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| 4 inches of water in the parking lot |
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| Hotel on left is where another Trek group was staying |
Today is the EPIC day for the Tour to ride the Tourmalet in reverse after a Tour rest day and after doing 2 other climbs of Marie-Blanque and the Soulor. This is the second time the Tour is climbing the Soulor and the Tourmalet for this year's Tour. Both climbs would occur the opposite direction that they did on Tuesday. We had an early start today. We needed to start at 8:00 am in order to get to our viewing spot 8 km from the top by 11:00 am. They would be closing down the route for people cycling. For those who can climb to the top of the Tourmalet and get back to our viewing spot, they would have to ride pretty fast. For me, I thought the best I could do is ride to our viewing spot which would make for an 80 K bike ride for today. It was thundering and lightning and raining hard over night. When we got up, it was still thundering, lightening and raining hard. I had second thoughts as to whether I would even ride. My shoes were still a little wet from the day before.
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| Another view of the new lake |
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| Picture from another guest's camera |
At 8:00 am, the rain turned to a light drizzle, so I put on my winter jacket and rain jacket. I put my good camera in a ziplock bag, and then put a grocery bag around it and to top it off I put it inside a fanny pack. Then I put it inside my big bike bag. I wanted to make sure that my camera would not get wet. I also had my cell phone and spare camera also in a ziplock bag. We took off for the ride and about 12 miles of the ride would be on the bike trail that we rode coming back on yesterday's ride.
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| Our viewing spot |
Within a mile of starting our ride, the clouds opened up and it dumped rain, thunder and lightning. It did not let up. As someone in our group mentioned, it was like someone opened up a faucet to let all of the water out. Our group continued to ride the bike trail with puddles and puddles of water everywhere. As soon as we got to the end of the trail, the whole group stops for a break and to get some shelter. Joseph in our group is the first one to say that he will buy everyone a beer at the local bar if they head back to Lourdes. If we only had 2 people heading back, I would have continued on, but I really wanted more people to say they are ready to head back. As you will see in the pictures, the parking lot is a lake.
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| Our great guide Renee |
We rode in water through the parking lot 4 inches deep. We kept waiting around while some in our group headed for the climb. I think it was about 20 to 30 minutes later when half of our group, including me, decided it would be too cold at the viewing spot. We would also have to put wet cycling clothes back on after the Tour comes through to make a descent in 44 degree weather. We would be up there for about 5 hours. The thought of watching the Tour in a bar where we are dry was more appealing. At this parking lot, there was a hotel across the "lake" and there was a Trek Travel van there. It was another group and that was their hotel. Renee, our guide, talked to their guide and she was able to borrow their van and bring us back to Lourdes. About 10 of us came back to Lourdes. Our overall riding for the day was 12.7 miles and 400 feet of climbing. I look at it as a good recovery ride to the ride we did the day before. In the van, we had a couple people shivering quite a bit. I felt bad to see them so cold.
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| Viewing spot...TV |
I had my layers on and I was dry from the waist up and I wasn't cold. We ended up back at the hotel. Renee took the van back to the other hotel and took a cab back to our hotel. We all showered and got ready to head to a bar/restaurant which would be our "dry" viewing spot for the day. Renee took some of our wet clothes and washed them at the laundromat. (What a great guide!). When we arrived at the bar, we found out that Trek Travel would be covering our lunch/drinks. Another nice surprise.
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| Hoping for Andy to gain time |
We spent all day at the bar enjoying each other's company and rooting for Andy to gain time on Contador. We did have some others in the bar wanting Contador to win, but it was a friendly competition. I think when Andy kept attacking, we kept screaming louder and louder than the Contador group in the bar. After the Tour was over, we headed back to our hotel to relax before dinner. Overall, it a was a good day. I missed out on taking pictures of the Tour, but I think I enjoyed the afternoon more by being able to watch this stage in a dry and warm environment. I've done enough riding over many years in inclimate weather and I didn't have anything to prove to ride in more inclimate weather.
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| Contador jumps on stage with Lance |
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