It was a great looking day this morning and Jurg and I were off early as the heat of the day builds early. When I got up it was already 20 C in my tent.
Today the ride was 88 kms and 2350 meters of climb. We were to cross the Col D’Izoard and the Col Du Vars. The Col D’Izoard is one of the climbs which is on the Tour Du France route. It was 16 kms all greater that 8% with lost of sections greater than 12%.
It is really cool riding these sections of the Tour Du France. I grind away at 7-9 kms/hr and the tour riders average 25 kms/hr. The first col seemed pretty easy even though it had the most climb associated with it.
We then cruised down though a beautiful canyon and down to lunch after lunch there was a detour which took us over this huge hill were there were some fantastic views of the canyon. It was extremely steep on the detour. It was an old road which was not used any more. I think they were building a new tunnel.
The second Col of the day was Col D’ Vars which was another 17 kms and only reached 2108 meters. However it is now the full heat of the day and I saw a sign showing 37 C. The first 7 kms are in the wide open with out a speck of shade and all 9-12% grade. By the time I get 6 kms I am totally over heated. So we stop and Richard comes along and pours a bucket of cold water over my head. It felt great. Jurg and I ride on and reach the village of Vars where Richard is having coffee. I get my dry clothes out of the van and as it is only 8 kms to the top of the col we ride on. The Col d’Vars is not on the tour and there isn’t much there just a sign post.
We roll down hill and into camp. It was a really tough day. Tomorrow is the last of the cols, Cols De La Bonette, and Col de la Couillole. It is the toughest day of the tour. We start at 6:00 AM. As a side note you should the Auzzies talking about the “Col duh Bon Eh” It is a killer.
Terry
No comments:
Post a Comment