So briefly I always wanted to head off and see what the Pyrenees mountains were like and decided on the Col du Tourmalet being at 2115m height or 6939 ft would be interesting. In comparison Scafell Pike peak is at 978m not sure what the highest road height is...So I headed off on a mini self-supported tour, i.e. with panniers on my road bike, with the help of friends in Toulouse for stopoffs, rest days and bike packing for the flights.
Total stats were 3 days touring plus and extra cycle ride with Andy near Toulouse, totalling over 315KM (195 miles). daily rides were 25 miles, 68 miles, 67 miles, rest day then 35 miles. The second day being the Col started at 8am in sunshine but was cold and the Col was made at 10.20am local time with some stops for food. The funny thing was the last few marker posts were missing and so I though there was a few KM of steep hairpin bends to go and paced myself, but turned a corner and there you are at the cutting in the rock and at 2115m. The French gendarmes were at the top because the western road was closed to through traffic due to the storms the week before washing out the road at Bareges, cyclists were not allowed through, so this meant some confusion for route planning, but at least I knew before hand and planned to keep to the eastern side.
The main revelation was not really the Col, no steeper than 10%, long and steady but not mega hard going up, but the roads back towards Toulouse, once I cleared the hilly bits the roads were fairly flat, good condition and quiet and so the cycle back through the countryside was excellent touring biking and it was sunny:)
So here are some pictures:
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| Ready for the off |
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| Directions! |
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| Road open |
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| KM marker post on the way up |
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| View looking back to the ski station village of La Mongie |
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| KM marker below Ski station |
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| At the top! |
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| The view to the west and the winding road |
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| Route closed (only local traffic) |
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| Powered by socks! |
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| Back down heading east into that valley |
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| Also powered by Baguettes! |
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| Have luggage will travel |
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| A straight road and flat:) |
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| A road side supporter! |
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| A straight tree lined avenue |
At the airport! Can you guess what it is yet?PS: Charlie is doing the coast to coast tour of Pyrenees in July as a supported group, so we shall wait for her stats?
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