Category: Tours
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Roasted
I made the mistake of leaving at 9am in to a brutally hot day. Apart from Lourdes, which had a cloud covering it – a sure miracle – I baked all day. My main concern was always water but I never had a problem finding it. The best moment was spotting a friendly tap at…
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Cirque de Gavarnie pt2
The last 10km were a real mental battle. I found morale followed how much food I’d eaten in the last 5 minutes. So after pondering giving up with 8km to go I stuffed my face with gummy bears and got going. The heat was oppressive; blue sky and little shade. It was in the 30s,…
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Cirque de Gavarnie
A long old climb! I recognised a hotel from where I’d stayed last year and also realised I’d had a lovely ride down the gorge I rode up this morning. The climb is 40k or so. I’ve done 30 with the hard bit left. I thought it would take me 3h to climb, but I’m…
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Hautacam
It was hot. The story of hot where you are happy to find a tree where you can stop for a snack and a cheeky rest. Nothing was too steep for me. I had a nice relaxed picnic half way up. Very pretty at the top and a lovely sight – an open café. On…
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Le Viscos
Arrived safely in Saint-Savin, my base for two days. I’ve wanted to visit the hotel for years having repeatedly heard about it on The Cycling Podcast. It was a nice journey, easy ks compared to yesterday though it was about half the distance. Variety is the spice of life. I felt wrecked this morning but…
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Pau
I made it to Pau but it was a bit of a slog in the end. Always pedalling with no respite is not my strong point. There were a couple of small hills and it reminded me a little of Essex. I’m safely parked in my hotel, the restaurant is booked and tomorrow is much…
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Pootling along
Detour for water and a ham sandwich before a peaceful picnic in Bellocq. Posted from Pau, France:
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Relaxed day
I’ve got all day to get to Pau, it’s all along a river and only about 5h of cycling, maximum. I’m finally going to take my time and do what I’d imagined I’d do rather than always moving on (memories of Africa where the bed to move forward became a trap). So, crossword by the…
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Double-Dipping
My tour is turning in to connecting the climbs in the book “Mountain High” by Daniel Friebe. The Urkiola is “the Basque Galibier” according to the book so off I headed from Bilbao. The climb was steady away and had trees all the way up with steep rock faces bursting up behind them. I didn’t…
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Wife
Tamsin is here and we’ve been pretty much chilling out so not much to report. Currently on the train to Bilbao. Posted from Spain: