Tour de France

This morning we watched the Tour de France train cover some territory with which we are familiar, bringing back memories from three years back when we danced around in that section of the Pyrenees. Tomorrow the TdF will continue in that region giving us another opportunity to remember our experiences. But I do not think the TdF riders will face some of the obstacles we encountered in the area around the Col du Tourmalet. In Ste. Marie de Campan we found the road completely blocked by a herd of cattle and the herders did not seem to feel that moving their charges along was a priority.

Near the top of the climb to Toumalet we found a rather deep snowbank blocking the road about 100m from the top. I got to try my cyclocross techniques to get our bikes across this barrier. At the bottom of the climb we had been assured that the road was clear, bicycle accessible, but closed to cars. I am relatively certain that there will be no snow on the road tomorrow.

When you are housebound, for the most part, you have to live a bit vicariously. Tomorrow morning we get the opportunity to revisit part of our honeymoon, a cycling tour through southwestern France and northeastern Spain. The mid-part of that tour involved dancing across some of the high passes of the Pyrenees, a spectacular region I wished we had spent a bit more time exploring. Tomorrow’s stage 9 of the Tour de France will visit two of our favorite passes, the Col de Peyresourde and the Col d’Aspin. Look for the restaurant advertising crepes at the top of Peyresourde, where we spent some time chatting with an Aussie who was spending some months in the region having some fun. Time for some memories.