Soup d'Aubisque

It was tough to get up today, and face another big day of climbing. Today was a rest day on the Tour, so we decided to do a few more of the classic climbs, and one that we missed yesterday. The weather today, opposite from the rest of the week, was awful at the top of the mountains.

We climbed the east side of Col d'Aubisque, which is after Col de Soulour, which in itself is a 1800ft 12km 9% grade hors categorie climb. Tomorrow, the Tour route is back up Soulour, down into the valley and then back up the Tourmalet. From the top of the Soulour, there is another 10.6km, gaining another 700 feet to the top of the d'Aubisque. The road from the top of Soulor runs along cliffs, and honestly I was glad that you could not see down the side of the mountain--over the roadside was just mist and air. We had about 30 feet of visibility. There are a few short tunnels, one about 100yds long and no lights, so you ride through a wet cave blind. All you could hear climbing through the mist was the sounds of goats and cowbells in the distance. By the time we got to the top, I was freezing cold and obviously completely drenched head to foot. So much for my white cycling shoes--they are ruined from the wet black asphault. If you know me, I hate dirty shoes--oh well.

The descent was not fun--an epic ride-I had uncontrollable shakes from the cold. It was raining so hard, you could not see clearly through the glasses. We got to the bottom of the climb in Argeles Gazost, and had around 25km+ to make it back to Lourdes. We joined a group of riders from other countries, and rode in a peloton at incredible speeds all the way back. Riding in a large group flying through the little towns was thrilling.

We rode around 110km on the rest day, and are getting prepped for tomorrow's last climbs in the Pyrenees and up the west side of Tourmalet. The weather should be awful--forecast of torrential rains all day. Should be an exciting finish at the top of the mountain.