Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Jour 5
After much deliberation and w
aiting and waiting, we finally headed out for a ride around 14:00 (they use the 24 hour clock here). We drove down the Bourne Gorge (which we had ridden a couple days ago) and parked the van in Pont de Rayons. From there, we r
ode past the col de la Machine (which we did on Saturday), and then into this small town that had this huge aquaduct. It was Bastille day, and it seemed like the locals had a big party going on in the local lake. They had these little boats covered the bodies of cars - cruising around. They were slow as crap, but they looked funny, and people were having fun.
After we cruised through the town, we hit some flats and rollers, then up the Col des Limouches which was a good climb up to about 1086m (3500+ft) which is about the altitude of Bend. The weather was pretty good. The sun had come out and it was partly cloudy.You can sort of see part of the road that we climbed in the picture to the right. The climb itself was about 3000ft, so it took us a while. I've been trying to go easier and easier on the climbs, because I know that we are going to have some big days at Ventoux and then in the high mountains of the Alps.
Larry and I rode together most of the way up the climb. Just 1 month ago, Larry hit a dog riding at full speed and broke 3 ribs and his scapula. It is a minor miracle that he is even here on this trip, but he is, and he's riding pretty darn well. The picture here is of Larry at the top of
the col. When we got up the climb though, it got really windy and I was pretty glad I had my jacket and vest. The downhill was awesome. We had a headwind, which kept me in my comfort zone on the descent and I was able to hang with the Gary the speed demon - le diable de vitesse. Hopefully tomorrow the storm system will pass, and we can actually get out for a ride in the AM.
Ride Stats - about 85km/53miles
Total Ascent - about 4000 ft
(I'm still figuring out all the functions of my new Garmin 705 - the thing is pretty awesome, but I reset things now and then by accident)
A demain!
