Friday, 17th August
The first blog from me from sunny Provence. Nicola has already let you know that she outdid herself finding the amazing accommodation we have here in the village of Saint-Saturnin-les-Apt. It is very old, very comfortable and immediately puts you into a relaxed provincial frame of mind as you settle into live at the local relaxed pace. I am very quickly getting used to this lifestyle and am not entirely against Nicola's threatened visit to the local real estate office. I could easily live here although how to fund an existence here remains a minor detail I have yet to consider.
During the last week I have been disappearing before sunrise to pootle up the nearest climbs which I have affectionately named 'baby cols' as none are above 1,000m. Only one, at 12km long, has been what you would consider worthy of the name 'col'. It has made for some enjoyable scenic riding, while not letting the climbing fitness gained in the Pyrenees turn to mush ahead of arriving in the Alps next week.
Relaxation was not however on the cards today as it was time to tick off another of my must-do climbs. There were four absolute must-do Tourde France iconic climbs I had to do while I was here in France and Mont Ventoux was one of them (the others being Col du Tourmalet in the Pyrenees (done), and the Alpe d'Huez and the Col du Galibier in the Alps). There are three roads up Mont Ventoux and today I climbed up the preferred Tour de France route from Bedoin. After having presumptuously bought the 'I climbed Mont Ventoux' stickers and other souvenirs, I was quickly off on the bike up the 22km climb to the summit. The climb started easily enough for 3km or so through the vineyards, before heading into the trees as the climb increased in gradient a little more and got the legs used to steeper gradients ahead. After 8km or so the softly-softly introduction ceased and the gradients kicked up. At about the 11km mark the family/support crew drove past shouting, "allez, allez", then proceeded to stop periodically on the way up the climb to offer encouragement as I rode past. It was very cool having them there and enjoying my achieving another climbing goal today. At 16km I made the famous left hand turn at Chalet Reynard to complete the final 6km to the summit. This was also where the famous Mont Ventoux moonscape started, that is, where the vegetation ceased and the rocky landscape began. The final 6km through this lunar landscape, with the incredible views back down to the provincial countryside were fantastic and very memorable, however it wasn't long before I reached the summit to the cheers of the support crew. The climb was lots of fun and not too hard as I had done no lead in ride but simply started from the bottom. The views at the top were stunning on this clear day and we could easily see the Alps, whetting the appetite for the next leg of the cycling-related portion of this trip.
More morning training rides around the beautiful provincial countryside are on the cards for the coming week, with the next big ride being another climb up Mont Ventoux, this time from here then taking the longer but less steep route up from Sault. When I told Nicola how long this ride would be she looked at me like I was insane so some discussion and late ride plan changes may be needed before this happens.
Tomorrow is kids' day out so we are off to a leisure park which should be fun. TTFN.
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