Feeling a lot happier bodywise this morning - I went through the same last year on Lands End / John O'Groats where days 4 and 5 I felt really weary, where the body is complaining about the overtraining and then by day 6 it seems to catch up with itself and sort itself out.
Straight out of the guest house this morning and we start gradually climbing and after 5 miles took a sharp right turn and onto Col de la Bonette (2,908m) properly. The French authorities have put on their signs "the highest road in Europe" but I am reliably informed that it ought actually read "the highest road in France...".
The weather today was just fantastic in Barcelonnette, although it was the same in Sault before we set off for Ventoux, and Bonette is a further 1km higher than Ventoux so we were all expecting it to get both colder and windier and everyone was more than a little apprehensive in setting off about what may lay ahead.
Onto Bonette and the task ahead becomes clear, 1,600 metres of climbing over a 23km route, an average ascent rate of around 7% - the climb was really long and really arduous but bit by bit we just plugged away at it - the nice thing was that the weather was still quite cool in the morning and also that the gradient was pretty steady so you could generally find a gear and stick in it. Stuck at it we did, scoffing down a couple of energy bars en route and 2 hrs 45 minutes later at an average speed of 7.4mph the top was reached, all the way in lovely weather.
This time no tears, no trauma, just a really lovely climb. The last bit from the Col to the Cime was another matter, a 90m climb in 950m, so an average of just under 10% and with the legs already burning from the climb to the Col it was a case of do or die up the last bit, the last climb can only be described as lung-busting and I stood at the top for 5 minutes just gasping for oxygen in the thin air like an over-heated collie dog.
The scenery was fantastic, birds of prey swirling around and snow covered mountains in the distance, only spoiled by the communist party marketing department who had found two abandoned buildings on the way up and had written "Fuck Capitalism" on one and "Fuck the police" on the other. Near the top were old gun placements and deserted army camps and down in one of the mini valleys near the top were around 50 war graves, presumably for soldiers who died defending the mountain. Very humbling.
So, 21 miles & one sting in the tail gone. The next 35 miles were really easy, a 15 mile blast down the other side of the mountain and then a 20 mile cruise along the valley, all the time gradually dropping down, from 2,908 m down to around 500m. My rear brakes got overheated on the way down and went all spongy but a stop for lunch cooled them down and they seem fine again thankfully.
But then the second sting in the tail becomes apparent, sharp right turn and onto Col de la Couillole which at 1,678m meant a 1,100m climb over 10 miles, a gradient again of around 7%. Got into real problems at the bottom as the sun was now beating down and I was running out of water so Simon gallantly clambered up some rocks to a small waterfall and filled up our water bottles. Continued to struggle in the sun, stopping every mile or so to cool down. Then thankfully we went round the back of the maintain and into the shade and I felt immediately better and picked the pace up, a real feeling of euphoria on reaching the top, having nailed the last 8k after struggling so badly on the first 8k.
Down into a very small mountain village for the night, we're off to watch the France / Ireland match later on which should be fun.
So a long and tiring day but feeling really great right now. Last day tomorrow.
Stats for the day:
Distance: 70 Miles
Time: 6hrs 30
Average: A hilly 10.6mph
Max: A freewheeling 44mph
The highest road in Europe???
The top:
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