France: Mont Ventoux

When you've had your fill of driving through beautiful countryside, exploring impossible Roman ruins, and strolling through medieval villages eating fine pastries, what is there to do in Southern France? Well, dear reader, I'm glad you asked. If you are a huge bike nerd, you tackle an "Hors Categorie" climb from the Tour de France!

What started out as a far-out idea became a joke, then a conversation point, then basically a dare between the two of us. (Well, more of an “I’ll try” from Alisha.) Mont Ventoux has only been featured in 14 Tours, but it has contributed some serious drama to the race. We began in Bédoin, a beautiful town at the base of the mountain. We rented bikes from a shop that had literally 1,400 bikes. It was like the Saint Peter's Cathedral of road bikes.  And while we both took carbon fiber Trek Madone 5.4s (bike nerds know that they're decent, but have mushy Bontrager wheels), Eric, for one, missed the MacAttac. Alisha couldn’t tell a difference from her bike back home.

You don't need to ask which way to go. The road through Bédoin is called "La Route du Ventoux." You just follow that for 13.5 miles to the peak with climbs ranging from 8% up to 10%+. You’ll also know you’re on the right road because of the 5,300 feet of vertical climb along the way! Here is a sample of the windy (and sometimes favorably banked) corners that wind up the mountain. We took it easy and enjoyed the ride together. Eric took mental photos of each corner and planned his descent.

We saw hundreds of men, many of them in amateur (old man) teams with matching kits rolling up the hill, but Alisha was one of only 3 or 4 women actually riding the mountain. Plenty of the men had "support crew" wives who drove ahead, snapped photos, and handed them water bottles like groupies.  But not this old lady!

One unexpected detail on the ride was the names of cycling’s greatest riders, painted on the road over the many Tours that have included this climb as a stage.  It's not often that you get to ride where cycling's Illuminati have struggled and conquered.  (Unless they happen to have visited DC and tried out the kickin' W&OD commuter trail!)  We rode the same course as cycling legends - Merckx, Armstrong, Pantani. 

 

Once we left the tree line, the wind really started to whip at us.  By the way, Ventoux is a lovely old provencal word that means "WINNNDY."  Even the wind has its own lovely name: “Le Mistral.”  And it makes sense since the wind blows at 56+ mph 240 days of the year on the mountain.  The final 10 miles average an 8.9% grade.  (This is why it's considered "beyond classification" in bike nerd speak.)  Around the corners, a cross wind or head wind would completely stop you, even if you were standing on your pedals and giving it 100%. 

In case you wondered exactly what was going through Eric’s mind as he approached the summit, here it is:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWAjG5ndebo&feature=youtu.be&t=7m30s  In fact, he could have sworn he heard Phil Liggett calling the ride. [with British accent] "The riders are really suffering here. They are digging deep on this brutal landscape. And it looks like Team Lacey is going on the attack! The whole Tour is hanging in the balance!" If you want to hear Real Phil Liggett describe Mont Ventoux, rewind the youtube clip to the beginning.

If you want to know what was going through Alisha’s mind as she approached the summit, go here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YCuQsGVV20  Only, she wouldn't have crawled back up and out.  But, it was fitting to see the rider get back on the bike, because yes, Eric would have insisted that Alisha get back in the saddle.

It made us feel superhuman to be pushing our bodies (well, maybe just Alisha’s) past their limits, trekking up the mountain. Luckily, Imaginary Phil Liggett couldn't see that we were in the "granny gear" for about the last 10 miles. Yes - for those of you who have done the math – we only used the other two gears for 3, yes three, of the 13 miles.)

The last two kilometers were super tough.  Alisha encouraged Eric to "take off ahead," but he claimed he was enjoying the company.  She didn’t want Eric to be ashamed of getting passed by yet another rider, thanks to her “sewing machine" legs and snail-like pace.  But, if Eric had been riding solo and one of the old men had reeled him in without Alisha as an excuse, Eric may have ended his bike career right on that mountain.  Whatever the reason, we stayed together and enjoyed the suffering…together.  We even stopped at the memorial to Tom Simpson, a British cyclist who died trying to ride to the summit.  (Alisha was positive that her legs had also died at this point.)  Miraculously, however, both of us made it to the top. 

At last the victorious photos. The view really was spectacular -- Ventoux is the highest point in Provence. Unfortunately, the wind was hurricane strong and February cold. Obviously, Eric rose to the occasion for his victorious summit glamour photo, but Alisha went for the "realism" photo, like she's ready to zip up the jacket and get below the stratosphere. After spending no more than 10 minutes on the peak, we turned around and clutched our brakes all the way back to Bedoin.

Alisha was NOT looking forward to the descent. She was cold, tired, and nervous about the wind. Eric took off on his own for a little white-knuckle test flight of the Madone 4.5. (Nerds, the top speed was only 43 mph. Anything over 40 mph made the front end squirrelly, especially with the wind. Did Eric mention that he missed the MacAttac?) The scariest part of the descent was the wind. There's nothing to prepare you for a 40 mph cross wind when you're flying around a bare corner at 35-40 mph. Alisha had never before been more frightened for her life. From the first hairpin turn off the summit to the final stretch into Bedoin, she envisioned herself flying off the side of the road.

We stopped halfway down to have a snack at an overpriced restaurant and to give Alisha a chance to summon the courage to get back on the bike. (If she could have bummed a ride to the bottom, she would have. She can swallow her pride, especially when she’s reached her limit.) Because of our descending speed, we really didn't take any photos on the downhill. We both made it safely back to Bedoin, and raised a cool glass of Gatorade to our day's accomplishment. It truly was an epic ride. 

Stats

Total Distance: 27 miles
Total climb: 5,300 vertical feet
Road Grades: nothing below 7% and anything up to 10%+
Total time climbing: 3 hours
Total time descending: Less than 30 minutes

We highly recommend the ride to all our nerdy bike friends traveling to Southern France. If you need more convincing, then read this article from Cycling Weekly "9 Reasons why Mont Ventoux is a symbolic climb"