We had a good but rather daunting briefing as we were facing a 21km climb, starting at 300m it is 1900m high.
As we were in the fast group we were in the last six to start - the two pro riders, the two fast boys and us. In Vaisan we stopped to be filmed for the sponsors then set out on the 30km warm-up towards the mountain. We cooked along. Arriving at Bedouin at 9.55, we popped a gel and began the climb, very psyched! Chopper went off (his knees hurt if he goes too slowly) and managed to stay with the pros for 4k! Worried he would peak too early, he let the pros go. Adam followed alone.
There is a line of brick in the tarmac marking where the time starts and as you cross it the main challenge is to get a sub-two hour time. We were off!
We overtook many other cyclists along the way but it was very hot. At about 4k out of town the real push starts as the gradient really kicks up. Riding through the forest for 10km at an average of 9 or 10% gradient is a killer! On most Alpine roads the road flattens out on the turns giving some release but on the mighty Ventoux the turns get steeper and steeper, no flattening out in the curves, no let up. An hour passed and another gel is popped; a gel every hour; a drink every 10 minutes; eat every 20 minutes.
Still in the woods but no site of the summit. But as we emerged from the trees we finally catch site of it on the left... it is miles away! We thought we had cracked it, but it still bloody miles away! And it is totally white.
At about 1.5 hours there is a café and although a lot of people stopped we boldly carried on. Up there, you really get hit by the wind and there is no shelter. As the road changes direction the wind changes, hitting right, then your face, then left, then speeds you from behind. Adam was in bottom gear, just about moving, but as the wind hit his face and shoulders it felt like he was being stopped.
Nearing the top of the mountain, the road splits - two routes to the same summit. But the wind was so strong it nearly pushed Adam onto the lower road despite his best efforts of leaning right over and aiming for the upper road. Woody then pulled up and ran up behind him - with a peeled banana - great! Then he spotted the summit. With 6km to go we had been advised not to go for it – but digging deep, he went for it! Woody stopped further up and chased him up the hill in his Ugg boots with a ready-peeled Mars bar.
Then Adam was alone: On a mission. An emotional roller coaster. Ventoux strips you of everything and leaves you psychologically torn. All the way up he was thinking of Rosa, a little girl in his youngest son’s class who has just lost her Dad this month to leukaemia – the disease that we are here raising money to fight. He kept seeing her face, kept saying “Come on Rosa! Come on Rosa!” kept telling himself that if he could only make the sub-two hour time she would be alright...
Reaching the top he put his head on his handle bars and sat sobbing at the mighty mountain’s summit.
He had done it in an incredible 1 hours 55 minutes. Rosa would be OK! Chopper and Adam were elated! Photos were taken and tears shed. Both were chuffed to get the sub-two hour time despite the cold and wind.
Reaching the top he put his head on his handle bars and sat sobbing at the mighty mountain’s summit.
He had done it in an incredible 1 hours 55 minutes. Rosa would be OK! Chopper and Adam were elated! Photos were taken and tears shed. Both were chuffed to get the sub-two hour time despite the cold and wind.
So the final times were:
Adam: 1 hour 55
Chopper: 1 hour 45
Chopper: 1 hour 45
The Pros did it in 1 hour 15 (but they do spend more time cycling than Adam does colouring!)
We descended at the back and ate lunch in Sault – le salade.
The four musketeers reunited and embarked on a 40k ride through Provence with a tail wind, riding through the lavender. It was like heaven! Chopper reckons it was the best day’s riding he had ever had - inspired by the day’s amazing performance. The final 10k of the day saw Adam, Julian Hoff and Adrian Mote screaming together through half bends, open roads and towns. Motorcycling experience certainly came in handy as lines were changed to narrowly miss oncoming vehicles!
Finally arrived in Manosque for the night, we got cleaned up and performed our domestic chores.
Chopper has lost his ear plugs.
Legs are tanned (Chopper tried to pull the Lycra legs further up on the ride to expose more thigh!)
FRIGHTENING MOMENT: A Mangina! Stopped for a photo to behold the last sight of Mt Ventoux at which point it was spotted that Chopper had a Mangina! Continued along serenading him with Andy Williams’ ”You’re just too good to be true, can’t take my eyes off of you, you feel like heaven to…….I love you Babe….” Chopper relished the attention.
ADVANCE WARNING: The Mangina (a big success) may be reappearing in Cannes. As a fully operational female body, which Chops can wear. The mouth piece has a very clever attachment enabling him to eat ice cream and drink beer (with a straw). Care must be taken so it does not melt so frequent dips in the sea are a must. Adam will spend his time running after him with a track pump so he does not get deflated.
Reflecting (as we sit on the edge of our beds in our boxers, rubbing oil on our legs with deep thrombosis massage) that tomorrow brings 170km of cycling down the Gorge de Verdun - an enormous Gorge running south across Provence with a forecast of a westerly wind from the side – towards Grasse. We usually cycle 1.3 pages of our map per day, tomorrow it is 1.75 pages! Last year we had a rain storm but fortunately no rain is forecast.
Night, night.
