Neil's first ride

23 July (Neil) - Today was the first opportunity for me to get out on the bike and see if all the training during the last few months had paid off. I had been advised to start with a relatively easy ride to get my "climbing legs" so I decided to do the Col du Soulor and Col d'Aubisque. With 30km of climbing it was definitely one of the longer rides however both cols had some forgiving sections of less than 5%gradients, however there were 9%+ pitches to test the legs. Heather being sick today meant I needed to be self-sufficient and do an out-and-back ride route, so I started from Argeles-Gazost and rode up the Col du Soulor then on to the Aubisque, going in the opposite direction in which the Tour de France did these cols last week. I parked the car at the roundabout you will have seen a million times if you follow the tour as the riders come off the Soulor and turn right to head off through the Gorge de Luz for the Tourmalet. Even this minor thing gave me goosebumps and I was grinning as I set out up the hill. The climbing starts immediately with a 8.5% average for the first 3kms which definitely got me warmed up. On a clear day like today the scenery was simply stunning and became increasingly so as the climbing continued. For the next 14km the climbing became more tempered and I passed through some beautiful alpine villages. The slacking off ceased and for the last 12km the average gradients were between 8% and 9.5%. These are averages so there were a few sections that definitely had me out the saddle to get over. The view at the top of the Soulor was incredible, however after taking a couple of photos and supping a coke at the cafe I quickly continued on while the legs were warm. The road to the Aubisque is amazing. It is fairly narrow with steep sides and a couple of tunnels in places going through the mountain. Once again the views were stunning. This section was 11km long however had very manageable gradients with only the last 2-3km being steep. After more photos of the view, and another coke, it was on with the wind cheater and sleeves for the 30km descent. What a day! It was amazing to achieve a lifetime dream and be on the same roads as the tour riders, riding over their names painted on the roads by the fans. I was constant smiles all day and was quite emotional and humbled at times when I recognised sections of the route for all the years watching the tour. It was a relief along that the legs passed their first test and I can't wait to get back out there.

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