 miles by 7 O'clock and I was ready to climb off but at least I'd done a few miles for the 12 Hr. in a few weeks time
Expedition over
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