Thursday 23rd August
This week has been a fairly lazy week riding wise, doing training rides through the gorges and over the baby cols surrounding our village. It has been lots of fun and has probably been a good thing given the intensity of the riding when we get to the Alps (I have a ridiculously long ride wish list to try and get through).
Today however was a different story as I once again headed off to ride Mont Ventoux. Last time I completed my shortest ride so far, having started from Bedoin and ridden a whopping 22km up to the summit. This time I did my longest ride so far, starting before sun rise and riding from here up and over the Plateau de Vaucluse via the Col de la Liguere, then descending into the Sault before starting the 26km ascent of what I have been calling the "sissy" route up Mont Ventoux.
The weather conditions at the top of Mont Ventoux were very different than before. Last time it was a hot sunny day with spectacular clear views as far as the Alps. Today it was hazy with not an Alp in sight. The mountain also lived up to its name as it was windy near the summit, creating a head wind that made the riding more challenging. It was a fun climb but by the time I reached the top there were more than 50 km in the legs so they were complaining a bit.
A quick Orangina and it was back down the hill to Sault. The wind made the descend a bit blustery and wobbly, as did the road conditions which were much worse than the other side which is favoured by the Tour so kept in better condition. At Sault I decided to take the longer but more scenic route back to Saint-Saturnin-Les-Apt, over the plateau again however this time down the side of a very scenic gorge. It made for a really enjoyable finish to a great ride.
That was the last of the riding for Provence and I have been very pleasantly surprised by the riding here. I have enjoyed it very much. As well as the local rides, Mont Ventoux was great to climb and riding up the upper section with its unique lunar landscape is forever etched into the memory. It was great to ride another iconic Tour climb, with my favourite Ventoux moments replaying in my head, such as Eddy Merckx assault of the mountain in 1970 that put incredible time into his opponents but caused him to collapse after the finish and need oxygen. Then there was the duel between Armstrong and Pantani in 2000 where Armstrong apparently did the normal Tour etiquette for a GC rider interested only in gaining more time, and let Pantani win the stage. Later an offended (and ungrateful?) Pantani claimed he won the stage fair and square, which led to the famous Armstrong rebuke of, "no more gifts". This was only Armstrong's second tour win so perhaps he was a little too honest and still learning diplomacy skills.
Packing tomorrow before heading along the scenic route to the Alps on Saturday.
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