Day 8: welcome to Spain

 

After a bad night sleep and a waking up with a migraine and upset stomach, we left out for our 8th day of riding in the rain. I was a little apprehensive of the day as we would climb the Port de Larrau, maybe the hardest climb of this adventure  it is a 17 kms ride that has a 9 kilometers around 11% gradient.  Super hard. For comparison, the famous Mont Ventoux hardest part is a 10 kms at 9%. The Port Larrau is also the frontier to Spain, into the Basque Country, where we hope to leave the cold and rain behind and get some warmth into our bodies. 

The climb went well and I paced myself to the top. After I warm up in the first kilometers, than things settled in a good cadence for the legs and heart.  This is a beautiful mountain and a great climb. It will be for sure one of the highlights of the trip. The rest of the day was about descending to Spain, with some fast small climbs on the way.  The descents were amazing and I finally started to get more confidence, reaching my top speed so far, around 70 kms/h. Sadly one of the guys crashed on the Larrau downhill spoked by a motorbike. Nothing broken but he hit his head and broke his helmet. We will keep an eye on him.

  I will add some comments in the pictures below  

Rainy start of the day. Cold and migraine dont work well together.

Little nice views along side farm roads. Very calm and slow life.

The flatish part before the top of the Port Larrau was beautiful and cold.

Goats everywhere and sometimes they got right in front of us.

A big flock of goats passed us at the top while we waited for the rest of the group.

Our bikes “resting” after a long and hard climb.

The view from the top looking to Spain.

Paul andI in the morning rain.

Crossing the tunnel between France and Spain.

Riding in Spain under blue skys!