After a plesant stay in The Grand Hotel with its cycling memorabilia in a very quaint village we set off on cool morning with rain forcast.
The road started to wind its way gently up a beautiful valley the altitude at barcelonette was 1100m and the first aim was the Col de la Cayolle at 2300m.
Cycling up hills has taken on a whole new meaning for me here in France. The thought of climbing up one 1000m plus hill a day back in NZ is something I never would have considered our thought possible previously. Let alone 2 x 1000m plus hills in the same day!!!
The legs felt leaden initially, but luckily the gradient started gently and the valley was truely spectacular. The road was small and twisty and virtualy carless which added to the beauty and wound through the Mercantour National Park. It was 30km to the col and there were some great photo opportunities. Tom and I cruised along at the back at our own pace taking the role of “Lantern Rouge” or tail sweepers very seriously. The gradient was kind for the first 20km then rose up to 8% for a few of the last 10km with a cold head wind adding to grind.
It was a quick change at the Col de la Cayolle into all our warm gear as it was misty and down to a cold 4 degrees. The larch forests were said to indicate a warmer climate as we close in on the Mediterranean!
What goes up must come down and the best thing about a 30km climb is a wonderful 30 km descent. This started off bumpy but shortly after a warming hot chocolate at a quaint refuge the road became smooth and it was another truely awesome downhill, all 33km of it. At one stage we were passed by a small truck and Jef, Geoff, Jeff, Mark and I jumped in behind it and drafted more than 10km behind it at 40 to 50kph without hardly a pedal stroke.
Eventually we found ourselves in another beautiful French village, this one called Guillames at 780m, so thats 1500m downhill!!! At this point the veteran’s ride finished (apart from Robina and Geoff who are in the open division). Tom, Jenny and I tried to complain as the next climb looked great also, but were informed that at this stage in the tour only one 1000m climb per day is allowed for veterans. The offer of a beer and lunch soon appeased us.
Apparently the open division never got out of second gear during the next climb up another small and stunning valley. They topped out at 1780m at Valberg which is a ski area in winter and had a short 5km descent to Beuil just as it started to rain. We stayed at L’Escapade with a michelin star restaurent and the 14th centuary village was very quaint and we all enjoyed a great evening.
Written by Hamish
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