The Great Pyrenean Adventure - Day 7
Friday 19th - Bagneres to Arreau - 33 kms
Hah! 33kms! Just the minor obstacle of the Col the Perysourde, at 1569m a 'proper' col and having started at 600m the best part of 1000m - straight up.
The saving grace is that the Perysourde is one of the most beautiful climbs of the week. It's not ruggedly spectacular like the Tormalet or Aubisque, but green and tree lined with switchbacks positioned for the photographers amongst us near the top. I'd not done it this way before - East-West - but I was quite looking forward to the challenge.
One of the secrets of mountain climbing is to go at your own pace. It's all too easy to ride next to a companion chatting away and then realise that you've been going faster than your normal pace - by then the damage may be done and you've dug into reserves you need later. The same applies to riding slower than normal in which case you don't get warmed up properly and by riding in a non-optimal way you can drain your resources in much the same way. I'd nagged the group about this and most took the advice. Jeff always set of first and powered up like his life depended on it. Next the trio of Rob, Liz and William tended to stick together as they rode at similar rates and seemingly had plenty in hand (swines). The rest would ride at whatever pace they wanted to, stopping for rests, taking pics or just grinding up as they felt appropriate, though Meryl never seemed to stop...
By now I'd relaxed, and so practised what I preached and set off alone. On the way up I passed Chip a few times as he used the 'pile-on-then-rest' technique, though if it'd been me I'd have had to stop with a sore bum every ten minutes (see Day 1). I passed and got passed by Frank as he took umpteen photos and all the time I could see 'rocket legs' powering up away from me in the distance. Allen took his usual, steady and seemingly effortless pace with the two spots of Evelyn and Jennie down below, but now climbing evenly and strongly - having seen what they packed away at breakfast I couldn't see how they'd got on their bikes... Andrew was just ahead of them practising my theory of technique over fitness.
Unlike the Portillon, the Perysourde has a supert summit with spectacular views down to the valley we'd ridden up and ahead to the massive Pic du Midi (2872m) tipped with snow. There was also a little bar where a group of lycra clad racing cyclists discussed the ride and we all sat down for a beer as their back-up vehicle arrived to collect them (wimps). Five minutes later Allan arrived and gave the van driver a piece of his mind as he'd tailed him at 8 kph for the last couple of kilometers driving him nuts with his engine noise - wierd...
I sat outside the bar and ate sausage and chips, some of the group hurtled off down to Arreau to eat but a few stayed back to cheer Evelyn and Jennie to the top. Jennie soon arrived looking serene and five minutes later Evelyn hove into view looking a lot better than the day before.
The descent from the Perysourde is very, very fast. The road is fairly straight with few hairpins, so your speed is dictated by courage. There was a time when I would have hit 80 kms down here, but as I get older I seem to have more imagination. Maybe it's an illusion (I hadn't a speedo) but I'd put my maximum nearer 65 kms, fast enough for a middle-aged man with a wife and three kids... The skinny tyres of my old Bob Jackson, chosen to make the hills easier, didn't help my confidence, with a contact patch the size of a fingernail you tend to need more space in the hairpins than the fatter slicks on the 'BB Specials'.
Still it's a great ride into Arreau and I found the others in a restaurant (big surprise) and left them to it so I could pitch camp.
I'd not planned on eating a big meal that lunchtime because I knew there was a cracking pizzaria in town and booked us all in there - my digestive system still not ready for the climbers diet of two four-course meals a day...
As we were nice and early to Arreau, there followed an orgy of clothes washing as some of the group had begin to attract attention, and as well as a washing machine there was a chain link fence which makes a great washing-line...
I've talked about food enough I guess so I won't bore you with the details, but the Pizzaria lived up to its reputation and those who'd eaten a meal at midday seemed to have no problem gannetting down yet another...