Mountaineering
However, we hit the 7:31 out of St Pancras on a wet Wednesday morning and arrived in Avignon by about 3pm local time later that afternoon basking in glorious sunshine. The journey went by pretty quick, helped by plenty of cards and coffee on mainly empty trains. Playing a 36 Euro cash game, I was reloading within 10 minutes but finished the journey nearly 100 euro up #result
We hailled a cab to the B&B we were staying at in just outside Mazan - A Capella. Tony booked a lovely rustic place for us. We were probably a bit rough around the edges for the gaff but they seemed happy enough to see us! The place really is worth looking at if you are booking a small group trip to Ventoux. It's a ways from the town and facilities are pretty spartan but the unheated pool is perfect for easing the legs off before and after a hard days training.
We hired bikes from a shop in Bedouin, so the easiest way to collect them was to run there. The lady said it was 9km so a nice easy 45 min jog on the cards. We basically got pretty lost trying to find the place and ended up running 9 trail miles, all uphill. But as we are on a training trip it's all good time in the bank! Picked up the bikes - Trek Domane 4.3 - they seemed OK, nothing special and quite heavy but they would do the job for us. Rode back to Mazan with no dramas, 8 miles along the main road and net downhill. Stopped at the local boozer for a beer and ended up having 4. Luckily the couple of miles to the B&B is on quiet trails so we weaved our way back to the villa. Dived straight into the unheated pool and cooled off nicely. Got changed and walked into town for dinner. Hit the 1664 pretty hard and ambled the couple of miles back home tired and ready to go up the big hill in the morning.
Day 1
9 miles jog, 1 hour 20
10 miles bike, 35 mins
4 miles walk, 1 hour 20 mins
Woke up nice and early on Thursday, quick dip in the pool and breakfast. I'm not sure what it is with France but they just don't do breakfast right!! Cheese and ham baguettes, fig jam, coffee, pastry, OJ & fruit. Where's the full English gut-buster ??!! :)
Loaded up the bikes with nutrition and headed to Bedouin to the start of the Ventoux climb. Nice run up the hill to the base and a quick coffee before the off. The Ventoux climb is 22km @ 7.5% avge. For me, it's the iconic climb of the Tour de France. What you don't really see on the TV though is that the first 3km are gentle climb into the forest. Then it's 13km in the forest and the last 6km to the summit are on the famous luna-scape bare rocks. It's really the last 6km that everyone recognises with the radio tower in the distance at the very top. it looks like a giant lighthouse and you can see it from everywhere along the base!
The first 3-4km are pretty gentle 2.5-5% and you can easily over cook it here. Once you hit the Forest the road stiffens up and it's mainly 9-12%. It's also really protected in here and there is no wind. It was a really hot day so the pressure was building early on! I tapped away at a nice pace, I had no Garmin mount on the bike so I was using the bike computer which was showing 10-11kmph at most times. The hardest part of the climb isn't the steepness, it's the fact that you get a marker at every KM which shows how many KM to go, avge % of next KM and current altitude in meters. Knowing you have 10 miles to go and at no stage does the road go downhill or flat is mentally tough!
Once you get through the forest, you hit the 6km to go marker and Chalet Reynard. This is where the road from Sault joins. In honesty it's quite a boost hitting the moonscape and the lighthouse looks really close from up here. The next 5km felt easy to be fair. Not sure if it's the fact that you're mentally feeling near the top or it's actually not so bad but I felt strong here.
Pass the fountain at 3km to go and the Tom Simpson memorial at just under a KM and then it a sting in the tail. The hardest part of the climb is the last 800m. It really stiffens up and hits sections of 15-20%.
Hit the summit and there's basically loads of people milling about and loads of stalls selling sweets. I climbed off, took a selfie, took off my shoes and waited for Tony & Coleman who wound up 20 & 40 mins behind me.
The decent is fast and furious and pretty dangerous with loads of bad drivers and cyclists swerving all over the road at 5mph trying to get up! Stopped at the Simpson memorial, pretty strange seeing water bottles and energy gels left in memory of someone who died of severe dehydration. Pretty touching though having to queue with so many people paying respects.
Up in around 2 hours (Garmin screwed up) and back down in about 28 mins! Grabbed a pizza in Bedouin, then time trialled home along the main road before a slow cruise back to the B&B. Back in the pool to cool off then out for a run. Only 2 miles very easy but needed to get supplies from the supermarket. An ice cold Coke never tasted so good!
Chineese for dinner and more cards before hitting the sack, absolutely crackered and 130 euro up.
Day 2
42 miles cycling, 3 hours
2 miles running, 15 mins
6 miles walking, 2 hours
Friday morning woke up with legs feeling pretty toasted. Hit breakfast - same as yesterday with some French chit-chat and spent a while in the pool stretching and cooling the legs off. Loaded up bikes again and hit a long ride. Plan was to ride around the base of Ventoux. We headed up to Bedouin, had standard coffee and grabbed some route maps. Headed to Flassan, the up the amazing Gorge de la Nesque. I cant describe how amazing this road is. It climbs from 200m to 735m over 22 km and follows a path alongside a mountain. You are riding next to sheer drop the entire way and there are 3/4 tunnels which cut through the rock. The scenery is impressive and on a beautiful day we were pretty much blessed. Once you hit the top you drop down quick and then back up to Sault. We stopped for lunch (fancy Donner kebabs) and then headed to Aurel. A pretty tasty decent to the main D40 road and then steady rolling road until the sharp climb to Brantes. We stopped here for another coffee. Pretty impresive village full of 'middle Englanders' enjoying Provence. We climbed out of the village and then hit a really good decent into Eygaliers. Once here it started to rain heavy so we ducked for cover in a farm shop. Once it eased we set out steadily as it was a bit sketchy on the roads. Into Malaucene and then up the Col de Madelaine and back into Badouin. Straight back to the B&B and again straight into the pool!
Day 3
82 miles cycling, 5 hrs 30 mins
4 miles walking, 1 hr 20 mins
Saturday - last day on the bikes, decided to start a bit later. Plan was to hit Ventoux but only to Reynard then split to Sault. Lunch and back down the Gorge de la Nasque and into Bedouin. Drop off bikes and run home.
Left the B&B, noticed by Mazan noticed Coleman was fucked. Pushed on and left Tony & AC to go and score some of the good shit. Coffee at Bedouin! By the time the boys got there we decided to pull Coleman out. He was in pieces and had no chance of climbing 16kms.
Tony and I headed off for the planned ride. Ventoux was a killer on tired legs. Avge was slower than last time, probs 7mph against 7.5mph! Coffee in Reynard then a super fast ride down to Sault. The Sault road was really well tarmaced, and the bends were really easy - much better and easier than the Bedouin route. Hit Sault and found a great little cafe to stop for lunch. Headed up and then down the Gorge. Again, an amazing route but the wind really picked up today and had to concentrate to stay upright. The road from Flassin to Bedouin was absolutely brutal. Not a big climb but into a stiff wind. Rolled back into Bedouin and was totally cooked.
Now, the bike shop had a mis-communication. I'd sent a request for Wednesday - Saturday stating we'd pick bikes up last knockings Wednesday BUT they had quoted me Wednesday - Friday! An interesting exchange but we got it sorted in the end. We agreed to disagree. And they haven't charged me yet so fair play to them.
Quick beer while we waited for Coleman and then ran back to Mazan. Ended up running 3.5 miles progressive 7:30 pace - 6:30 pace. Some walking and then an easy mile into town. Beer and dinner and walk home before collapsing into bed.
Day 4
56 miles cycling, 4 hrs 15 mins
4.5 miles running, 30 mins
3 miles walking, 1 hour
Sunday was home time, however with a late check out decided to get a last run in. 4 miles trail with plenty of uphills @ 7:30/mm was all we could manage. Legs were heavy as and knew they'd had a great training block. Highlight of the day was an 'Americano' sandwich - baguette, 2 x burgers, cheese, lettuice & overflowing with chips!!
Travelled back to Avignon, train to Paris. Beer & cards then #boom managed to miss the last Eurostar home. Total disaster ended up having to book a hotel then get the first available train back Monday morning!!
Day 5
4 miles running, 30 mins
2 miles walking, 40 mins
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