(click on above image to enlarge)
Col d'Agnes 1,570m/5,151ft
Col de Port de Lers 1,517m/5,000 ft
Col de Port d'Envalira 2,407m/7,900ft
We know today is to be a monster day - about the same vertical as the past 2 days, but longer - which should translate to easier climbing. (not!) We ate a 'light' breakfast at our hotel in Aulus-les-Bains - I asked for more than our allotted ONE croissant, and was told in no uncertain terms - "Non, Non!!!" (now I know how David Copperfield felt). Our support crew promised to stock up on energy bars etc and meet us at the top of the first Col. The sharp (8% ave) climb up Col d'Agness started virtually at the back door, so there was no easy riding to smooth out the lumps from the previous day. Nonetheless, it was a beautiful climb through some lovely, quiet rural terrain, and we arrived at the top in good spirits.
This was followed by a short descent to a small glacial lake before the short and easy climb to the summit of Port de Lers.
The descent from Port de Lers brought us back to the busy world and we joind a fairly major road - the N20 - that heads to Andorra and which after about 25 kms of fairly gentle cimbing brought us to the regional town of Ax-les-Thermes, where we met with the support crew and had a BIG lunch (I ate almost a whole pizza and a huge piece of blueberry pie). The road and the town were all very busy, as it was a holiday long weekend. After lunch, we set out on the busy N20 for what was to be a long (35km) 1700m/5,500ft climb to the top of the 2,400m/7,900ft Port d'Envilara at the border with Andorra. It was a spectacular but grinding climb, with the weather deteriorating by the minute. We crossed the border into Andorra with absolutely no formalities, although there has a 10km line of cars waiting to cross back into France from the other direction. Just beyond the border crossing, there is a town with duty-free mega-markets of everything you could imagine (Andorra is a duty/tax free independent principality) and it is absolutely jam packed with French people stocking up on Cigarettes and liquor. Fuel is only euro 1.0/litre versus euro 1.40 in France, so everyone was filling up as well. I have to say that my climb to the top of the pass beside an endless line of idling diesel engines was not very pleasant.
Just below the top of the pass, a freezing wind picked up and the slight drizzle I had been experiencing since the border briefly turned into ice pellets as I crested the pass. It now got interesting!
I had a truly spectacular 25km descent down a long valley into Andorra la Vella, our stop for the next 2 days and capital of Andorra. On a warm day, the 60km/h descent would have been enjoyable, but I knew I was getting colder and colder as I was no longer generating heat from climbing. The descent zooms through at least 4 very up-market ski areas/towns (Canillo, Encamp, Les Escaldes) before arriving at Andorra la Vella. I stop on the outskirts in the sun to take stock with a couple of the other guys - having no idea where our hotel is. Even now in the sun, I am shivering, and know my core temp must be way down. We finally reach Lorraine on the mobile phone and get directions to the Crown Plaza hotel. "Fortunately" for us, we have taken a wrong turn, and have a 1km, steep climb back up the hill, which serves to re-warm us!
We roll into the very nice Crown Plaza, stow our bikes in the storage room and head to the room for a long hot bath. It has been a BIG day, but now we have 2 rest days, before heading out of Andorra and back to France - realizing that we must climb back up the 25kms we just descended.
For some amusement at dinner, I gather some stats from my computer for the trip to date:
Total distance: 590kms
Total climbing: 14,172m / 46,500ft
Total descending: 13,171m /43,500
Time pedaling: 29hrs 56mins
Calories burned: 27,559 (=51 Big Macs)
Allez!!!!
We know today is to be a monster day - about the same vertical as the past 2 days, but longer - which should translate to easier climbing. (not!) We ate a 'light' breakfast at our hotel in Aulus-les-Bains - I asked for more than our allotted ONE croissant, and was told in no uncertain terms - "Non, Non!!!" (now I know how David Copperfield felt). Our support crew promised to stock up on energy bars etc and meet us at the top of the first Col. The sharp (8% ave) climb up Col d'Agness started virtually at the back door, so there was no easy riding to smooth out the lumps from the previous day. Nonetheless, it was a beautiful climb through some lovely, quiet rural terrain, and we arrived at the top in good spirits.
This was followed by a short descent to a small glacial lake before the short and easy climb to the summit of Port de Lers.
The descent from Port de Lers brought us back to the busy world and we joind a fairly major road - the N20 - that heads to Andorra and which after about 25 kms of fairly gentle cimbing brought us to the regional town of Ax-les-Thermes, where we met with the support crew and had a BIG lunch (I ate almost a whole pizza and a huge piece of blueberry pie). The road and the town were all very busy, as it was a holiday long weekend. After lunch, we set out on the busy N20 for what was to be a long (35km) 1700m/5,500ft climb to the top of the 2,400m/7,900ft Port d'Envilara at the border with Andorra. It was a spectacular but grinding climb, with the weather deteriorating by the minute. We crossed the border into Andorra with absolutely no formalities, although there has a 10km line of cars waiting to cross back into France from the other direction. Just beyond the border crossing, there is a town with duty-free mega-markets of everything you could imagine (Andorra is a duty/tax free independent principality) and it is absolutely jam packed with French people stocking up on Cigarettes and liquor. Fuel is only euro 1.0/litre versus euro 1.40 in France, so everyone was filling up as well. I have to say that my climb to the top of the pass beside an endless line of idling diesel engines was not very pleasant.
Just below the top of the pass, a freezing wind picked up and the slight drizzle I had been experiencing since the border briefly turned into ice pellets as I crested the pass. It now got interesting!
I had a truly spectacular 25km descent down a long valley into Andorra la Vella, our stop for the next 2 days and capital of Andorra. On a warm day, the 60km/h descent would have been enjoyable, but I knew I was getting colder and colder as I was no longer generating heat from climbing. The descent zooms through at least 4 very up-market ski areas/towns (Canillo, Encamp, Les Escaldes) before arriving at Andorra la Vella. I stop on the outskirts in the sun to take stock with a couple of the other guys - having no idea where our hotel is. Even now in the sun, I am shivering, and know my core temp must be way down. We finally reach Lorraine on the mobile phone and get directions to the Crown Plaza hotel. "Fortunately" for us, we have taken a wrong turn, and have a 1km, steep climb back up the hill, which serves to re-warm us!
We roll into the very nice Crown Plaza, stow our bikes in the storage room and head to the room for a long hot bath. It has been a BIG day, but now we have 2 rest days, before heading out of Andorra and back to France - realizing that we must climb back up the 25kms we just descended.
For some amusement at dinner, I gather some stats from my computer for the trip to date:
Total distance: 590kms
Total climbing: 14,172m / 46,500ft
Total descending: 13,171m /43,500
Time pedaling: 29hrs 56mins
Calories burned: 27,559 (=51 Big Macs)
Allez!!!!
