Yesterday was a tough day with 2 big climbs. Today promised to be just as tough with 3 big TDF cols in store and little flat in between. We left Luz early at 7.10 am and got straight into climbing the legendary Col de Tourmalet- the most used climb of the TDF. It's 19.4 Kms of climbing with an average gradient of 7.4% and makes Burrington Coombe or Cheddar Gorge look somewhat tame.
We stopped at Bareges for breakfast - an ugly village with shops for tourists dominated by a polish family called Locationski (a joke stolen from inner ring web site). We were short changed and Phil got very annoyed - the last 24 hours he had been trying to solve a work crisis and was somewhat preoccupied and not in the best of moods.
I couldn't get my cleat to lock into my right pedal and Chris helped me replace it. There were lots of roadworks near the top and the kilometre markers were down which tell you how high you are and the average gradient for the next kilometre Photographers were on hand to capture the final moments - they then hand you a business card and you can buy the photos online for extortionate prices.
Phil organised a proper breakfast at the top, the highest point of the trip at 2115 metres. I shivered my way through the first few miles of the long fast descent even with a gillet and jacket on. Dry roads and little traffic helped the process.
We had a quick stop at Sainte-Marie de Campan to fill our water bottles from the village pump and admire the Romanesque church and we were then straight into the climb of the Col d'Aspin which was mainly through forest until the last kilometre. Another fast descent took us to the lovely town of Arreau where we enjoyed an excellent lunch of avocado and salmon for starters and lamb/duck for the main course; including drinks it all came to 38 Euros for the three of us.
Chris is very strong on the climbs and was storming up them in his characteristic Swan like fashion. He left Phil and I in his wake up the Col de Peyresourde. By the time I made it Chris and Phil were heading down to Luchon. I resisted the temptation of another selfie and instead spotted a lovely old summit sign and took a photo of it with my bike propped against it.
Luchon our resting place is a lovely spa town - originally the baths were built by the Roman emperor Tiberius but revived in the eighteenth century. It had an air of Bath or Cheltenham with classical architecture, wide boulevards and plenty of parks. I was exhausted. We found a pizza and crashed out early in the splendid Majestic Hotel.
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