Que the Barry Manilow music...

Looks like we made it! Crossing the line after 113.2 miles and 14,300 feet of climbing on an incredibly difficult course was a heck of an accomplishment for all finishers of the Pau-Tourmalet stage.

Highlights (no room for a camera today, so borrowed these):

• Pau start was fast -- Eric and I averaged over 22mph for the first 25 miles
• Then the climbs came -- those little bumps on the course map weren't so little
• Hit the Marie-Blanque (9 km at 8%) at 40 miles. The last 4ks were tough - 10%+. At one point the Garmin read 15% grade for almost a 1/2 km -- no walking! although half the pack crashed just to my right as guys couldn't make the grade and suddenly clipped out.
• The road between the Marie-Blanque and the Soulor is one of the most beautiful roads I've ever ridden, one car width wide, in a totally green valley, stream running beside the road, mountains jutting into the sky, beautiful castles overlooking the valley.
• Soulor climb was as long as advertised -- 15km at 7%. Saved the best for last - 9-10% at the top.
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• Apparently the horses, cattle and sheep can't relieve themselves in the fields and prefer the road. It was slick and a gross descent -- doo-doo dodging.
• Found a great group to sit in on for the 25 miles from the base of the Soulor to the base of the Tourmalet. Actually felt good enough to pull for Graham and others for 5 miles (mistake to be paid for later)
• Group is 2 Norwegians, 2 Irish, 3 French, 2 Swiss, 2 Israelis, 1 Portuguese, 1 Slovenian and me. Where else can you get this? Hand gestures become the international language at this point.
• Felt great climbing the 8.5 miles up to the base of the Tourmalet, then things started to unravel -- looked down and saw 100 miles on the odometer. Guess things should be unraveling.
• To keep tradition alive, stopped and downed two Orangina's in Barreges, halfway up the climb. Waited for Eric for about 15 mins, then headed up.
• The Tourmalet is a beast --- will be a fun stage to watch this week. 10%+ ramps out of Barreges, all the way to the top of this 2 hour+ climb
• At 5km to go, can see the top, ramps look incredibly steep. Downright depressing. Am pushing it to maintain 5mph
• At 4km to go, Eric appears from behind -- the mayor is conversing in French with anyone with a water bottle to pour over his head!
• At 3km to go, accordions, drums, little kids singing and cheering take the mind away from the pain. Huge ski bowl. Would love to come back and ski it.
• At 1km to go, dreading the looks of the steep ramp for last .5km
• Finally on the last ramp and it's so steep that the only way up is standing climbing. It's tough
• Crossed the finish line and more "lost breakfast" than I've ever seen. Clearly, this last section pushed people beyond their limits.

• Eric and I skip the stale ham sandwiches and descend 18 miles back to the hotel. Total of 131 miles on the day.
• I ate 5 plates of pasta and still went to bed hungry (but squeezed in a Pelforth)

Heids, thanks for the hall pass. Was amazing. Harder course than Alpe d'Huez stage, but cooler weather helped a ton. Kent, David, Steve, Jim and the HighGear Travel gang made it one of the smoothest trips ever. David and Kent both killed it on the day -- finishing in the first two groups up the mountain.

Now looking forward to some sleep on the plane!