King of the Mountain--Not up in Here--Tourmalet

I sported the polka dot jersey today, the jersey reserved for the top climber--I wasn't worthy of it. The highlight of the ride today was the Col du Tourmalet. The Tourmalet is the most famous climb in the Tour, and has been included in more Tours than any other climb. It is the highest road in the central Pyrenees. Approaching from the east, through La Mongie, this is a 3,900ft hors categorie climb, over 17.2km, 7.4% average grade, max at 10%. On each of these climbs, there are signs at every km, marked to show what the gradient is for the next km, and your altitude. Every time you see >8% for the next km, you just simply expect to put your head down and grind.

We did not expect to get to the top of the Tourmalet, as the gendarmie shut down the road up to the top early in the morning. I was not about to be denied my summit quest, so hiking past the guards, we made it on towards the top of the Col. We sat at the summit in a 100+ year old stone house/bar, watching the TV coverage of the climbers, and having the best spaghetti carbonara ever. This was the third climb of the day, with one more HC climb up the Aubisque for the stage. So many of the riders suffered, as the sun just bakes down on the upper slope with no protection. My hands are white from my gloves--my arms and legs are fried and burned.

We descended down the western slope of the Tourmalet, which the riders will climb back up on Thursday. We were not able to climb the Aubisque because the road was closed, so we substituted the last climb for another HC climb--Luz Ardiden.

Luz Ardiden is 14.7km, 3000 foot category 1-2 climb, with an average gradient of 6.9% and max 10%. This is the climb where in 2003 Lance Armstrong fell, after having his handlebars caught by a spectator's handbag. He went on to win the stage vs Basso. The brutal part of the climb is simply when you get out of the trees, and see how much climbing you have left--demoralizing to say the least. For me, this was heads down the entire way--I was soaked with sweat at the top.

While the climbs were brutal, once we descended back down Ardiden, we thought we only had 12km back to Lourdes--our hotel for the night--wrong--30km and a headwind. The ride back to town was killer.

I am among the walking dead tonight--would not be surprised to see me getting pushed by a nun in my bed tomorrow to Le Grotte...