The weather wasn’t in our favor on Sunday, but our arrival on the Grote Markt in Bergen op Zoom made the ride well worth it. The weather cleared and our spirits were lifted by the good food and companionship. Warm sunshine greeted us Monday morning and along our ride to Middelburg, in the province of Zeeland. Many riders enjoyed the local mussels. Chocolate, churches, and canals make Bruges a wonderful destination. The short ride into Belgium allowed for a full day of sightseeing.
After a long flight with a stopover in Iceland we arrived in Amsterdam. Due to the late arrival, we only had enough time to put our bicycles together. Day one took us from Amsterdam to Lekkerkerk in Zuid Holland. The morning started out by visiting a windmill in Aalsmeer. The 50 plus mile ride took us through the low area of The Netherlands, that is all below sea level. Lots of windmills and beautiful farm houses, surrounded by little canals, filled the landscape. Today we left Ridderkerk by ferry and saw all the windmills by Kinderdijk,. The weather was ugly and we endured lots of rain and very strong winds on a ride to Bergen op Zoom in the province Noord Brabant. Both days we have been pleasantly surprised by the numerous bicycle routes, that are laid out all over the country. We even went through a tunnel, that had a separate side just for bicycles.
All good things come must come to an end. This morning we got ready for our final ride of what has been an incredible trip. The mountains that we climbed, the scenery that we saw, this journey will stay with us for the rest of our lives. At times it was extremely hard and intimidating but we persevered and left with a lot of satisfaction. Thanks to all who went along and all who followed us on the web and gave us all the encouragement that we needed. And above all a special thanks to Cindy and Cheryl, our support crew; we could not have done this trip without you!!!!!!
Today’s ride started with about a 25 mile climb up to the top of the Galibier. Spectacular scenery greeted us on the ride up. After a similar length downhill we ended up in a valley that took us between all the big mountains of this area. We decided to do one more and went up the 12 mile climb of the Col du Glandon which was our sixth “Hors Categorie” (above category) climb in this part of the Alps. The climb proved to be just as tough as the others especially the last 3 miles where the grades ranged from 10-13 percent! Ouch! After 115 miles and 8 hours in the saddle our tired bodies arrived in Albertville.
What was planned was our most epic ride but this changed drastically because of the weather. Even a shorter route to the top of the climb to Sestriere, Italy needed a bailout. With the weather on top of the mountains still cold and windy I got a call to come get some riders who didn’t want to face the return trip with 2 long and cold descents in it. Other people enjoyed the city of Briancon, especially the old town at the top of a long hill.
On Sunday, August 15th we left Gap under cloudy skies for a 70 mile ride to Briancon. The route gave us the most spectacular scenery we’ve seen so far. To make things interesting we first ran into a large Ironman triathlon in Embrun which had us scrambling for a detour until a policeman told us to go back the way we came. Once we arrived at the foot of the Col d’Izoard the weather was very nice so we shed our extra clothes for the climb not realizing a storm was brewing. By the time we got close to the top the temperature was down to the low thirties and wet snow was falling. Needless to say we pulled out all the clothes we had and put them back on! The ride down the mountain was very shivering and a hot shower has never felt better!
Starting in Carpentras, gave us a real understanding of the toughness of the Mont Ventoux. From this direction it’s 25 miles uphill, the first 10 gradual and after that it’s relentless. All said and done, by the top we had a whopping 6000 ft. of climbing. For the people at home that know Jonestown mountain, the Ventoux is like stringing together 10 of those in a row!!!!!! Conquering the beast of the Provence gave us a special feeling. After a long decent we we headed back towards Gap, where we had to deal with our first showers and a bunch of traffic entering the city. Mission accomplished!!!!!!!
Some went for a bike ride, others went to the market in town and some sat down for a cold beer. This afternoon I drove through the gorge and up the Ventoux from the Bedoin side, which is another option to go up this monster.
Thursday we left Gap for another ride to cover more than 100 miles. After a few miles along a highway we went westward on route 942, which brought us another day of beautiful landscape. The ride would eventually take us to the famed Mont Ventoux, by many considered as one of the toughest mountain tops to ride to. The first sighting of the mountain gave us some shivers as it sticks out way above any other mountain in that area. Luckily with the approach that we had and the direction coming in, the climb was easier than expected. We will be back at it onSaturday from a different direction that will make it much harder.
On Wednesday we started with a long downhill of Alpe d’Huez, which made us concentrate and be on the brakes all the time, because of all the hairpin turns. But we got right back to business by climbing the Col d’Ornon. The scenery up and down this mountain was just breathtaking, with waterfalls coming down and passing thru villages that are hundreds of years old. It’s all hard to describe in words. Even from all the pictures we see on television during the tour, you have to be here to appreciate it all.
