If the weather was sunny and 75 every day of your vacation, the days would be unremarkable, right? Well, we have had a number of very remarkable days. We left Argeles-Gazost, and drove about 1.5 hours to Luchon. Leaving the Haute Pyrenees (their tag-line is Ha-Py. Get it?) for the Haute-Garonne, in the Midi-Pyrenees region sent us further east, and a little lower in elevation. There was still plenty of water in the rivers and rain clouds, and lots of mountains to climb. So back to the weather reports.... On our first day we decided to charge up the Superbageneres, a big mountain ski resort that has a lift that starts in town and ends at the base area, 2600' above. We left in warm, muggy conditions, which lasted about 3/4 of the way up. It got a bit cooler as we climbed above the tree line, then we turned a corner and were literally (grammatically correct usage here) blown off our bikes. We managed to get back up on our bikes and slog up the hill to the next corner, where it was now a tail wind. We were SO close to the top, we didn't want to stop. Once we made it to the summit (parking lot), we could barely stand up, and it started to rain, of course. We started down, but had to walk for about 1/2 mile, and then for another mile we rode with one foot out of the pedal so we could catch ourselves if the wind knocked us over again. I felt like that guy on the weather channel that is always standing out in the hurricanes with his jacket flapping and leaning into the wind to stay upright! I will also admit to being very worried about our safety for about 30 minutes.
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| Too bad the wind is not photogenic. | | | | |
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The town of Luchon is going to be hosting the Tour de France as both a finish and start town, so it is decked out in TDF everything. Every shop window is painted, banners are hung and wonderful streamers of the four leader jerseys are strung from trees and buildings.
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| La Marie (town hall) Luchon |
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Not every person in the area is there for the bike riding. Luchon, like many, many towns in the Pyrenees is home to a Thermes. Luchon also has a "vaporium" where you breath in the steam from the underground steam rooms. Many people come here for a week of "cures" and to do some hiking and relaxing. You see them walking or biking over every morning, carrying their plastic bags with their swim suits and rubber shoes. The demographic of that group is mid-70's, and most often French. We are close to the age where we will now become thermes travelers....
We had an uneventful ride on the Col de Portillon. Lovely ride directly out our front door. It was fun to ride it again after visiting this area in 2007. The next day was up the Peyresorde. It is a stinker of a climb at times, and just when you look up and see the 4 large and long switchbacks across the side of the mountain, you think you just can't do it. And then suddenly, you are at the top! And it was the most fabulous down hill of the entire trip so far!
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| One of the 4 large switchbacks |
But I was supposed to talk about the weather! Not just about the weather, but how it can create memorable moments on a trip. One afternoon we were on our daily pilgrimage to town for our bread fix. Just as we were starting back, the sky opened up. We happened to be outside the hotel where we had stayed on our first trip with Thomson Bike Tours in 2007, so we popped in. We started talking to the owner, telling him we were former guests, etc. He invited us to have a drink, and we did, and Ziggy decided she liked it here, and was going to stay. It was still raining after we finished, so the owner packed us up in his car and drove us the mile home.
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| A room with a view, s'il vous plait... |
Our final weather memory of our stay in Luchon occurred on the Port des Bales. We were finally going to do a loop ride, and I was promised some gentle gradients. Again, warm and muggy as we left. We got to the ski area, which consisted of one small hotel and about 6 houses and a ski rental place. Absolutely deserted. I did get my gentle uphill for about 2 miles, which was luxurious. Just as we were ready to saddle up for the "other side of the mountain" portion of the ride, it got dark, the wind whipped up, and the first drops started to fall. We tore down about 3 miles, and suddenly it was as if nails were being rained on us. We came upon another 5 home village and we ducked under someone's deck. About 2 minutes later 2 other riders joined us. They were two very handsome French riders doing a 3 day tour. We chatted with them for about 15 minutes, then the owners of the house came home (from the thermes!) and they were amused by our predicament, but left us to our own devices. After another 5 minutes or so, we were on our way again. We don't have any pictures, as the camera was tucked away out of the rain.
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| Luchon in the rain |
We are now in Sarlat, in the Dordogne. Rolling hills, big rivers, green grass and it is all about the duck.... It is beautiful countryside, but I am already missing the mountains and all the sheep and cows! But we did a lovely ride on the Voie Verte (rails to trails, French style) and only got lost 3 times. I will remind you this is a bike trail.... sad.
