short, fat and on a bike in france last summer

sfausfau Registered Users Posts: 59 Big grins
edited March 4, 2008 in Journeys
It was my first mountain...

On the road to the Cul du pas de peyrol: from Salers to Murat.

the day started well, woke up to blue sky. the first time in six days. As the distance to Murat was only 42km's i had a late start and was on the road at about 9am. Usually i like to take it easy for the first 20 or 30 minutes however as i turned left out of the campsite the road was uphill straight away.
167778193_5w8S4-L.jpg

Still it was fun, the gradient wasn't to hard and i manged to get up to the 1st little pass in 4/5 gear.When i say "little pass" it was still 1241m above sea level! I remember thinking to myself that it wasn't that hard. Following the summit it was a gentle descent amongst the trees and little waterfalls. This lasted for about 3-4km's.
167778203_uhoP9-L-1.jpg

Then i came across the sign.....it informed me from the here the pass was 481m in vertical height, the road was 5km's to the summit and that the average gradient was 9.62%. Sweet...me thinks....this won't be as hard as i thought...DOH!!!!!!

The 1st 3km's were easy, in third gear with a nice high pedal action. Even got me smiling. Then, i came across the last two kilometres...
I was approaching a corner, the exit hidden by the trees and i thought to myself "f**k, that looks a bit steep" and you know what....i was right! By now i was sadly in 1st gear and was i struggling.


The ascent has been used in the tour de France ( the last time in 2004 when Mr Armstrong powered up it) and most recently in the "race for the sun" a few weeks ago. As i tried to carry on peddling i came across the following words written on the tarmac. " 2kms to the pass...gradient 16%".
167778218_opoUm-L-1.jpg

It took me about 45minutes to cover the last 2km. I could just about turn the pedals and every 100m's or so i would have to stop and give my legs a rest. It was basically a switchback...1km, sharp turn, 1km to the top. Finally i reached the top of the pass. Even before i could get off the trike about a dozen people surrounded me, some of them even started clapping. Guess they must have passed me on the road in their cars! After about 5 minutes a couple of cyclists came over to have a look. They looked at me...looked at the trike...asked me in which direction i had come and then when i told them looked at me in disbelief!

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I spent about half an hour on the summit, then started the descent. Lets just say that even though i wasn't doing a fast descent i must of hit out 45mph! At this point i would like to point out how glad i am that i spent an extra 200 quid on the big disc brake option.
“Wandering re-establishes the original harmony which once existed between man and the universe”……Anatole France

www.sfauphotographs.com

Comments

  • DonRicklinDonRicklin Registered Users Posts: 5,551 Major grins
    edited March 3, 2008
    No images??

    Don
    Don Ricklin - Gear: Canon EOS 5D Mark III, was Pentax K7
    'I was older then, I'm younger than that now' ....
    My Blog | Q+ | Moderator, Lightroom Forums | My Amateur Smugmug Stuff | My Blurb book Rust and Whimsy. More Rust , FaceBook
    .
  • sfausfau Registered Users Posts: 59 Big grins
    edited March 3, 2008
    LRmvcDonR wrote:
    No images??

    Don

    i know....tried to carry them across from smugmug...but it didn't work....sorry!
    “Wandering re-establishes the original harmony which once existed between man and the universe”……Anatole France

    www.sfauphotographs.com
  • DonRicklinDonRicklin Registered Users Posts: 5,551 Major grins
    edited March 3, 2008
    sfau wrote:
    i know....tried to carry them across from smugmug...but it didn't work....sorry!
    Why not? You copy the image location for the ones you want to use and click the Insert Image Icon insertimage.gif above and paste the location. And it shows here.

    Only gotcha is if you have the images hidden or protected you either wont see them here or you wont be able to copy the location.

    Don
    Don Ricklin - Gear: Canon EOS 5D Mark III, was Pentax K7
    'I was older then, I'm younger than that now' ....
    My Blog | Q+ | Moderator, Lightroom Forums | My Amateur Smugmug Stuff | My Blurb book Rust and Whimsy. More Rust , FaceBook
    .
  • ElaineElaine Registered Users Posts: 3,532 Major grins
    edited March 3, 2008
    Keep trying! Your words make me really want to see the pics! :D Make sure you have external links turned on in your gallery.
    Elaine

    Comments and constructive critique always welcome!

    Elaine Heasley Photography
  • DavidTODavidTO Registered Users, Retired Mod Posts: 19,160 Major grins
    edited March 3, 2008
    sfau,

    You're not using the correct URL when linking. Please see the tutorial linked in my signature for instructions on how to post images on dgrin. thumb.gif
    Moderator Emeritus
    Dgrin FAQ | Me | Workshops
  • sfausfau Registered Users Posts: 59 Big grins
    edited March 4, 2008
    DavidTO wrote:
    sfau, You're not using the correct URL when linking. Please see the tutorial linked in my signature for instructions on how to post images on dgrin. thumb.gif

    well it worked, thanks for that!clap.gif

    an old dog learnt a new trick
    “Wandering re-establishes the original harmony which once existed between man and the universe”……Anatole France

    www.sfauphotographs.com
  • sfausfau Registered Users Posts: 59 Big grins
    edited March 4, 2008
    Elaine wrote:
    Keep trying! Your words make me really want to see the pics! :D Make sure you have external links turned on in your gallery.

    my picture taking has become a little better since then. (In my defense i was tired when i took them mwink.gif )
    “Wandering re-establishes the original harmony which once existed between man and the universe”……Anatole France

    www.sfauphotographs.com
  • DJ-S1DJ-S1 Registered Users Posts: 2,303 Major grins
    edited March 4, 2008
    sfau wrote:
    well it worked, thanks for that!clap.gif

    an old dog learnt a new trick
    Here's one more trick: change the "-S" at the end to "-M" or better yet "-L". The pics will be larger, and we like 'em big around here! deal.gif

    Congrats on the difficult challenge! clap.gifAny shots of your ride?
  • sfausfau Registered Users Posts: 59 Big grins
    edited March 4, 2008
    DJ-S1 wrote:
    Here's one more trick: change the "-S" at the end to "-M" or better yet "-L". The pics will be larger, and we like 'em big around here! deal.gif

    Congrats on the difficult challenge! clap.gifAny shots of your ride?

    fair enough...here's a large one
    172494184_HcWmP-L-1.jpg

    took this during a pit stop on the road to the alps
    “Wandering re-establishes the original harmony which once existed between man and the universe”……Anatole France

    www.sfauphotographs.com
  • DJ-S1DJ-S1 Registered Users Posts: 2,303 Major grins
    edited March 4, 2008
    Whoa, that's cool! Care to fill in some details? What is that bike, how much gear are you hauling, where have you gone, why did you decide to do this...:D

    Sorry for badgering you!

    Also, have you checked out our sister site for runners/bicyclists yet?
  • sfausfau Registered Users Posts: 59 Big grins
    edited March 4, 2008
    DJ-S1 wrote:
    Whoa, that's cool! Care to fill in some details? What is that bike, how much gear are you hauling, where have you gone, why did you decide to do this...:D

    Sorry for badgering you!

    Also, have you checked out our sister site for runners/bicyclists yet?

    nay worries
    the trike is... http://www.hpvelotechnik.com/produkte/scorpionfx/index_e.html

    i was carrying about 40 kilos of gear, tent, stove, camera etc.

    had a crazy idea to travel the world, why not by trike. started in england, across france, italy and greece. by the time i had made it to turkey being attacked by every dog i went passed was no longer fun! the trike was, for me anyway, a dog magnet. So now i'm still travelling but this time on buses and trains etc.

    if you ever get bored, go to www.mylifeoftravel.com/sfau.home and read about me and my travels.
    “Wandering re-establishes the original harmony which once existed between man and the universe”……Anatole France

    www.sfauphotographs.com
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