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Pyrenees- Col d'Aspin, Peyresourde, Tourmalet, Aubisque
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17-09-2008 5:41pm#1Just back from a cycling holiday in the south of France (Rodez to Bayonne, 860km, ~8,000m climbing) which took in a few days in the Pyrenees- which I am now going to bore ye about. Note now that I don’t possess Tonto’s writing skills so you may just want to look at the pretty pictures. Weather was mixed in the extreme; we had all four seasons in the space of a week and indeed sometimes in the course of a single day. First extended tour on my Van Nicholas Amazon and must say I am very happy with it indeed, the thing rolls along very nicely indeed and seems very stable under load.
Thu 11: So, to start, got up early Thursday morning in Lannemezan (593m), majorly excited, and headed out up the mountains.
Col de Beyrède 1417m
This one was a bit of an accident; I had programmed my GPS to take me to the Col d’Aspin and rather than following the signs I foolishly followed the GPS. By the time I realised where I was going I’d climbed up 250m and wasn’t going to go back down. This led me past a succession of signs warning of great danger up what quickly turned into a dirt track which apart from a bit of a levelling off in the middle did not fall below 10% for the entire ascent! This was indeed the “shortest” way up to the Col d’Aspin but was pretty difficult in places. At the top, while fiddling around on the ground with my camera a shocked French lady ran over to me. Apparently she thought I was dead but was happy to take my photo when I explained that I was not.
Col d’Aspin 1490m
A slightly better track (with more cows) led down to around 2km off the summit of the Col d’Aspin where the rest of the climb was completed on the “standard” climb from Sainte-Marie-de-Campan. There were quite a few cyclists on the summit and a guy from Washington state took my photo at the sign. Cows and deer seem to just amble around the road at the top for no obvious reason and seem completely unfazed by cars or cyclists.
Col de Peyresourde 1569m
Due to my mistake of taking in the Beyrède I descended the Aspin on the other side and proceeded up the Col de Peyresourde which was nearby. While there were lots of cyclists climbing the Aspin the Peyresourde was pretty isolated; I met only two German cyclists on the ascent and a Spaniard and English cyclist at the top, both of whom had wives waiting for them. This was a bit of a steep one in places but had very nice views over a lake and some pretty villages. The weather held for my descent but I was utterly soaked on the return to Lannemezan.
In the afternoon we proceeded over a pretty hilly route via Mauvezin to Bagnères-de-Bigorre (572m) from where I planned an up-and-back on the Tourmalet the following morning. Total for the day 140km, 2,225m climbing.1
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Friday 12: Col de Tourmalet 2112m
Weather was not looking great going up the Tourmalet and got worse as I ascended basically into the cloud cover. Visibility was pretty low from La Mongie onwards and actually got worse for the descent. I had been OK ascending without gloves but on the descent I had to stop at the one open shop in La Mongie (4km off the summit) to buy gloves; my hands had completely stopped working at that point and had no sensation left in them whatsoever. All the shop had was a €40 pair of skiing gloves that were too small for me but I was glad to get anything. I didn’t meet any cyclists going up but saw a fair few heading up on the descent. Overall the climb was surprisingly easy, I was expecting a lot worse. The descent was the difficult bit.
More hills in the afternoon brought us through Argelès-Gazost (435m) and then up a bit to Arras-en-Lavedan (695m) from where we planned to go over the Solour and Aubisque the following morning, with all the bags this time. Total for the day 100km, 2,015m climbing.0 -
Sat 13: Col de Soulor 1474m
The Solour is an intermediate col on the way up to the Aubisque; you ascend to it, then descend for 2km before heading on up to the Aubisque. Again it is a bit of a steep one in places, more difficult than the Aubisque itself. We climbed into the cloud and the weather deteriorated as we progressed. Thankfully there was an open café at the top where we thawed out for a while but as a result when progressing to the Aubisque it was quite late (16:30) and the weather was only getting worse.
Col d’Aubisque 1709m
The road between the Solour and the Aubisque is easily the most spectacular of any of the climbs, cut into the side of the mountain and indeed through it in places. It’s also pretty gentle with just over 350m of climbing and just a bit of a kick towards the end. Unfortunately visibility was again pretty bad and by the time we got to the col it was almost 18:00 and we were completely soaked through. Descending in the wet was terrifying, brakes barely working and with the fog very difficult to see the road. Again very painful indeed with the cold. Thankfully we found somewhere to stay in Gourette, 4km down off the summit. This is a ski resort and was basically abandoned but had one open hotel, the owner of which had a disconcerting resemblance to Jack Nicholson.
Total today was very short, 33km, but still with 1,135m climbing.
Sun 14: Col d’Aubisque 1709m (with a view this time)
The next day by contrast was beautiful so we headed back up to the col from Gourette to take in the view that we had completely missed the day before. Weather held up all day and we had an easy ride to Oloron-Sainte-Marie, which has a 12c cathedral but more importantly is home to the French Lindt factory.
Total today 61km, 475km climbing. 1,375m descending.
Looking forward to the Alps in a few weeks! The main lesson I would take from this is to be ultra-prepared for changable weather.0 -
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TinyExplosions wrote: »And not a single picture of your good lady who accompanied you
And Barrabus had two ladies!0 -
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TinyExplosions wrote: »And not a single picture of your good lady who accompanied you
... As a true investigator, here are my conclusion on that subjet.
* Blorg seems to be carrying ALL the luggage, the other bike has no paniers
* Blorg did not include ANY photo of his partner
CONCLUSION - Blorg was NOT accompanied and was carring an extra bike on his back for additional weight training purposes.
Yes, Blorg = Legend0 -
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Overall the climb was surprisingly easy, I was expecting a lot worse...
...Total for the day 100km, 2,015m climbing.
see, it's throw-away comments like this that put the fear of god into me. i think i speak for the rest of the alpine expedition when i say that, blorg, you will be doing a lot of your climbing on your own and you should probably consider bringing some extra layers (or possibly a tent) for the wait you're going to have at the top for the rest of us to show up.
looks like a great rip though - if we manage to pick off a few big climbs in the alps you will have done most of france's famous peaks all in one month. which would be nice.
great photos too. i love this one
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