JR locked it up THE CORONA MOMENT !! Pyrenees day one

JR locked it up  THE CORONA MOMENT !!
Pyrenees day one by Geoff

A beautiful morning greeted the peleton of 5 + 2. Di and Lindsay being the two, and Leigh, Dave, Leslie, JR and Geoff the last remaining from the 13 who left Geneva.

We have our hotel apartments, Les Arches, in the town of Saint Lary Soulan, and the Williams joined us as we departed downstream on the banks of the Neste river.  At Arreau (just before) we turned and proceeded up the road towards the col de Pyresourde. (1563m)  After a k or two we looked back and the peleton had doubled in size. We had been joined by a English group of 5 who had been staying at a gite run by a English man living here for 9 yrs and running cycling tours

The tour leader Chris went to the front which was a bit unfortunate as we had probably thought the day would be a group ride to the top. Leigh was first to react and he went straight up to him. I was busy encouraging Dave to go but he held back. Leslie stopped for a quick pee and disappeared, leaving Dave and me to go with JR.

We quickly closed Chris and Leigh on great smooth tar riding and a gradient that dropped back to 6 degrees.  More chat about local terrain and good rides, and where this road and that went, which way the tour went etc before Dave steadily with ‘no effort’ put his power into the pedal and we rode away from Chris and his group.

The Pyresourde - as famous as it is, is easy climbing and not long or high and we are soon all sitting in the sun enjoying crepes and omelets and coffee. Served to us by a young girl just back from 5 months touring New Zealand.

A quick descent on smooth tar back down the road we have climbed and with Chris leading we don’t miss the turn off that leads us towards the Azet col.

The exactly same story applies on this col. Chris jumps away and is left to dangle out there. Leigh closes him down, then Dave and me and JR and Lindsay, before his puffing disappears behind us.  Smooth road climbing - at about 8 degrees - so steeper climbing than the alps but a lot shorter,

Don’t take the ski field turn  - follow the yellow tour de france arrows on the road and we are soon at the top.

We gather all / share a story or two with the poms and then we are off.

What Chris didn’t say was that after 3 - or 4 kms thee was a hard left turn hairpin.
THE CORONA MOMENT !! JR brakes hard - slides the back wheel sideways - lets it run - pulls hard again - almost high sides, lets it runout into the grass verge and saves the day. One foot out - no stopping - clips in and away again.

Thar story will be told a few more times over the years - JR’s Corona moment. He of course takes the pukeko award.

And then we are back in town.

Of course Dave has not had enough and soon I find that i’m going up hill again with him.
Up the valley towards Spain and the tunnel. One hour of climbing and Ive had enough of the valley road climbing that kicks to 10 degrees a couple times and I head home.

Dave of course goes up another 6kms at 8 percent grade.

It is only 18 mins to home to find JR / leslie by the pool sunning and enjoying a Corona.