The rest day for the Hannibal Tour had an
optional climb up Mont Ventoux with only a couple choosing to do it. Camilla and I were keen, as were a couple of
others including my doppelganger Bernadette and Felix a journalist who, like
Bernadette, is riding all the way to Rome.
The night before the weather forecast
looked terrible. Mont Ventoux is about
50 kms from Avignon and looms in the distance but often covered in cloud. The forecast was for rain, 50-60kph winds (a
mistral) and 2-4 degrees. We wavered and
had pretty much decided not to do it. I
was still feeling unwell in any case.
Morning had a different, more positive
forecast and we stuffed around “yes, no, maybe” for several rounds. Until, suddenly everyone decided to go. I packed hurriedly and left everything for
Ted to transfer to our hotel for the next two nights. Thanks Ted!
He was heading off to check out Nimes for the day – after he had moved
all our gear, that is.
Next thing we are in the van and heading to
a small town about 10km from the base of Ventoux. Got changed in the hotel where the Hannibal
Tour people were staying. A lovely old
place that used to be the home of the Marquis de Sade. Hmm, would like to have found out more.
I put on everything warm I owned and packed
a rainjacket as well. And Camilla,
Bernadette and I set off with Alan (ex DHBC now SCC) who had turned up for the
next leg of the tour. We stopped at Bedoin for a quick bite to eat, Alan headed
off and then we 3 women. Except we got
lost somehow and wandered around the foothills for 10km we didn’t need before
heading back to Bedoin for instructions only to be met by an incredulous Dylan
who couldn’t believe we missed the turn … Yeah, well it was easier second
time. Add that to the list of stupid
things I have done. Apparently I was on
the front when we missed the turn.
Apparently.
Bedoin is the climb most often used by in
the Tour and reputedly the hardest. I
had a vague thought of doing all 3 climbs, but given we hadn’t started til 2pm,
that wasn’t going to happen. Plus I was coughing. A lot.
We decided to climb at our own pace and I
left Bernadette and Camilla after a few kms and climbed solo. It’s indeed a hard climb with long stretches
of 10% and unrelenting. No ups and downs
so it was hard to take a drink. I
stopped twice to have a gel and a drink.
Every km there is a sign that says how far to the Sommet (for the
benefit of Jo - that’s summit in French) some of which I missed. Don’t know how
that happened.
The road was wet from recent rain. Alan had
got drenched in a downpour that fortunately missed us. A benefit of getting lost I guess.
Eventually I got to the restaurant about
6km from the top and at the treeline. We
had arranged to meet here on the way down and all descend together. And warm up as it was getting quite
cold. And I’d sweated so much on the way
up I was properly wet through.
The last climb to the summit was exceptionally
hard. A few turns and I was up in the
cloud which got progressively denser and wetter and colder. And without the protection of the trees the
wind got strong. A tailwind up some of
the windy bits was very welcome.
At one point, there were people in black by
the side of the road murmuring things that didn’t sound like
encouragement. Don’t know what
language. A bit further on, there was
another one. They appeared out of the
fog. Very spooky and inexplicable.
Snow by the side of the road confirmed how
cold it was. Got to the top and
corralled a random person to take a picture of my in front of the sign and took
off back down the hill. That was some
climb and SO COLD. No inclination to look around and see if the shop really was
a sweet shop
But the descent was horrible. No visibility, wet possibly icy road and a
tail wind that picked up my rain jacket and turned it into a sail. At one point I stopped because I thought my
head set was loose as the front wheel was shaking. Bernadette told me later she had the exact
same experience and also stopped to check the headset.
I got down to restaurant and overdosed on
hot chocolate and a Nutella pancake and waited for Camilla and Bernadette to
arrive. They did looking and feeling the
same as me – kind of shaky but really pleased to have made it. They bought jerseys, which they both
immediately donned for extra warmth.
We took the rest of the descent
slowly. It would have been great to
scream down but not the conditions for it.
I’d noticed on the way up that my heart rate was about 10 bpm higher
than it had been in the Pyrenees when climbing and while I might have been a
bit faster with fresh legs, I also think
it was being sick.
Eventually back at the home of the Marquis
de Sade and we treated ourselves to a glass each of Mont Ventoux’s finest wines
– and headed back to Avignon exhausted but pleased with ourselves.
By now, completely over fine dining, we
found a Vietnamese restaurant and ate rice.
They even had a vegetarian plate.
Happy days.
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