The Bad Detour

Today's ride was a straightforward ride down to Argeles Glazost then up the Hautacam as fast as I could to get back in time for the train. After 4 days of solid sunshine, the weather was more typically Pyranean with low cloud and drizzle.  However, after yesterday's exertions, I felt surprisingly good and did my best Bjarne Riis impression and did the climb in a respectable 1 hour 20 minutes. How did anyone think he wasn't on drugs!  The weather was closing in so after the obligatory photos at the top, it was back down the mountain and back to Lourdes.  The trip to Toulouse went smoothly so I had an afternoon in Toulouse to enjoy. First up was Maison du Vélo, a v cool bicycle repairers/hire/cooperative which a also did great coffee. Then it was off to the banks of the Garone to watch G on Eurosport clinch yellow in the TT. I then finished off with a trip to the Abattoirs, Toulouse's Avant Garde art gallery. ...

Today's mission was to see the start of the stage then take a bit of a shortcut and cycle to the finish before the pros arrive. We started the day with a few double expressos in a cafe on the route of the caravan. It's always good to see, but even more so with things like nuns grabbing the freebies and wearing the hats over their veils. Next up was some pro Cyclist stalking before the stage got underway. This involved some fence climbing but we were helped by some local youth. Mind the spikes Guv Chava's bike is the pick of the peleton Don't fancy E-B's chances on that Frome Dog Nuns on security duty I then got a prime spot by the start line - G was looking v serious but had time for a few words with Christophe Prudome and the top Catholic priest in Lourdes. G getting some device help The guv decided to watch the race from the comfort of the hotel bar but for me it was time to jump on the bike and race Le Tour to ...

After feeling relatively good on yesterday's climbs, today, we set off on a route over the 1st category Col d'Aspin and the Hors Category Col du Tourmalet - the highest pass in the French Pyrenees. Its literal translation is the Bad Detour - a very apt description. I felt pretty good on the first ascent of the Aspin and got to the top in time to get the camera ready for the Guv's showboating at he crested the summit. As per usual, Simon then proceeded to drop me on the decent and we rendezvoud at the foot of the Tourmalet where there were a bunch of sociable Aussies. By this time, it was 38°C and after the relatively easy first couple of kilometers lulling me into a false sense of security, Simon caught me with 12k to go and then dropped me with 8k to go. However, after a few Go Gels I dug deep and managed to reel the Guv in and get to the top in a semi respectable 1 hour 45 minutes - at least an hour of that was pure pain. Still, a...

Today's plan was to get as close to the finish of Stage 17 at the top of the Col de Portet as possible. This involved me upsetting the guv by setting the alarm for 6am but it paid off as we were pretty much the last people up the climb. We first did the Pla d'Adet which was tough at the start but levelled out to 'just' 5% for the last 3km which gave me the opportunity to attack. Then on the decent, what turned out to be the usual mode of operation, the guv did his impression of Nibali descending whilst I was more like Pinot on a very bad day. I then though it was game over for me  when the gendarmerie closed the climb for cyclists, but a couple of Basque riders and me pretended to walk but then jumped on our bikes after 50 metres. After stopping to chat to some chilled out Dutch people with a rainbow flag, I then set about the task of catching up with Simon which I did with about 3km to go. Another cheeky attack with 1k to go got me to within 400m ...