Etape du Tour - Jour Deux

For the past couple of days, my cousin Kent and his friend Steve talked up an amazing climb they'd done here in the Pyrenees a few years ago - the Pont de Espana -- literally climbing up to the Spanish border.

We made plans to drive to the base of the climb as our ride for the day. We had to take a couple of cars to get the bikes and people over (David, Kent, Jim, Steve and I). As we popped out of the cars, Kent said, "Hey, how about riding Luz Ardiden first?"

Hmmm. I'm thinking that this Pont de Espana climb might not be much of a challenge if they want to tack on another climb. Now Luz Ardiden isn't just any climb, it's a whopper with long sections at 10%. It's famously the site where Lance Armstrong's handlebars were caught by a spectators bag several years ago. He crashed hard, and then roared back to win the stage.

No such antics here today, just a beast of a long climb. The weather was great, foggy and cool all the way to the top, then the sun broke.

We descended back down to our starting point, grabbed some lunch (probably the best ham and cheese sandwich I've ever had in my life), then headed up to the Pont de Espana.

The sun has now taken over the sky -- beautiful day, but getting hot on the climb.

It starts gradually and I was hanging onto Kent's wheel. I see a sign that says 15km to the top. Hmmm. This must just be a long gradual climb. 6km later, Steve declares the gradual part of the climb over and says, "it get's a bit brutal from here."

Turns out, this was going to be a long climb.

I'm now wondering how I get myself into these messes. I ate lightly this am, thinking there was only one climb on the day. No salt tabs, no gels. 6km later, I'm in trouble. Grades are 10%+ and I'm cramping badly. I haven't had that tough of a stretch on the bike in years. The cramps would lock my left leg and mandate stopping every km or so.

Thankfully, somewhere near the top, the guys reappeared. Tired of waiting, they'd started the descent, turned around and encouraged me up the last 1/2 km. One more cramping episode and I'd finally made it.

The day ended like all good rides in France -- at a Pattisserie (pastry shop).

Tale of the tape: 51 miles, 8,000 feet of climbing.

This is definitely not tapering!

Day 2 - Video here: