Stage 4 was exactly the opposite of stage 1. While in the forst day we were being cooked by high temperatures the whole day, today we were freezing and wet. The rain didn’t stop for most of the day and it was pouring down at some moments, making it dangerous and really unpleasant.
We knew already that it would be a rainy day. The talk during breakfast was what to wear. Long gloves, rain jacket, gilette, shoe covers and arm covers, etc. We all heard the heavy rain that started in the middle of the night and were all a little worried. My main concern was the downhill. I haven’t tried the carbon wheels on rain yet and they are famous for bad braking performance in wet.
Luckily the rain went a little way when we started and it was just a very sparse drizzling. The profile was to start climbing straight out of the hotel and the climb was mostly OK with little rain. Around 7 kms to the top, things turned around and the rain really started. There were pieces of branches, stones and the occasional tree that fell during the night already being cleaned up by big trucks impressive and efficient. The last 5 kms were in heavy rain with lots of water coming from the the sky but also from the ground that were forming puddles and streams on the rode.
I was completely soaked. In leaving the hotel, because I was hoping that the rain would stay light, I only had a gilet and light gloves. I had also used one of the oldest trick on the book: a shower cap on top of the helmet to avoid the head getting soaked. It looks ridiculous but work really well. At the top of the first mountain, thenvan was waiting for us and I changed for a heavier rain jacket and proper rain gloves. At the top was pretty cold, around 11 degrees C.
First climb of the day: Col de Pegueres would be much nicer on a sunny day.
Because of that, after a quick bite to eat, I decided to quickly start going down to the valley where it should be warmer. I didn’t want to stay too long in the cold. I was also very scared of the descent because of the wheels but also for the amount of water and gravel on the road. After the first kilometers of very steep ramps things got a little more steady and I could roll better. But the rain and the cold was almost unbearable. I was as trembling so much that it was difficult to control the bike.
At the bottom, we regroup and the whole group was shivering, trying to hide from the rain under a small roof. I said that the best was not to hang around wet. We would just get colder and have to stop, and the best decision was to get going immediately. Better yet, to push as hard as one could to raise body temperature. And that is what we’ve done. I think as super happy that Dale came with me and we started hammering down on the flat part. Going super fast on the corners with speeds around 38 and 40 kms/h. That did the trick and I felt better very quick.
With no time we went thru the small steep climbs in the middle of the route. They were steep but not too bad. With gradients moving from 8% to 12% and back to 6% it kept it interesting also it was in a very small backroads going thru very small villages which I really like to see. I really enjoyed this part as the rain was not so bad. At that point Cliff catch up with is and Dale, him and I finished the climb together.
Top of the Col de Portech. Very nice climb thru small villages. Happy to see the van waiting with a nice warm soup.
On the top of this one I decided to stay even shorter. I told the guys that they would probably catch up on me as I was going downhill so slow. We had 80 kms on the teller and I wanted to get the job done to get out of the wet clothes. But that didn’t happen and I did almost the whole 40 kms back to the hotel alone. I was riding conservatively, because I knew the last 3 kms of the Col de Portet d’Aspet are really hard. I was keeping my heart rate around 130 and hoping someone would come to share the effort.
But only with 3.7 kms to the top of the climb, Dale caught up with me. And going uphill with him is not exactly sharing effort as he is much stronger than me. We finished relatively close to each other and descended back to the hotel. Wet, cold but happy to have survived this day.
Tomorrow we will climb the almighty Col du Tourmalet, one of the hardest and highest mountains in the Pyrenees. Time to rest and recharge!
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