Stage 12: Lavellanet - Narbonne 168.5km 19/7/08

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We started today outside of Lidl supermarket – very glamorous! There is nothing like the odd looks you get from people as you remove your outer garments to reveal nicely fitted lycra in the middle of a supermarket car park!

Team Kate were due to fly back today and so we arranged our first meet for only 2 hours into the ride just outside of Quillan. On the way we had passed through the charming village of Chalabre which was a quintessential place with tall poplars leaning over into the main street with a couple of bars and tabacs and a genial relaxed atmosphere which is so typically French in nature.

After saying our goodbyes to the Kates and thank you for all their help (especially given the circumstances following their arrival!), we headed on our way towards lunch outside of Maury. The day was beginning to get fairly toasty and drink was being consumed at an ever increasing rate.

As the landscape began to become more arid and the land flatter, the scenery turned dramatic – with a number of ruined hill forts and castles nestled on top of long, high rock structures which ran parallel to the road for many miles. My geological knowledge is not up on what the name for these ridges is, but they would certainly have acted as a splendid vantage point to keep out attacking forces – though I’m not sure (again) which way they were attacking/defending from – answers on a postcard please!

The stage was only 167.5km long but as the day dragged on and the heat rose, we passed into very arid terrain with bare rock next to the road which, along with the tarmac, simply radiated heat back up to us on the bikes and, struggling against a stiffening headwind, we were not feeling too chipper. After the uncategorised Col d’Extreme, we had to stop and sit in the shade for 5 minutes to recover.

How the professionals manage to cope with this heat (especially in the centre of the peloton) and race and drink enough and then sprint at the end I will never know! Still, Mark Cavendish managed to earn his third stage win on this stage – so he obviously coped admirably!

We met just short of Narbonnes and threw the bikes onto the car before the short drive to our hotel.

We completed 103.96 miles in 5:52:07 at an average of 17.714mph – so a fast day but a thoroughly unpleasant one with the heat and the arid landscape providing little cover or viewing pleasure! Mark Cavendish (Gbr) won it in 3:40:52.

The evening meal turned out to be the highlight though, as we went to a place near the hotel in the village of Vinassan. The restaurant was called Chez Poirrot (or something like that) – and Monsieur Poirrot has the biggest chez I’ve ever seen. The place was HUGE. As you walk in to what is a wholly al fresco place, all you can see on a site of at least 2 acres is tables of people eating. The restaurant must have bought up all the stock of green garden furniture in and around Narbonne because when we were seated we were at table 762 (I kid you not). Service was provided by athletic young types who sprinted to the kitchen, and rapidly walked back (they obviously hadn’t yet got round to sprinting with the food!). The food was of a reasonable standard considering the size of the operation and we spent most of the meal in awe of the size of the place. Certainly the most amazing place I’ve eaten in that regard!

Stage 11: Lannemezan - Foix 167.5km 18/7/08

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It was to be on this stage that we were to meet up with our final support team (Ian’s parents - Peter and Liz) and so we all carted into the van for the last time and headed off for the outskirts of Lannemezan. A small town lying just in the foothills of the Pyrennes. The ride headed due East today so we always had that nagging feeling from the mountains on our right hand side. You were always concerned the road might take an unexpected right hand turn and you’d end up back in them!

So, feeling nicely refresehed from our rest day, we set off and agreed to meet 74km up the road in the village of Cazavet. On the way there we passed through some really gorgeous little villages which had pleasantly relaxed feel to them – at one point we passed through a market and had cheese almost thrust upon us by one stall-keeper – I wish I’d stopped now!

At about 20km we rounded a slight turn on a gradual descent and through the trees caught sight of a magnificent church on a hill with quite remarkable buttresses. The church was set high on the hill above the village of Saint Bertrand de Comminges and was built wholly from stone other than the upper portion of the tower which appeared to be wooden. As we passed below the walls, this was another place I was thinking that I’d like to return to.

We passed more scenic villages with sharply rising and dipping roads, tight and sweeping bends, moving in and out of woodland as we travelled towards and away form the foothills, until we met up with support teams 2 & 3 in the village of Cazavet as planned.

A quick catch up for everyone (I hadn’t seen Ian’s parents since before I had left Surrey – so about 6 years before!) and a hearty lunch and Ian and I set off towards St Girons and so to another 1st Category climb and one that would truly see us out of the Pyrennes.

The road followed a tranquil river valley through the village of Riverenet and the narrowed and steepened as the climb of the Col de Portel approached. It was so narrow that in order to let the van past, we actually had to stop at the side of the road – I hate to think how the Tour entourage would have got up the climb! Team Kate’s handling of the van around the bends was impressive! The views back down the valley as we occasionally popped out of the trees were splendid (as always!) and the summit came with Ian about 45 seconds in front of myself after some very strong climbing – he’s obviously found his legs!

We all stopped and had a rest at the summit (drivers and passengers included – pretty hair-raising stuff!) and surveyed the view which was pan flat to the North (obscured by plenty of haze and such) and rolling wooded valleys to the South.

We let everyone else off first to get pictures of our supreme descending skills and when I saw the photgraphers positioned I adopted an appropriate cornering pose, scoped out the corner, cranked the bike over to hit the apex, only to discover that the corner continued and tightened up and that I was going to fast and had to sit up and pull on the brakes! Fortunately the photos don’t show this last part, and we both look totally professional!

The road descended all the way to Foix, but this wasn’t the end – oh no! The evil organisers took us out North of Foix and up another 3rd cat climb and back in from the North East.

104.91 miles covered in 6:43:00 at an average of 15.619 mph compared to the K Arvesen (Nor) who managed it in 3:58:13.

Rest day 1: Bagneres de Bigorre 17/7/08

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While the pros had spent their rest day at nearby Pau, where the previous stage had officially started, we spent ours based at Bagnerres. I had booked three nights accommodation here so that we could relax and not have to pack and unpack the van so much. It was also near the start of the following stage in Lannamezan.

After the previous two day’s glorious weather, we had high hopes of a sunny day: some sunbathing by a river or maybe even a gentle canoeing trip. Sod’s law it rained and rained and we were pretty much stranded with little to do.

After a lie in,listening to the rain outside, and leisurely breakfast, we headed into town and found a laundrette to wash our smelly kit. While this was taking place we popped across to a supermarket to stock up on provisions.

A little look around our quaint hotel, revealed a very old fashioned drawing room/lounge and we had lunch in there. We laughed at the old fashioned decorating, stained headrests on the chairs, and the way the carpet had been roughly cut to fit around the furniture! On the bookshelf was a telephone directory from 1965! Indeed, our rooms were also something out of Fawlty Towers with wallpaper on the doors! That said, the place was comfortable and served us well but really could have benefitted from a clean. At one point we saw the chef painting the hotel sign and reminded me of Inspector Clouseau: “What is this? A chef who thinks he is a gardener??!”

That afternoon we felt we had to do something, so we made a trip up the road to a local cheese shop we had passed a couple of days earlier. After finding the local caves shut we decided to go and have a go at crazy golf before getting some food at a local pizza takeaway.

It was sad that the day had been so miserable but the golf had definitely been a highlight!

Stage 10: Pau - Hautacam 156km 16/7/08

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This was a fairly early starter as we had our first two Hors Categorie (above categorisation) climbs – the most climbed Col in the tour – the Tourmalet (2,115m) and then the Hautacam (1,520m).

As we had overhit the distance the previous day, we decided to start a little way from the real start (about 10km in) in the small town of Rebenacq - very close to the pleasantly named Reataurant La Bastarde, which is what we thought of the Tour route organiser!

Straight from the off we had a short sharp little climb which really made us feel where we had put in the effort the previous day. So, both feeling very sluggish we pottered on through some rolling countryside over two 3rd Cat climbs which took us across a couple of valleys and through the “tat-central” town of Lourdes, which was over-stocked on dosey tourists wandering around in the middle of the road. Having negotiated the dopey buggers, we continued on to and through Bagneres (where we were based for the three nights) and to the small town of Beaudean, where we stopped for a shaded lunch stop 25km shy of the summit of the Tourmalet (or 10km from the base of the climb proper).

The road climbed up the valley through Campan and Sainte-Marie de Campan before the climb proper started at a gentle pace before beginning to kick up through a couple of tunnels and into the trees and some very welcome shade. Team Kate was once again present to furnish us with drinks, gels and bars as required and provide moral support, including letting us know we were going at least as well as some other people on the climb. I (Matt – so Ian doesn’t get in troubleJ) caught up with a woman mountain biker whom I have to admit to slipstreaming for a little longer than was necessary! You have to find some way to make these climbs easier, you know!

As the tree line thinned the ski-resort town of La Mongie appeared in the distance and the road kicked up to an evil 10%+ in stretches. Indeed as you climb these cols, there are markers at the side of the road telling you how far to go, your current height, and the average percentage for the coming kilometre – this doesn’t often make for pleasant reading!

La Mongie I have rechristened La Mangy as it is one of the most hideous eyesores ever constructed on the side of a mountain and ruins a beautiful view back down the valley. Eejit constructors!

The arrival of La Mongie heralded the last 4km and these were twisty-windy to the top and ever steepening with increasing numbers of Tour riders’ names adorning the tarmac – some dating back many years (Fignon, Virenque, Jalabert) – this really is an epic climb.

Team Kate were there to meet us at the top with fresh drinks, food, warm clothes and plenty of encouragement. The feeling of cresting this massive climb was, once again, staggering and all the effort appeared worthwhile. We had our photos taken at the top of the climb with the statue of Octave Lapize (the first Tour de France cyclist to crest the summit in 1910, who famously labelled the bystanding timekeepers as “assassins” before heading off down the mountain). Conditions on the road have considerably improved in 98 years and while we were fairly all-in, I don’t think either of us was about to keel over, thank goodness.

The descent was a fast one as always and Ian and I regrouped in the village of Saint Luz to tackle the more gradual descent through the gorges towards Argeles and the foot of the climb to Hautacam. This would be a spectacular road to cycle, but for the constant stream of traffic, which of narrow roads with overhanging rocks, makes for an altogether more nerve-wracking experience!

The foot of the climb found and we dumped all the gear we could with the girls and headed off up the climb – 13km of climbing to rise to 1,520m at the ski station of Hautacam. This climb has been the site of several recent tour spectacles, including Bjarne Riis’ attack on Indurain in 1996, and more recently of Lance Armstrong in 1999(?).

The climb was an odd one consistently flattening and then steepening which took away any rhythm from the pedalling and we probably looked like we were being controlled by some manic puppeteer as we sat down and then sprang back on the pedals only to relax back down again with head almost resting on the handlebars and with shoulders swaying to get as much force into the pedal stroke as possible.

The day had cooled down considerably and constant water supplies were not as necessary – though Team Kate continued to help out with cheers and such. The summit of the climb came surprisingly quickly (after the longer ascent of the Tourmalet, this isn’t a surprise) and a last minute dash of the line for both of us left us feeling that we had well-earned our rest day the following day!

10 days in the saddle without a day off was quite some amount of cycling to do! We had completed the stage in 7:23:05 (with 10km off at the beginning – so add about 25 mins) at an average of 12.404mph compared with L Piepoli (Ita) in 4:19:27.

The first 10 days had seen us cover 1,090.49 miles in 70:35:38 at 15.447 mph average compared to Cadel Evans (Aus) 42:29:09. We felt good – but very tired!

Stage 9: Toulouse - Bagneres de Bigorre 224km 15/7/08

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Left hotel at 06:10 due to length of stage. Also Team Kate’s first day of supporting and they had to get van from Toulouse.

Really didn’t want to get lost today and unfortunately the road numbers disappeared after about 25km and we added an extra 2km by the time we corrected our mistake.

Shortly following this Matt punctured on a roundabout and the replacement tube used was faulty leading to extra time being lost while this was replaced. The road down to Lezat-sur-Leze was an unpleasant and busy road but did pass through some nice towns on the banks of the Garonne. We stopped in the small town of Carbonne for some breakfast of croissant etc and duly headed onwards to our arranged meeting spot with Team Kate outside of Figarol.

By this point we had covered three 4th Cat climbs with one remaining plus one 3rd Cat and two 1st Cats still to come.

The route from Figarol took us through the town of Aspet which sits at the foot of the infamous Col de Portet d’Aspet (site of the untimely death of Fabio Casartelli in the Tour in the mid 1990’s). Our route today took us up the less well known 3rd category climb of the Col des Ares which wound nicely through wooded slopes at a gentle gradient and allowed us a pleasant respite from the rapidly increasing temperatures out of the shade.

A sweeping descent took us back to the banks of the Garonne (I believe!) and we headed towards Luchon and our lunch stop with the two Kates. This was taken up a steep hill (which we negotiated in the van!) with wonderful views up the river valley to the snow capped Pyrennes in the background.

Having sated ourselves it was onwards to Luchon and the base of the Col de Peyresourde – a climb the Tour visits on a fairly regular basis. This was steep from the start and the prescence of recent roadworks made the steep gradient all the more taxing. Ian soon opened a sizeable gap and was going well. The bottom of the climb rose from the valley into some small roadside villages which were fairly pretty before the trees subsided and the sun really started to make an impact.

The extremely hot conditions meant regular stops for the girls to exchange bottles and water and energy drink with us as we used them up within a matter of kilometres. The climb was long at 15km and an average gradient of over 7% (a climb of over 1,050m – about the same as Ben Nevis from sea level).

However, as the kilometres counted down and the summit approached I found renewed energy (aided by a couple of SIS energy gels with added caffeine!) and passed Ian to crest the summit in about 1 hour and 10 mins. The emotion of coming over the top of one of the famous Tour cols and realising that I could do it was all a bit much and I did shed a tear or two – Ian on the other hand is not nearly such a soppy bugger and just had a big smile on his face!

Team Kate greeted us at the top and we dressed for the descent which took in some wonderful sweeping bends and down into the town of Arreau from where we started the final ascent of the day of another famous Pyrennean col – the Aspin. This started off in a much more forgiving manner and twisted and turned a lot more than the Peyresourde while remaining more in the shade.

So with helmets discarded for the climb and with drinks and gels were dispensed again at regular intervals to aid us on our way we plodded on up the climb. Once again Ian headed off up the road before I found my hill legs and caught him up again.

When you remember to stop struggling against the pain and heat of these climbs and take look to your left or right you are really greeted with a fantastic scene. The Pyrennes stretching into the distance all around and above you, and the small ribbon of road below you which you have successfully conquered.

The climbing of these cols is really a mental as well as a physical struggle and you need to find something on which to focus the mind, whether that be singing a little tune, chanting a little chant and summing a little sum (or anything else for that matter!) Simply looking upwards and going “Crikey, it a long way and it’s awful steep” won’t get you up there. The feeling of immense satisfaction of having done it is staggering though - and so worthwhile (especially when you have people with you saying “I don’t know how you did that – it was hard in a van” – does boost the ego a little J).

So from the Aspin it was the matter of a simple 26km descent into Bagneres de Bigorre and to bed for the night (except that there was a bike race in town and we couldn’t get the van in)! Irony, eh!

147 miles in 10:05:58 compared with R Ricco (Ita) in 5:39:28, though he was later kicked out for doping!

Stage 8: Figeac - Toulouse 172.5km 14/7/08

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We set off in straight from our hotel in the morning and in thick, thick fog. This necessitated an extra climb out of the town of Figeac before we actually reached the route which was a shame but did help on the old warm-up (though the downhills were distinctly cool!). Matt’s parents set off later (after finding a launderette to try and dry some of our clothes which we had attempted to wash the previous night in the bath) and were due to pick up support team #2 (Team Kate – made up of Ian’s girlfriend Kate and her friend Kate!)

The stage included two 4th cat and two 3rd cat climbs overall, but stacked towards the beginning of the day. As the fog cleared the day became increasingly hot – it was good to feel the sun after so many days of distinctly average weather.

We aranged to meet after having completed all of the day’s climbs and managed to do so for lunch after the village of Cestayrols. A little spot by the countryside road next to a field of corn and overlooking some blooming sunflowers provided a very pleasant setting and a first meeting with Team Kate.

The roads today were very quiet due to the fact that it was Bastille Day. We didn’t see any evidence of celebration but maybe everyone was steeling themselves for the forthcoming evening.

Over the course of the day the landscape changed noticeably to become more Mediterranean.

From lunch we set off to cover the remaining downhill and flat miles to Toulouse and accomplished this ahead of schedule – all in all a good day. We had passed through Gaillac – a noted wine region, some of which we later sampled a couple of bottles of in an excellent Moroccan restaurant with very poor service!

We were late to bed which was a shame as we had to be up very early the next day to set off on the mammoth 224km stage from Toulouse to Bagneres de Bigorre in the heart of the Pyrennes.

It had been unfortunate not to see more of Bastille day celebrations but we were too tired and knew we had to be up early.

Finished in 6:49:33 (average of 16.3mph) compared to the pros (led in by Bristain's Mark Cavendish, picking up his second Tour stage) who finished in 4:02:54.

Latest Update 23rd July

Matt & Ian have not been able to update the blog due to lack of internet availability at their various overnight stops. Everything is on schedule with over 1600 miles behind them in just 15 days! They have successfully negotitated the Cols of the Pyrenees and 40 degree heat on Stage 13 to Nimes. Today they are enjoying a well earned rest day after completing Stage 15 to Prato Nevoso (Italy). Tomorrow features two Hors Category climbs one being the highest paved road in Europe at over 2800 meters. They hope to be able to post further details shortly.