Crawley Wheelers Pyrenees Tour
    June 2003.
Report by Anthony Fawcett

Monday 2nd June.
Slowly but surely all thirteen members of our party assembled and checked in their baggage at Gatwick Airport early Monday morning, 2nd June. Despite some bags being pretty heavy, over 7kg over the allowed limit, BA did not blink an eye or, more importantly, make any charge ...

The flight down to Toulouse was just 1hr 20 mins and everyone's bike survived unscathed. We collected our two 9-seater minibuses that we had hired and set off along the A-64 autoroute for Bagneres de Bigorre - about an hour and a half's drive from Toulouse - right in the foothills of the Col du Tourmalet - with its magnificent mountain scenery.

After sorting out the sleeping arrangements and unpacking our bikes it was late afternoon but there was still plenty of time for a ride out into the mountains. We split into several groups and headed up the valley which climbed gently at first but then gradually became steeper and steeper. After about 10 miles we arrived at St Marie de Campan, the small village at the bottom of the Tourmalet. We decided that was far enough for our first outing so turned around and headed for home. The ride back was fantastic and we flew back at 27 - 30 mph all the way!

Tuesday 3rd June.
Our first big adventure, as we set out for the ascent of the Tourmalet. It was drizzling when we left and the mountains were still not visible, which was probably a good thing. It cleared as we reached St Marie de Campan where the road forks left to the Col d'Aspin and right for the Tourmalet. After St Marie the Tourmalet begins to get going and whilst I ground my way slowly up I had to concede that these climbs are bloody hard! I had been nurturing a theory that they're really not that steep - just long. Oh dear, how wrong I was!. It just kept getting harder and harder.

Approaching the Tourmalet at St Marie de Campan.
Looks simple enough - but then it gets steeper - and drags on a bit!

 
I stopped at the sign which said 11km to go to rest the legs a bit - and there was still 800m of vertical climbing to do. That's 6 miles at roughly 8% average and I'm only doing 6 mph! I struggle on. At 8km to go I'm in my bottom gear - 30x23 and wish that I'd got a 26. At the ski station at La Mongie I'm out of water and gas! But help is at hand in the form of Steve Sharp - one of our party who stopped to take pictures - and I share his Isostar and dried apricots. Together we climb the last 6km.

On one of the final hairpins we encounter a herd of Lamas - no really, it's true - ask the others. I was a little afraid they might be fierce and it's pretty hard to outrun anything at 4 mph. But I hadn't come this far to be beaten by a bunch of Lamas, so I rode right through the middle of them. I bet Lance doesn't have to put up with this stuff! Fortunately they turned out to be friendly.
 
I had a bad moment about 1km from the top where it looks as though the road goes on much further up the mountain, but happily this turned out to be a footpath up to the Pic du Midi. As I rounded the corner, there at last was the top. A tourist wanted to take my picture so I tried to look cool but settled on knackered.

The cafe at the top does a wonderful chicken with fried tomatoes and potatoes. It must have had special powers as I felt much better after eating it. Eventually I composed myself for the obligatory photo under the monument and then we literally flew back down to Bagneres. It took me almost 3 hours to climb the 21 miles to the summit - that's a typical Sunday club run all uphill - and only 45 minutes to hurtle down.

Some of the more intrepid members of our party decided to descend the other side of the Tourmalet and head back home in a big loop via Lourdes. This made it a long day in the saddle but they all made it back safely before nightfall!

Wednesday 4th June.
It started fast today - 30mph in the first mile. I was feeling tired and grumpy and refused to play. Luckily the others saw sense after 10m and we all regrouped. We stopped for coffee in Tarbes.
 
After struggling to find our way out of the town, we headed towards Lourdes, taking us up some nice undulating roads but not too hard - with just one 5km climb. It was fast over the top and there were some high jinx for the sprint signs. Tony Brown got so frustrated with John D's antics that he lost the plot completely and sprinted for the end of town sign - much to John's delight. After everyone had calmed down we lunched in Lourdes which is a really crazy town.
 
To me it seemed the most highly commercial and exploitative place this side of Vegas - lots of trinket shops and gloss. Bit disappointing really. But the ride back made up for it - through some stunning scenery. The mountain views were spectacular and it was really baking hot. A treat of a ride and a really worthwhile day. There was one more 5km climb. It was a nice gentle gradient and you could really race up it - so of course we did!

I held on to John's wheel all the way depsite him doing all he could to shift me. He very nearly did - but don't tell him. It was an easy ride home from there.
 
The elite members of our party, Reade, Bernie, Brian and Bruce had gone to Luz Ardiden. Brian was not feeling his best and with some rather unfathomable logic decided to take a short cut home over the western side of the Tourmalet! He made it too, along with Bernie.
 
Reade and Bruce climbed Luz Ardiden and covered over 70 miles. They saw the Cofidis team out on the road. So where are your autographs, guys? What do you mean Millar burned you off?

Thursday 5th June.
We had a quiet day today. It was raining when we got up but soon cleared. John D and Bernie went off early to do a lumpy ride across to Arreau and then up the Col d'Aspin, as the tour will do in July.
 
The rest of us decided to go to a medieval town to the east.The plan didn't quite work out as we got split up with half the group going unintentionally the same route as John and Bernie. We kept to our plan and rode along the D-938. The weather was indifferent but I had good legs and was finding the 5-6km climbs pretty easy in the 40x23. We kept going, past an old abbey, to St Barthe where we tried to find some lunch. This proved a bit tricky and whilst we rested in a cafe we sent Brian and Steve off to get food. They came back with some interesting tin foil parcels.

Now I was hungry, but the contents were barely edible - stale bread, stale cheese and stiff ham - really nice! Still it seemed to do the trick and we all rode back home well. This was a pretty short day at only 36 miles but tomorrow we are off to the Asprin - as Mike L calls it.
 
We had just got back when Brian got a call from Bruce on his mobile. His rear mech had broken on the Aspin and he was looking for the broom wagon to collect him! Terry Deeley our guest rider from de Laune went straight into rescue mode and we steamed out of the chalet to get him - in totally the wrong direction. It was a good thing we were there or Bruce would have had a long wait. As we passed the top we saw the rest of the guys who sauntered over looking excited and concerned. Until we told them that no, we didn't have any food and yes, they were going to have to ride home. We found Bruce and took him and bike off to the local bike shop to get him fixed up with a secondhand mech to see him through.

Friday 6th June.
It was hot again today as we set off towards the Col d'Aspin. The tough guys had gone off to ride some big cols but I was content with this Category 1 climb which we were doing from the easier side. We did the 10 mile gradual climb from Bagneres and then hit the climb proper - except that it messes around for about 5km going up and then down. In fact it is really only the last 8km from the picnic area at La Payolle which is hard.
 
I span away for a long while in the 30x21 and found this was just about right. As I hit the hairpins I was overtaken by Stuart Forbes who went by like a rocket and straight up to Brian who was leading about 200m up the road. Very impressive. If only we could get him going as well on the descents which he takes very carefully.
 
The local road workers were out patching the road ready for the Tour. I took careful note of the bad bits because were coming back down later. It really wasn't too bad a climb. It's not so long and we were soon down to the last few km and then at the summit. At the top we met up with a guy who had ridden down from the UK through France, Spain, Gibralter, Morocco, Portugal and was heading back home.

He told some fantastic tales of his travels and was really keen to chat to fellow Englishmen. I think we were all envious of his intrepid spirit and independence.
 
On the way back we took a detour up the Vallee de Lesponne towards Lac Bleu. It was basically a 10km climb which became very steep for the last 3km. More beautiful scenery and a brialliant cafe at the top, where the three of us had a well-earned drink and an incredible descent. We had a massive burn-up on the way home which was all the more fun as there was not much between us on the flat. I got into a good position on the last bend and was able to attack from the back and arrive home first. It capped off perfectly a brilliant day and a superb ride!

Saturday 7th June.
Our final day at Villa Tamerza and it was another beautiful morning, azure skies with not a cloud in sight. The mountains looked magnificent and I'm still incredulous that I managed to climb right up there!
 
We headed north today along a nice D road which will be the start of Tour stage from Bagnere on 21st July. After the hard climb out of the town there was a long gentle descent. The views of the mountains behind us is astounding and takes your breath away. The Tour will head east from Ciutat, towards Lannemezan but we carried straight on north - still going downhill. We hit Rabestans after about 28 miles and right on lunchtime and were served our meal by a very glamorous waitress!
 
We eventually dragged ourselves away and rode south into a stiff headwind and gentlly uphill. It was incredibly hot and for miles we rode alongside a stream. I was very tempted to stop and dangle my feet in the water to cool off. Steve took a picture of us riding 4-up in formation which took some doing. Everytime we got ready for the picture a car came along. We hadn't seen more than four cars all day before that! Afterwards - not a car to be seen. Weird.

We headed back through Tarbes and it was baking. The last 10 miles home were tough as the road climbs gently towards Bagneres and the mountains. The wind was like the blast you get when you open an oven door and we were completely exposed. A drink stop would have been nice but it was late on Saturday afternoon and everywhere was closed. When I got back to the villa my teeth were stuck to my gums I was so dry. It had been a surprisingly hard 51 miles!
 
The others had been driven by John over to the Aubisque and came back looking very sun-burned and tired. It was then a case of packing up the bikes, getting showered and going out for our final night party! We had to be in Toulouse for the midday flight home the next day but this didn't deter some people from partying till 3.15am! There wasn't much chat in the van on the way to the airport but a great end to a fantastic week's riding
 
Nominations and Awards.
Best Climber - Tony Brown.
Best Sprinter - John Double.
Best Rider - Angela Brown, more cols than sense!
Best Descender - Stewart - only man on the tour with two spare sets of brake blocks!
Hardest Climb - The Tourmalet.
Biggest Wimp - Me with my SPF 60 sun cream.
Worst Snorer - Stewart !
QuickFit Clutch Award - Terry, the roll-back king!
Biggest Thanks - To Dick and Gisela for risking their place in the sun by lending it to us lot!
 
My Tour Statistics:
249 miles in total. 17hrs 47 minutes riding. Average speed 13.98mph. Highest climb 2115m. Max speed 41 mph.

 

Click here for more beautiful pictures of the area.
Click Here to Book at Villa Tamerza.