Introduction

This bit is timed to post when my plane lands in Toulouse on Friday morning. Ahh, Toulouse! I haven't travelled so very much, but for me it is the very most beautiful, historic, vibrant, liveable and cultured city I have ever spent time in. I can't go back enough. Love it!

First thing I want to write, and think, about when arriving back in France, is how many people I have to thank, and how lucky I am to know them. So, thank you et merci!!! Of course, to my husband Roy, who somehow gets it that it is good and ok for me to spend hours and hours and hours pushing pedals around, and doesn't mind when I arrive home after work and riding, just tired and hungry ... or when I leave the country to ride some more. Et, Georges, je vous remerci mille fois pour m'enseigner la belle langue francaise et aussi parce que vous êtes tellement patient avec moi! That was in my poor French, a million thanks to my teacher and friend George who teaches me the language.

And to Kenny, who has taught me effective cycling techniques and helped enormously ... and the entire Arcadian Shop bike staff for their support and encouragement. I've ridden this summer with groups from the Arcadian Shop, in Lenox, and Berkshire Bike and Board, in Great Barrington.  Both stores have worked miracles in making the Berkshires more bike friendly. They have changed the culture here. Thanks to them both and all the riders involved in both groups. Visit both stores if you visit the Berkshires.

And to my friends Catherine and Matt, always a wealth of information about France, and to Hélène and Pierre, Catherine's brother and belle-soeur (literally beautiful sister, isn't that more lovely than sister-in-law) in Toulouse, where Catherine grew up.

Finally, not lastly, a big-time thanks to you, readers. Your input is most appreciated; I am inspired by your riding and adventures,whether it is touring, or randonneuring, or racing, or climbing, or riding for fun around home; and hope to hear from you! Please do comment if you feel like it.

This trip will be a little different from my past three rides in France. I'm not so much travelling from one place to another as exploring the region of the Pays Basque and the Bearn, both in the Pyrenees. I loved this area last year when visiting, and want to learn more about it. The plan is to stay in one place for two or three days at a time, riding small roads in the area before moving on. It will keep me higher in the mountains, attempting more difficult climbs and harder routes. This is gorgeous country, it provided fabulous riding last year and tempted me with routes that intimidated me then. And of course, it's France. There is sure to be delicious food, beautiful architecture and an incredible long history at every step along the way.

Here's a list, from west to east of possible climbs in the next 3 weeks. And I mean possible, I will only ride a small number of them. Altitudes are all in meters. The list is made from my yellow Michelin map ... these maps are full of useful information. One favorite is the little chevron marks, the direction of the arrow indicates a climb or descent.

     > = 5-9%.

     >> = 9-13%.

     >>> = 13%+.

Sometimes the steepest climbs have a little number next to them, a little number that it is important to notice. For instance, the ride to Col de Méhatché (844m, on the border with Spain) features two sets of >>, and four sets of >>>. The little numbers are 21%, 17% and 19%. This isn't  a long ride from Espelette, maybe only 6 or 7 miles. Now 844m is not so very much, but 17, 19 and 21% are very much, at least in my book.

After a few days of exploring the coast and the foothills just inland, I'll start riding my way from the ocean at St. Jean-de-Luz to Col du Tourmalet. I certainly won't see all of these passes, but will get hopefully experience a number of them. If any of you readers, who I know include way seriously stronger riders than me, have suggestions or favorites, do please add them in the comments box.

Col de St.-Ignace 169

Col d'Ibardin  317m

Col de Pinodiéta 176

Col de Méhatché (border) 844m

Puerto de Oxtondo (Spain) 602

Col d'Ispéguy 672

Col d'Aharza 933

Col d'Arnostéguy (border) 1236
Col d'Orgambidé 988
Col d'Haltza  782
Col de Burdincurutcheta 1135
Col Heguichouri 1284
Col de Bagargui 1327
Col de Erroymendi 1362
Port de Larrau 1573 (border)
Col de Suscousse  1216

Col du Soudet

Col de la Pierre St-Martin 1760 (border)

Pas de Guilhers 1436

Col de Labays. 1351

Col de Lie

Col d'Ichere

Col de Marie-Blanque 1035

Col d'Aubisque 1709

Col de Soulor 1474

Col de Bordères 1156

Col du Tourmalet 2115

Next Post

Col du Tourmalet

Col du Tourmalet

The statue in my previous post is the Geant du Tourmalet, which during the summer season stands at the Col (pass) du Tourmalet in the French Pyrenees. (In the winter it is removed from the mountain to the nearby city of Tarbes.) Le Geant depicts rider Octave Lapize, who was the first cyclist over the top in the 1910 Tour de France, and who went on to win that year, though there was not yet a yellow jersey. Then the road was dirt, steep and rough; riders were not permitted any support, even required to fix their own bikes in case of accident. Bikes of course, were heavy.  That was the first year Tourmalet was included in the TDF: it had been scouted by Alphonse Steines on foot, who became lost, spending the night out of doors. When he returned to his base, search teams were out looking for him. As for Steines, he reported the route as a good road, and perfectly feasible for cyclists. As for Lapize, he famously referred to race organizers as "assassins." 

And as for me, I am hoping that Tourmalet will be the easternmost col in my September 2012 trip. At 2115 meters (6939 feet,) from the east it is about a 1400 km climb, over 18.2 km, with a 13% final ramp.  I didn't try it last September. Though I was nearby my goal was to reach the Mediterranean, sampling some of the famous climbs along the way, before turning eastward into the Corbieres. That left me wanting more time in the Pyrenees.

Ocatave Lapize

There are at least 20 cols, many included in the challenging Raid Pyrenees, (a classic cycling route from the Atlantic to Mediterranean) between my planned start in St. Jean de Luz, on the Mediterranean, and Tourmalet. Col de St. Ignace (169m) near the Atlantic is one of the first. Many are near or on the Spanish border including Col d'Arnosteguy and Col d' Orgambide. Michelin maps show the roads to those cols as tiny, winding and steep.  Some are, for my English-speaking tongue, a mouthful:  Col de Burdincurutcheta at 1135m promises grades of 10, 12, 10, 11 and finally 7 percent. Nearby Col de Bagargui is higher at 1327m. Skipping along, there is Col de la Pierre St. Martin at 1760m, Col de Marie-Blanque (which I rode last year, from the western, easier side) Col d'Aubisque and Col du Soulor (last year I rode it from the north.)

The climb up to Tourmalet.

All of this extraordinary cycling is some of the most beautiful, mountainous countryside in France. The Pyrenees run roughly east to west from the Atlantic to the Mediterranean, with the border to Spain along or near the ridgelines. Perhaps I'll venture some into Spain. Certainly I'll have time to explore back roads, riding side trips unloaded, without panniers, since my plan is to spend two, three or perhaps four nights in towns and villages along the way. It will be a different kind of a trip, this year spending more time exploring places, towns, mountains and valleys along the way. It promises to be a leisurely and challenging tour, with plenty of time to explore.

Fast, ambitious, strong amateur racers will cover some of the same territory in one day during the second Etape de Tour. These two etapes are one day races that follow the exact course of a stage of the TDF. This year they will use the route for Stage 11 in the Alps and Stage 16 in the Pyrenees. The second of these Etapes will ride Col d'Aubisque, du Soulor, du Tourmalet and more. In one day.

And as far as my training goes, I don't remember my legs being this sore for at least …. Well, I won't tell you how long, let's leave it at the now-classic descriptor "more than 20 years" since my backpacking days in the Rockies and Sierra. Sore is a good thing, it leads to stronger. And stronger should lead to more effective climbing. It also means that I am actually riding less than previously, fewer miles and fewer days, following advice to pay more attention to recovery days. Soon I'll reintroduce long rides.

Following are some resources to find more on Tourmalet, which has appeared in the TDF 75 times, itself:

There are two official sites for the Etapes. Etape du Tour 2 (Pyrenees)  and Etape du Tour 1 (Alps.)

Gerry Patterson is riding both Etapes this year. Visit his blog, Mr. Patterson Goes to Languedoc for stories and info. 

Le Geant du Tourmalet: Paddy Sweeney's blog for fun photos of moving the statue off Tourmalet to Tarbes.

PyrActif has practical, hands on, useful info. Go here for the cols listing. 

For Tourmalet, TDF, Pyrenees cycling: Pedal Dancer. Karen will be back in France for this year'sTDF.

And a final note on KM vs Miles, and Meters vs Feet. One km = .62 miles. One meter = 39.37 inches. You can do the arithmetic  as well as I can, so I leave the info in the metric system.

Plans, training, Pyrenees

Yes, a palm tree behind the wires on the left.

Today's pictures will be of memories and inspirations, all taken in the Pyrenees during  September 2011. They are in anticipation of this year's trip.



There is a reason I want to learn to remove my derailleur, as reported in the last post, and that reason is to more securely pack it for air travel.

Between Aubisque and Soulor

Recently prices dropped a tad, and I bought myself a ticket from Boston to Toulouse. From there, my plan is to take the train to St. Jean-de-Luz on the Atlantic. Attentive readers might note that it is the 4th time in as many years that I've gone to Toulouse. It is a fabulous, beautiful, historic, international city, with great rail connections to all of southern France and loads of international flights.Very good cycling is within a short train ride.

Time is such a slippery beast to get a handle on. Somehow it manages to disappear incredibly fast, while simultaneously fairly recent events seem like eons ago. That might be looking at the same phenomenon from different angles.


 

The road to Col du Soulor, from St. Savin

No doubt before I know what has happened, it will be time to load my panniers back onto Papillon (for the benefit of any new readers, that is my touring bike) and go for a ride.


Before I return to France, though, I'd like to become as strong a grimpeur, oh I guess that would be grimpeuse, let's just say climber ...  as possible. It is not that I want to climb fast, it's that I'd like to climb easier. Hmmm....I guess in cycling terms that means with less suffering, a concept other attentive readers know I have a hard time wrapping my head around. 

Farmhouse near Marie Blanc

One goal is to climb with as much grace and ease as possible because my plan, this trip, is to spend longer in the Pyrenees Atlantique. Also known as the Pays Basque and the Bearn. Also known as  Departements 64 and 65. Also known, especially to cyclists, as the location of many beautiful and famous cols, some of which I rode last September, when my trip took me from the Atlantic to the Mediterranean through the Pyrenees. That was my first time on a bike in high mountains. I'd ridden before in the Cevennes, but in the much higher and steeper Pyrenees I doubted my abilities on some of the tougher climbs, and limited the number I took on. As it turned out, I was thrilled with Col de Marie Blanc, Col du Soulor and Port de Lers. It's almost time to go back for more. I'll put a dream list in another post.

The Pyrenees

 But back to training plans, and becoming as strong a climber as possible. Training plans, hmm, wouldn't I just love a coach. But alas, I only work with books, for two years with Joel Friel, since January with Sarah Bernhardt. Following their advice isn't so easy ....to train for touring, ride in terrain similar to that which you will be riding in. I love that idea, maybe I'll go to another mountainous area for 10 or 12 weeks. Of course, my very supportive husband, not to mention my boss at work, might not like that. Or, after age 50 (they don't even mention 60) recovery takes longer, build in 48 to 72 hours after hill repeats.  I don't have time for that, couldn't bear it. Over 50, work on strength, not endurance ... or, for touring, work on muscular endurance.


Aarrrghuhhgvvvvllurrhghr.



But in actual riding, the 100 miles a week or so I'm riding before again starting actual training (whatever that might mean) doesn't feel wildly strong. Maybe what I am experiencing is the actual feeling of, not the intellectualizing of, but the actual living, feeling, of the oft-quoted phrase, I believe from Greg Lemonde,  "It doesn't get easier, it just gets faster."







 

The road climbs above houses with classic slate roofs

What it feels like is ... I train and train, but my lungs don't seem to support my legs ... or is it my heart support my lungs ... support my legs ... or is it my legs just need to get stronger. It's hard to separate out these elements of cycle training, maybe it is always just the whole kit and kaboodle taken together. What makes sense to me is the simple maxim, to get better riding hills, ride hills.  And so,

Ahh, those switchbacks

I'm writing my own training plan now. Climb. Climb. Climb. Also, continue riding with the two groups a week. Try to keep up. Remember to take some days off. That's when the experts say you actually get stronger. I'm good at days off.

Interview with Veronica and Colin Scargill

Veronica and Colin Scargill are cyclists I met on Col de Marie Blanque, in France in September 2011, when they were crossing the Pyrenees on a tandem and I was doing the same thing solo. The two of them made an indelible image in my head .... I was impressed at their traveling through those beautiful mountains on a loaded tandem and very much enjoyed visiting with them, partly because their enthusiasm and enjoyment of the world around them was infectious. We met again by chance two days later on Col du Soulor. I had ridden up the route from the north, they came over Col d'Aubisque. I am tickled to be able to interview them for this series.




Have you always ridden tandem?
We bought a tandem in 1971 soon after we were married. Colin has always been a stronger cyclist than Veronica so it made sense to combine our efforts. 

My instinct is that tandem riding seems much harder, though I don't know anything about it. Would you tell us a bit about the physics of it.
Tandems are generally faster downhill, because of the combined weight, but slower uphill depending upon the fitness of the riders. The two riders are known as steersman and stoker. There are no specific problems in cornering, but it does need a fair degree of adjustment to ride effectively together, so that the pedals turn with the same effort. We have the pedals sightly adjusted so that the stoker's pedals reach the top before those of the steersman. We do know couples who have never mastered the art of riding a tandem. Indeed some would say that the best stoker is someone who has never ridden a solo. We use hub brakes because with the extra weight of two people on two wheels, rim brakes can become very hot and we have burst tyres as a consequence. 

I am guessing that tandems might be much more popular in England than in the US, because I have met other English cycle tourists on tandems in France and virtually never see them in the US ... are they used often there?
There is an international tandem club, with members in U.S. but even in this country we attract comment as an unusual sight. In the U.K. efforts are being made to increase cycle use, and that will increase cycle touring. It could be that on the back of Olympic success and Tour de France success for British cyclists there is more interest. However in the U.K. the motorist is very dominant. It is hard to ease people out of their cars. A fair number of motorists feel cyclists have no place on the roads for which they think they pay with road tax. This is a myth since highways and roads are maintained through general taxation. The anti-cyclist motorist cannot see that by riding a bike there is less congestion on the roads, and a great savings in health bills. Moreover a bike is generally non polluting.

That attitude is common in the US also. Many motorists don't seem to understand or care that cyclists also pay for the roads through our tax dollars, and we have an equal right to use them! On a personal note I seem to remember that you ride without helmets....maybe not.... but was that a choice, or just what you do?
No, we choose not to wear helmets, since there is no purpose served, and the case has not been proved. Indeed we often think that it would make more sense for motorists to wear helmets since most head injuries occur to people in motor vehicles. 

Have you toured in England, if so where?
We have toured in U.K. notably in Derbyshire and Norfolk. And when the children were young we took them on cycle tours using a combination of child seats, "kiddi-cranks" and tandem or solos as needed.


Where else have you toured?
We went to Ireland one summer which we all enjoyed. Before the children we did tours in France, and in what was then Yugoslavia, and from Feb. 1974 – August 1975 we toured right around the world starting in New York. 

I had no idea! So, I googled you, and learned that your trip, finished on August 27, 1975, logging18,020 miles around the world, set an international record for touring on a tandem. That is an amazing trip, I'd love to learn more about it someday. Very very cool! Has your touring style changed since then?
In the early days we would camp carrying the tents and other gear with us or use Youth Hostels. These days we use Youth Hostels when available, but B&B sometimes as well, which gives a different perspective and needs a degree of adaptability since they can be so variable. 
 
I ride as a solo woman, you ride a tandem, but in some ways, the same questions pop up frequently ... the advantages of riding solo or with others, travelling as a solo woman ... or for that matter, solo man.
As to riding as a single woman, there are some famous precedents, Dervla Murphy being the one who comes to mind first, but there are several others. I suspect that the biggest problem is not so much the gender as the ability to maintain the bike, at least that would be Veronica's problem. She cannot even mend a puncture effectively. 

We met Heinz Stucke in 1975, touring alone all over the World. He had been on the road about 19 years when we met him, and we heard of him a few years ago still riding. He said that there were advantages and disadvantages to riding alone. For a man he could be seen with some suspicion whereas Colin accompanied by a woman was less threatening. But for a female cyclist this probably would not apply.


I knew vaguely of Heinz Stucke before you mentioned him, and just found this quote from his web site "...[my first]  trip was extended a bit longer than I expected, and a year and a half after my departure I decided to return to my hometown to work, marry, have children ... in short, all those things that one assumes one has to do. But after a year, I realized that was not what I wanted and not what I expected from life. On the 4th of November 1962, I took my bike and started a wonderful journey that has not yet reached its end."  That was written after 48 years of pedalling and 20 passports! 

I remember your saying to me something like you popped over to ride ... or some such... that made me sort of insanely envious! Would you compare touring in England and France? What draws you to France?
Riding in France is much preferable to that in the U.K because the French have a very different attitude to cyclists, and take pride in their cycling heritage. In defense of the U.K. motorist, it is true that French drivers have more room and that French roads are generally well maintained, even the most remote areas. Another personal reason to choose to tour in France is the language. Veronica speaks French moderately well having first been to France more than 50 years ago and frequently since then. 

After our interview, I learned that besides climbing Col de Marie Blanque (1035m) and Col du Soulor (1474m) last September you also rode up Col d'Aubisque (1709m) Col du Tourmalet (2115m) Col d'Aspin (1489m) and Col de Peyresourde (1568m) These are all famous Tour de France climbs and absolutely inspirational! I can't wait to go back and hope that we might meet again in the mountains of France. Your cycling story has been inspirational to me and spurs me on to try ever more ambitious climbing! Thank you so much for taking the time to do this. 

Solo in the Pyrenees 2011

Back to France, again cycling as a solo woman, this time in the Pyrenees and Corbières.

The bulleted items here are the individual posts in my Atlantic to Mediterranean trip, September 2011. Click anywhere you are interested to start. The next button at the bottom of the post will take you to the next section.

•  | Getting There, Planes
•  | Getting There, Trains
•  | Bayonne
•  | Bayonne to Berenx
•  | Food, Will-be-food, and Language
•  | Berenx to Barcus
•  | Barcus to Bielle
•  | Col de Marie-Blanque
•  | Valley d’Ossau
•  | Nature Reclaims Culture
•  | Col de Soulor
•  | St. Savin
•  | St. Savin to Bagneres de Bigorre
•  | An Abbaye and a Gouffre
•  | Roman Ruins, a Cathedral and a Basilica
•  | To St. Lizier
•  | St. Lizier
•  | Biert and Massat
•  | Port de Lers
•  | Foix and Its Castle
•  | To Limoux
•  | To Lagrasse
•  | Lagrasse
•  | Narbonne
•  | The Mediterranean
•  | Appendix: Maps and Roads
•  | Appendix: Lodging