60 miles
Today started out cold and gloomy, in contrast to the blue skies we have had the past few days. Luckily we started climbing almost immediately and hence warmed up quickly. Leaving St. Girons we rode up a very pretty river and eventually turned right and rode up the side of the mountain to our first col of the day, the Col de Catchaudegue (893m). The climb was fairly gentle and we crossed through some pretty little hamlets which sadly I did not protograph. On the descent, there was fresh chip seal which had not been swept, which meant that the road was covered in gravel. It's very hard to ride on this kind of surface on skinny tires. Nonetheless I was glad for a new challenge and as usual, enjoyed my descent.
Once back down in the valley we immediately began our second climb of the day, the Col de Latrape (1110m). The climb was mostly pretty gentle but unfortunately was also covered with fresh chip seal. Technically, it's easier to go uphill on gravel than downhill, but I found it a lot less fun and was plenty glad to get to the top. At the top Charlie and Allan had stopped at a cafe for coffee, and the rest of us pulled in as well. The proprietor was very chatty and told us that the next climb on our route was supposed to be very hard (although, as he repeated a few times, he wasn't a cyclist himself so he didn't really know for sure).
After the descent from the Latrape (which was mercifully free of gravel) we headed on up the next climb, the Col d'Agnes (1570m). This was a really spectacular climb, with huge rocky peaks all around. It felt like being deep in the Alps, more so than anywhere else we've yet been. The road switched its way back and forth up the valley wall until we got right up into the clouds. Of course this meant that we couldn't see anything from the summit, which was a letdown. Also it was freezing on top, and nobody had waited, so I didn't linger and headed right over and down the other side.
After the Agnes, there is a very short descent to a high valley with a big lake in it. Ron was waiting there with the van, and I stopped for lunch. Charlie and Allan stopped as well a few minutes later, but Craig and Jennie were nowhere to be seen. After lunch, we did the final climb, a very short climb from the high valley back up to 1517m on the Col de Port de Lers. We found Craig and Jennie waiting up there. It was a nice spot so Ron parked the van again and we had more food. There were lots of horses in the adjacent field and one of them was very interested in us and joined our little group for the duration of our stay.
After that, it was a ripping downhill into the valley, and then a more gradual descent down the valley all the way to Tarascon. Allan, Charlie and I raced the final miles, sprinting for town limit signs the whole way (I got the final sprint into Tarascon!) Craig and Jennie took it easy (later Jennie said that her toes were still numb from the cold descent at that point and she was in no mood to race).
We made it into the hotel and that's when we discovered that there was one final climb for the day: the climb up to our rooms! We are all on the third floor and let me tell you, with tired legs, the three storey climb, over and over, really hurts. Especially with luggage that first time.
Here are the obligatory photos:
This is the top of the Col de Latrape.
Some of the locals on the lower slopes of the Col d'Agnes: The horse on the left was very curious and every time someone rode up, he would go give a few sniffs. I almost got a photo of him chewing on my aero bars, but he got bored and walked away before I could get the camera out.
And finally, here's the little town at the bottom of the final descent, before the race to the finish.
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