Day 1

Day 1 started with a breakfast of oats porridge - which the "Ze Germans" affectionately referred to as English slime. It was to be a long day - 197km with 4800m of vertical ascent. The weather forecast was good but some rain was forecast for the afternoon.

We started out at a sedate pace making good use of "wind shadow". Don't you just love that expression! So much more colourful than "drafting" Lee had planned the route carefully. A few gentle cols to warm us up and then the 3 biggies.

Starting with the Col de Portet d Aspet. This was the Col that Fabio Casetelli (Team Motorola with Lance) was killed on when he crashed on the descent. A monument was erected at the spot he died where we stopped to pay our respects. The video show the first bit of the descent off the Col de Portet d Aspet.




The Col de la Core took us to a lunch break - where Lee had prepared us a fabulous pasta dish. Looking back I should had more of it as on the next climb(s), the Col de Latrap and the climb to the Ski Station Guzet, I was forced to stop and assume the dreaded "head on the handlebar" position. I bonked in quite a spectacular fashion. Fortunately Gerrie came to the rescue with one of Ben's gels and I was able to get to the top of the day's final 2 Cols, the Col d Agnes and the Port de Lers without too much more wailing and gnashing of teeth. It did however start raining on the Col d Agnes, which combined with a bit of wind and plummeting temperatures, made for a challenging last few hours. At the top of the Port de Lers the decision was made to abandon the last 25km downhill stretch (all freewheeling) and sought shelter in the van to the overnight stop. I was happy to comply with this decision as all the cols (12 for the day) had been done and I wasn't to stoked with the idea of turning blue on the downhill. Check out the ride data here:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/222311363#.UGBjG-lpX8w.blogger

Training Peaks File

We spent the evening at a beautifully rustic inn, "Lacourte", secreted away in the Pyrenees. All the rooms were decorated according to a cultural theme. We scored the African room! We were treated to an awesome dinner of wild guinea fowl and potatoes. Enjoyed watching Mark mess with "Ze Germans" who thought that they could consume red wine


More Photos from Stage 1