First the bad news - I didn't get to do the "queen" stage today so no Aspin/Tourmalet double. The weather today was overcast with low clouds so I decided to wait until the clearer days forecast for Tuesday/Wednesday. This suits the support crew better too as they are meeting me at the top of the Tourmalet so the views will be more enjoyable.
Now the good news - An early start this morning saw me tip-toeing out the door before dawn to drive over towards Pau to do the Col de Marie Blanque. Taking full advantage of the French disdain for mornings, I had the road completely to myself and arrived at Arudy quickly. The sun came up but it was not very obvious as the clouds were very low. This time my ride planning worked perfectly. I had devised a loop where I parked the car and rode around the col to get to the start of the steeper side, having spotted a road with green edges surrounded by "bois" (woods/forest) on the map. As hoped for the ride was very scenic through gruffalo country (deep, dark wood) then through some typically French farms. After about 24km of riding I got to the start of the climb, however the first few kilometres were very laid back then the final 5km were brutal, starting a 9% and working their way upwards from there. It was a good challenging climb and with nothing to see at the top due to clouds it was onwards down the longer cruisier side for a pleasant descent back into the valley where the car was parked. Good fun on an overcast day.
Tomorrow we are off to Carcassonne, a large medieval fortress town, Nicola has been wanting to see it. I've been there before when I was a teenager so I'll keep the kids amused while she explores.
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