Olot to Platja d'Aro

This was it!  This was the last day of riding!  This was the trip of a lifetime for me. 

Today we went 119 km, with 1,415 meters of cumulative climbing.  We went from Olot, Spain, to Patja d'Aro, Spain.  This is cool!   I did it!

The total trip totally was officially 817 km long, and it involved literally 14,877 meters of climbing.  I had such a great time.  When I signed up for this, 11 or 12 months ago now, I had great anxiety/uncertainty regarding what would be involved.  I wanted to challenge myself though, so this seemed like a good idea.  It turned out to be great.  It was a very difficult ride for me, but I am so glad that I did it.  I was with riders far more accomplished and experienced than I am, but it all worked out just fine nonetheless.

The weather today could not have been better.  It was a perfect day for a long bike ride.

We had an easy ride earlier today, but then quite a climb to San Grau.  That was near the end of our ride then.  That was a 10.9 km climb, with elevations up to 9.3%.  That took us to the top of a huge cliff, at the edge of the Mediterranean Sea.  (I had to stop and say "Arrrr!  I love the smell of the salt air!!!"  There were no daughters around to annoy then, but I said it anyway!)   I had anticipated that we would have an easy downhill ride, after that, down to our hotel.   I was wrong.  We had a very interesting and difficult ride, up and down, as well as winding left and right, finally getting us down to the sea level.

I am so glad that I did this.  It was great!

Gosol to Olot

Today provided again a truly great ride.  I see that photos are uploading very slowly here, presumably due to the tenuous wifi connection, so I will just enter in one today.  This is a photo that I took not long after leaving Gosol this morning.  I am impressed that the region now is more green.  Certainly the impressive Pyrenees mountains are still well visible all around, but the foliage is now actually reminiscent of northern Wisconsin!

We rode 98 km today, with moderate climbing.  Yesterday and today went very well for me, with even more climbing yesterday, so these have been two confidence building days for me.  Today's ride, once again, involved weather so good that I feel almost guilty enjoying it.  There was no rain, comfortable temperatures (except a bit cold in the morning, during the descents possibly), and no significant wind.  Pretty neat!

Tomorrow is the last day of riding.  It is the longest day, in terms of distance to cover, but there is really only one major climb.  We will cover 120 km tomorrow.  The big climb tomorrow comes actually in the latter half of the day.  Descending off of that climb then, we end up later literally at the Mediterranean!

In that regard, this trip is quite like the CrossRoads trip that I did in 2010.  The CrossRoads trip was far longer certainly, but it was also an ocean to ocean adventure.  That earlier trip, and this current one, both start and end at sea level.  Both trips have been truly remarkable experiences for me.

Sort, Spain to Gosol, Spain

The internet is faster now, presumably with less people using it.  I have been able to upload four photos.  The first is one just leaving Sort, earlier this morning.  The second is a photo taken of the region of Andorra, that photo taken just from the south of that region.  The last two demonstrate Catalonian villages, in the region just approaching Gosol.

Sort, Spain to Gosol, Spain

Today was, once again, an outstanding day.  The ride was long and difficult, as had been expected, but this was clearly the most scenic day of all so far.  The weather, once again, was spectacular.

The ride today was 103 km long, with a total of 2, 571 meters of climbing.  There were three climbs.  Those were Collada del Canto, Coll de la Trava, and finally Coll de Josa.  The first one started literally right at our hotel in Sort (no time for warm up there), and the last one ended at our hotel in the tiny town of Gosol.

This is now the Catalonia region.  This seems quite different from the more western Pyrenees.  There are more conifers, for one thing.  The mountains are just spectacular.  The Catalonian towns surely look different from the Basque towns.

Today we started out on Collada del Canto.  That's a category 1 climb.  It is 19.3 km long, and the total elevation gain is right at 1,100 meters.  The top is at 1,720 meters above sea level.  When I started out on the climb, I felt nervous, but also strong.  I decided to challenge myself.  It was impulsive, as well as stupid and pointless, but I decided to try to do the whole climb non-stop.  I was actually successful, even surprising myself that I never had to stop for a break on my way up.  I felt so wasted at the top of the climb however, that this self-challenge ranks rather high on my lifelong list of stupid ideas.  Oh well!

This trip never goes through Andorra, but we went close by today.  On our second climb, the one up Coll de la Trava, we found a lookout spot near the top that was probably just 9 to 10 km from Andorra.  I am having trouble uploading photos on this blog, due to the slow internet connection here.  If I can later upload some photos this evening however, maybe when the internet is faster, I will make the second photo be the one looking to the north, from Coll de la Trava, toward the region of Andorra.

Having an absolutely great time.  Pretty tired, and pretty overwhelmed, but having a great time.

Bagneres de Luchon, France to Sort, Spain

Bagneres de Luchon, France to Sort, Spain

Today was yet another unbelievably great ride!  I honestly don't know how the Trek Travel guides can be so successful with the weather.  We had bright sunshine all day, no rain at all, and only a mild headwind.  The headwind was really only during the last 10 km of today's ride anyway, so it really was no big deal.  Very comfortable temperatures all day long.

We went 109 km today, and we accomplished 2,086 meters of total elevation gain.  Not bad!

Yesterday had been a wonderful rest day for me at Bagneres de Luchon.  I mainly just walked around and explored the town.  I was intrigued by the huge cemetery on one side of the town, so I went over there.  I had expected to see graves from the very distant past.  It may be that I was in the wrong section for that however, as I saw no graves before the early 1800s.  Actually, what I saw was not graves, but very impressive mausoleums. 

I did stop in the town yesterday and I had lunch at a cafe right out on the street.  I had two Kronenbourgs.  That's two draft Kronenbourgs.  Sitting there in the sunshine, having draft Kronenbourg (my all-time second-favorite beer), I felt that I was probably only one to two centimeters removed from heaven!

Walking around the town yesterday, I could not help but notice that the entire little town was absolutely nestled in (ie.., surrounded by) absolutely huge mountains.  I deduced that there would be no way out of town without an impressive climb.

This morning I learned that my deductive skills are marginally still accurate.  Indeed, we were literally only 1.3 km from our hotel this morning when we found ourselves on Col de Portillon.  That was a brutal category 2 climb, even more brutal because we were not even then warmed up.  This is an 11 km long climb, with grades up to 13%.  (The average grade is only 6.1%, but this is a relentless climb that simply never lets up at all.)

At the top of Col de Portillon we entered into Spain.  I was so disappointed to find absolutely no "Welcome to Spain" sign.  I had been expecting and hoping for a photo opportunity with that, but there was none to be had.  Oh well! 

We had a coolish (OK, it was cold actually) descent from there, and then we began the very long climb of Port de la Bonaigua.  That is a category 1 climb, 23 km long literally, with grades from generally 5 to 9%.  As difficult as it was, I just couldn't get over how beautiful it was.  Lots of photos taken today.  That was at 2,072 meters above sea level.  As I understand, that will be our highest level attained on this trip in Spain.

Regarding photos, I am having trouble uploading them with this internet connection.  I will try to put in 3 or 4 below, if I can.  The second one is taken probably a half of the way up Port de la Bonaigua, just above the little town of Arties.  If you look in the distance on that photo, you will see a glacier!

Cool!

(Was that a double entendre?)

I am nervous about tomorrow.  There will be three awful climbs tomorrow, one immediately as we leave Sort.  The third climb tomorrow, then when we are all tired, will be including elevations of 14%!

Bagneres de Luchon

Rest day today - Bagneres de Luchon

Today is a Sunday.  Today is coincidentally a much needed, and much appreciated, day of rest. 

We have completed four days of riding, and we have four more left to go until we reach the Mediterranean.  Tomorrow we will enter Spain, that apparently at the very top of our first climb of the day, and we will remain in Spain for the rest of the trip.

We are spending the day in Bagneres de Luchon.  This is a really cool little town, right in the heart of the Pyrenees.  This whole area is just outrageously beautiful.  We are just a short distance from Spain.

My roommate and I slept in this morning, probably all the way to 7:30 AM or so.  After breakfast, I set out about the important job of washing clothes.  I found a tiny laundromat just two blocks from our hotel here.  There were three washing machines and two driers.  No people were there when I arrived.  There were some handwritten messages on paper, taped to some of the machines.  I can speak, read, and understand at least some French.  Clearly not enough.  Doing my laundry was a remarkable intelligence test.  I substantively failed the test.  I was unable to understand most of the handwritten messages on the papers that were taped on some of the machines.  Further, the posters on the wall regarding how to operate the machines were just incomprehensible.  I lost a number of euro coins in one machine.  I couldn't understand that.  Later, an elderly man and his wife came in.  They spoke no English at all, but they didn't need to speak English to discern that I was a complete idiot.  Recognizing my dilemma, and my incompetence, the man spoke to me exclusively in French, very slowly, enunciating each word clearly and motioning excessively with his hands.  It was clear that he felt sorry for me.  He was finally able to explain to me that the letters "H S" mean something like "out of service."  (I had been happily putting my coins in the washer with the sign taped at the top that indicated that it was an "H S" machine.)

Ultimately I succeeded, and I now have a suitcase full of clean and dry clothes.

I am having a great time on this trip.  Everything about this trip is meeting and even exceeding all of my earlier expectations and hopes.  That stated however, this has been a more than humbling experience for me.  There are 21 cyclists on this trip, along with the 3 guides.  Everyone is incredibly friendly and positive.  It is more than clear, however, that I am totally outclassed.  I am in way over my head, in terms of cycling ability.  (As an example, one of the riders on this tour is a woman who placed fourth apparently in the 2004 Olympics in Athens!)  Who was I kidding when I signed up for this trip?  Not that it matters, but I am generally the last, or the next-to-last one, at the top of each climb.  Yesterday I made it in to the destination probably hours after the first cyclists arrived.  Of course that doesn't really matter.  Still, my earlier self image of being a moderately accomplished cyclist is pretty well deflated.

Oh well.  I just guess that means that I have more room for improvement than a lot of the others do!

I must pause to comment upon the French drivers.  I wish that every licensed driver in the United States could be required to come here and learn how to drive.  I have been on narrow and winding mountain roads throughout this trip, most without a defined road shoulder.  I have been going uphill at a speed invoking concepts of plate tectonics, and I have been going downhill at speeds over 60 kph.  Throughout all of that there has always been lots of automobile, motorcycle, and truck traffic.  Despite the traffic and the roads, I have never felt threatened, unwelcome, or unsafe.  Not even once.  The French drivers are uniformly respectful of cyclists.  If a car is behind me and it is unsafe to pass, the driver just slows to my speed, and stays well behind me until passing is safe.  That is surely not the scene in the United States. 

I am looking forward to continuing the ride tomorrow.  (Maybe by then my legs will no longer function like jelly!)

Perhaps even more so,  I am really looking forward to seeing Marsha in Barcelona on Friday!

Onward to Spain!!!

Saint Savin, France to Bagneres de Luchon, France

Wow!  Today was an unbelievably hard day.  This was a day of 111 km in distance, and 3,308 meters in climb!  Our highest point today was the highest paved pass in the Pyrenees mountains (2,114 m).

We had three major climbs today.  The first was the "hors category" climb of Col de Tormalet.  Then we had two category 2 climbs afterwards, Col d'Aspin and Col de Peyresourde.  The latter two wouldn't have been quite so hard on me, I believe, except that Col de Tormalet had me so wasted already by then.

Today was a wonderful day!  If I could have special ordered the weather, I could not have done a better job.  We had clear and sunny skies only.  There was no perceptible wind, and no hint of rain at all.  The air temp was cool, especially on top of the mountains, but not truly cold.  It really was nice!  It was cool enough that I used my recently purchased leg warmers and full fingered gloves.  That was nice to have with me!

Once again, I felt that I was physically pretty much at my limit today.  At the top of Col de Tourmalet, I was so tired and wasted that I am not so sure my brain was then functioning well.  (Has it ever?)  It was a real ego blow to see how well others were handling the elevations and the climbs. 

A tortoise passed me, walking uphill, near the top of Col de Tormalet.  I felt embarrassed about how slow I was going, and how much I was then struggling. 

I tried to find some solace in the sense that he really was having to work hard to pass me.  At the top of the area however, I could see that the tortoise was elderly, and suffering from advanced arthritis.  My ego has taken huge hits on this trip.  I am clearly not the cyclist that I wish to consider myself.

Tomorrow is a rest day.  We leave on the next day, Monday, September 21, for Spain!

Cette-Eygun, France to Saint Savin, France

This was day number three of the actual riding.  We could not have possibly asked for better weather for our ride.  The was lots of sun and a clear sky, with no significant wind and no rain.  It was cold in the very early morning, starting out, and it got very cold very quickly after mid-afternoon.  (I guess a cold late afternoon goes with being in the mountains.)

With this weather today, the views from the road were spectacular.  I took lots of photos.  The ride down from the peak of col de Marie-Blanque, in particular, afforded unbelievable views.

The ride today was hard.  We did 99.8 km, with total climbing today at 2,775 meters.  Our highest achieved altitude was at 1,709 meters, at the top of col d-Aubisque.  (Maybe that altitude helps explain my fatigue and tachypnea at the time!)  Once again, this ride was pushing me close to my physical and emotional limits.  The grade of these climbs would be otherwise tolerable, but the duration of the climb is just overwhelming for me.  I do honestly feel that I was very responsible in my training, all throughout this past summer, in preparation for this trip.  Even so, I am frustrated with how much of a struggle these long mountain climbs are turning out to be for me.

We started today with col de Marie-Blanque.  That is a category 2 climb.  It is 9.5 km long, with the average grade being 7.5%.   It did have sections at 13%.  That was tough.  Really tough.  The descend from there was beautiful, and honestly not too frightening for me at all, even with my acrophobia.  That was nice.

The second climb was a "hors category" with col d'Aubisque.  That was a 17 km constant climb, getting us ultimately up to an altitude of 1,709 meters.  The grades were effectively the same as for col de Marie-Blanque.  I was wasted, truly wasted, at the top.

Tomorrow we start off with our first climb as the famous (infamous?) col de Tourmalet.  We hit that tomorrow at probably only 20 km into our ride.  This is a 18 km long climb, taking us to an altitude of 2,115 meters.  That will be the highest point of the entire trip.  The guides have advises us to have leg warmers, full fingered gloves, and things like that; it will be cold up there regardless of the weather at the more civilized altitudes.  We later will then climb col d'Aspin and col de Pyresourde, before arriving at our destination at Bagneres de Luchon, France.  Tomorrow's ride will be a 111 km ride totally.

Lots of hard work, but lots of fun.  Wonderful group of people, both the participants and the guides.

St. Jean Pied-de Port to Cette Eygun

Today was a great ride, but it really was super difficult.  We did 103.6 km, with 3,101 meters of total climb.   I don't think that I have ever experienced a more arduous ride!  The guides are telling us that today's ride was the most difficult of the entire trip.  I only hope and pray that this message is correct.

The first climb was Col de Burdincurucheta, and this really is just the lead in to Col d'Iraty.  Putting them together, this climb was 26 km long, with the average grade at 5%.  (The average was 5%, but there were sections of 13%!)  That was so draining for me.  We have climbs that steep in La Crosse certainly, but the length of this climb was just relentless!  I was utterly drained at the end.  The next climb, Col de Soudet, was 22 km long and similar elevation.  What was demoralizing was that I found even not-so-steep climbs on Col de Soudet were very difficult, probably due to my fatigue from the first climb. 

That said, the views made it all worth it.  This is a phenomenally beautiful part of the planet Earth!  Some of the views were literally breathtaking.  (Or, was I out of breath for some other reason?)

The weather was wonderful initially, with only a few clouds in the sky, comfortable temperature, and minimal wind.  Later this afternoon however, we ended up with a cold mountain rain.  (Ugh!)

The descents were tough for me, that probably due to my acrophobia.  In fairness to me though, most of the people on today's ride also commented upon the frightening descents.  There were generally no guardrails at the side of the road, with very frightening drop offs.  At the end of the day, that was made even more frightening by the wet road surface.

This ride today was probably the hardest thing that I have ever done physically.  Still, this really was great.  My legs are now like jelly.  Poor quality jelly, actually.  Hopefully they will be back with me by tomorrow morning!

Tomorrow we go to Saint Savin.  This will involve two big climbs, Col de Marie-Blanque and Col d'Aubisque.  There is a 99.8 km distance expected tomorrow, with 2, 775 meters of total climb.

St. Jean-de-Luz to St. Jean Pied-de-Port

Wow!  What a ride!  This was 76 km in total distance and 1704 meters in cumulative elevation.  We had three big climbs today.  The second one was Puerto de Otxondo.  That proved to be difficult.  It was at only 5 to 7.6% incline, not nearly as steep as what I have been using for training during the past few months, but it was 6.2 miles in duration.  Every time I rounded a curve, with the expectation that things would level out, the ensuing view just demonstrated an ongoing relentless climb.  That is nothing compared to what tomorrow and the next days will include. 

The weather temp was comfortable, but there were very gusty winds and intermittent rain.  On one of the long downhill runs, we had the combination of very wet road surfaces, gusty winds, no guardrails between the road and a long scary drop, and my acrophobia.  As can be appreciated, I was going at a nervous crawl during a whole lot of that.  (Then again, I hate downhills generally anyway, so that's nothing new probably!)

With the winds and also with the rain, I took few photos today.  That is not to deny that the ride was breathtakingly beautiful.  This really is a remarkable region of the world.  It really is a privilege to see this area.

We were in Spain probably 40% of the ride today.  I was generally aware of when we were in Spain, based upon the mileage that we had covered.  Sadly however, there was no "Welcome to Spain" sign that I ever encountered.  No photo opportunity with that.

Tomorrow we go to to Cette-Eygun, France.  This will be a 103.6 km ride, with 3101 meters elevation.  Wow!  The first climb is Col de Burdincurucheta.  That is a Category 1 climb.  The first 4 km of that climb are at 12.3%.

Still in St. Jean-de-Luz

Today is a low key day here, as was entirely expected.  My jet lag has been mild, at the most, mercifully enough.  As that further resolves, I am just mainly relaxing and getting ready for the trip to begin tomorrow.

At just before 3:00 PM today, the appointed time, I walked the 2 km over from my hotel here to the one where the Trek Travel guides are located.  That walk itself was a treat, as it afforded some elevations all of its own, all along the shoreline, giving me new and impressive views of the Atlantic.

The three guides are very friendly, helpful, and competent.  Stefano put my pedals and saddle on the bike.  I rode it for just a very short distance, and it feels great.  It really felt great to get back on a bike, even if it was only for a very short ride today.

I now have the papers which include the cue sheets for every day of the trip.  Tomorrow's ride will be a good one on which to get started, with shorter distance overall, and less demanding climbs.  We will do 76 km tomorrow, with three climbs.  Two, Col d'Otxondo and Col d'Ispeguy, will be moderate climbs.  The former is 10 km long, with an average elevation of 5 to 7.6%.  That will be a good warm up for the next day's more challenging climbs.  The first part of the ride tomorrow will actually be in Spain.  We will end up in France again in the latter part of the day.

Tomorrow's destination really interests me.  The town of St. Jean Pied-du-Port, at the base of the Roncevaux pass, is the capital city of the traditional Basque province.  It is also one of the commonly used starting off places for travelers going on the Camino de Santiago.  This will be fun to visit.

I have met many of the other folks who are going on the trip.  We introduced ourselves to each other in the parking lot of the Hotel la Reserve, as the bikes were getting set up and adjusted to us.  They all seem very friendly.  They also all exude an ambiance that suggests that they are very experienced and capable cyclists.  (Now, why would that be a surprise?)  We have all shared with each other our names, places of hometowns, etc., etc.  As all of us well understand, none of us will successfully be able to match names with faces for at least a few more days from now.

We are all ready and eager to get going tomorrow morning!

St Jean-de-Luz ---- I can't believe that I am actually here!

I really have trouble talking myself into believing that I really am actually here now in St. Jean-de-Luz.  I made the commitment to go on this Pyrenees bicycle trip almost a year ago, and I have been effectively constantly daydreaming about it ever since.  Now I really am on the threshold.  I am now in the little city on the southwestern coast of France that I have been looking at, on Google Maps, for so very long.

So far, things couldn't be going better.  By that statement I mean two separate things.  The first is that all is going every bit as had been planned, without even a hitch or a hiccup.  The second is that this first stop in St. Jean-de-Luz is even neater than I had anticipated.

In local time, it is now 8:30 PM here, this Monday evening.  (It is now 1:30 PM today in La Crosse.)  I must say however, this still feels to me like just one 24+ hour long Sunday.  It's very weird.  From the time Marsha and I left home in La Crosse, at 11:00 AM yesterday, until literally right now, it all just seems like one really, really long day.  In that regard, it is almost a bit frightening how not-tired I am feeling right now.

The flights were both smooth, both the one from Minneapolis to Paris (Charles de Gaulle) and the one from Paris (Orly) to Biarritz.  The flights were on time, the luggage made it, and going through customs was a breeze.  (Maybe the connection at the CDG airport with the bus to take me to Orly was a bit confusing, but all else was easy, quick and slick otherwise.) Landing in Biarritz, I took a taxi the extra 9 miles to St. Jean de Luz.  Getting to this destination town, I was pleased to see that even Expedia had not screwed up; my reservation at the hotel was all in order and waiting for me.

This is a cool little town!  I got here at just before 5 PM, and I have spent the past two hours just walking around.  This is a remarkably hilly little town, with one side on the Atlantic and the other in the western foothills of the Pyrenees.  This is the heart of Basque country.  Typical of Basque apparently, the houses are all small and all painted white, with colored shutters (usually red).  The roof tops are all identical also.  It is so hilly here that I bet that you can't find a distance of even five feet of road or sidewalk that is level.  It really is cool.

I walked the short distance from my hotel to the beach.  The waves tonight are enormous, almost frightening.  There are posted signs all over the beach, indicating that it is temporarily closed due to the dangerous currents and waves.  Just standing there and listening to the roar, it is very impressive.  (I shouldn't say this, but tonight's Atlantic wave show is even putting Lake Superior to shame!)

If you stand at the beach and turn 180 degrees, you are facing the western foothills of the Pyrenees.  To demonstrate that further, the first two of the three photos directly below were taken from literally the same location.  I just turned away from the ocean to take the one of the mountains.

Today is a bit overcast, so these peaks are effectively touching the clouds.  Thinking about the notion of cycling in that area, this view tonight is downright intimidating. 

Downright exciting!

We will see....

I will go to sleep soon, and I will try to sleep in tomorrow morning.  It is just a short 2 km walk from this hotel to Hotel la Reserve, the location where the Trek Travel guides and bikes are to be found.  I am to show up there tomorrow afternoon, anytime in between 3 and 6 PM, to get fitted to the bike that I will be using.  I can't wait!  I will walk over there tomorrow with my pedals, shoe, and saddle.  Hopefully I will meet some of the group participants tomorrow also, not just the Trek Travel guides.  I hope that Michelle has as much fun on her 26th birthday tomorrow as I have here.

The actual ride then will begin in the morning of the next day, Wednesday, September 16.

On the road again!!!

This blog post will include no meaningful content whatsoever.  If you are reading this now, you are surely wasting your time.  I am posting this mainly to verify to myself that this site is still operational, and that I still remember how to use it.  After now more than 5 years of blog silence, both of those hopes may well represent a remarkable stretch.

It is now Sunday afternoon, September 13, 2015.  I am sitting at gate G9 at the Minneapolis-St. Paul international airport, patiently awaiting my departure on Delta flight # 171.  With good luck, I will be ending up tomorrow, late afternoon to early evening, in St. Jean-de-Luz, France.  It will be there, on the next day, that I will meet up with the guides from Trek Travel, and get fitted to my new bike.  I will be on that bike for the next 9 days, starting on Wednesday, September 16, on my exciting trans-Pyrenees bike trip!

This is very exciting.  I can't wait!  I hope that I am ready.  We will see!