Day #1 for riding and we awake early to a light drizzle. Where has all the good weather gone? We gather a 7am to fill water bottles and prepare bikes before 7:30 breakfast at the hotel. The rain fades away, and we are assured by the locals that it will be ok! We head down to the beach for the obligatory group photos - a final look at the Atlantic ocean and we head out at 8:20am. Getting out of Biarritz in rush hour takes some navigating and patience (and some map checking from time to time), but we finally make it out and into the countryside to the east of the city in 40 mins. We ride through rolling hills with not much in the way of elevation change and almost immediately experience the first of what will be three flat tires for the group during the day - in aggregate costing us about 45 mins of time.
We soon hit classic French countryside, but we are constantly reminded we are in Basque country with lots of signs reminding us of the fact - and also because all traffic signs are in both French and Basque. At about 10:30 we roll into the regional town of St Jean Pied-de-Port. It is VERY Basque and there is a huge line of traffic rolling into the town centre. It turns out it is market day and also there is to be a bullfight in the evening - a big deal for the Basques. We thread our way through the traffic - the French drivers are incredibly respectful of cyclists, wait patiently for a good place to overtake - and never shout or use the horn - other than to give encouragement. What a change from Australia! (and the US).
After a cafe-au-lait in front of an old hotel, we head out of town, to meet what will be our first big challenge - the ascent of the 1055m Col d'Aphanize. This proves to be an excellent introduction to what we have ahead of us for the next week or so. The sun comes out and the temperature rises as we start the climb into the incredibly green mountains along a very thin ribbon of bitumen/asphalt. The climb gets right down to business, with two very steep (20%) but short pitches, then a steady 12% climb for the first couple of kms. The scenery is magnificent, with large, grassy and rocky peaks (dotted with sheep and cattle) surrounded by deep, forested gorges. The rivers are beautiful and look to be full of trout! After about 4kms of climbing we stop for a rest and pics and then head upward for the final, and most challenging part of the climb which caps out with another 500m 20% grade! Phew! There were a few moments I wished I had a 27 cog, but I managed just fine with my 25 and was glad I had put in all those kms over the past month. I felt really strong for the climb, and my heart-rate remained in a comfortable range. We stopped at the top of the col for a few minutes to wait for stragglers, then headed off on the wonderful, 10km descent from 1055m to 249m elevation. We descended through beautiful cool lush hardwood forest with ferns and babbling brooks.
The ladies have been taking a separate route to our lunch rendevouz at Tardets-Sorholus and though we are behind schedule due to our (now) three flat tires, we are able to SMS them our progress and they assure us they will be at a restaurant in the town-centre when we arrive. After completing the long (and fantastic) descent from the col, we ride the last few kms through absolutely beautiful farming country with fields of flowering corn and grass and small villages all quiet and shut-up for siesta. We finally roll into the town square of Tardets to a standing ovation from the ladies (who are well into their 2nd bottle of wine by now) and some bemused locals. They have begged the restaurant to stay open through siesta as it is now 2:40pm, and we are soon munching on baguettes with cheese and sausage, washed down by COLD Stella-Artois beers, and finished off by a big slice of Gâteaux Basque - a divine concoction of almond paste, sugar, flour and creme-brulee! (We'll be having more of that before we leave Basque country!!)
We are all thrilled to have survived our first test of the ride and agree that it has ben an excellent introduction to what lies ahead of us. We will be unlikely to see much more 20%, but it was good to know we could do it if we had to. After lunch we rode a short 5kms to Montory and our Hotel L'Auberge de l'Etable for the evening. It is a small village and this is the only hotel, so we are eating in tonight! I have also discovered a free wi-fi access point, so have been able to assemble this posting which I didn't expect to be able to do.
Tomorrow is a big day with 4 (four!) cols - including the infamous Col de Marie Blanque (nasty Cat 1) and Col d'Aubisque (Cat Hors)!
Allez!
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