Alix - Another 6am alarm call. Those of you who know me well, will know that I am SO not a morning person, but on this trip I've been amazingly good at getting out of bed and being ready on time. I don't know if it's the fear of being left behind or just of not having enough time to shovel down as many croissants and as much bread and cereal as you can.....got to get the carbs in! The previous evening I'd had a stretching/rollering session with Monica on the landing of the hotel and the makeshift ice-packs for my knees seemed to have worked so the legs were not feeling too bad.
We rolled out of Massat and immediately hit the first col of the day, the col de Port. The cooler early morning temperatures are such a pleasure to ride in and we spun our legs out up the steady gradient of the climb. Another swooping, long descent to the valley bottom was followed by a long drag on a very busy road up the valley to Ax les Thermes. Paul was feeling the cumulative effects of several days of hard riding and it was a struggle to stay sitting in the 'Glasgow armchair' for the 27km run to our next col, the col du Pailhieres, which is the longest climb of the whole 'Raid'. With the mercury steadily rising it was a relief to pull in and meet the van at the designated stop point, another boulangerie where we bought lunch to eat at the top of the climb. We both managed to grab some cake as well...the best coffee eclair I have ever eaten!
The col du Pailhieres has perhaps been my favourite climb of the whole week. Maybe it's because I was coffee eclair fuelled, but it put a huge smile on my face to be riding up the lower slopes, through pine trees, blue skies above and the sound of a mountain river at the side of me. Beautiful....even the belligerent cows who tried to nudge you as you rode past! The road and the scenery then started to open up and with no shade at all it got very hot again.....I was almost grateful for the cooling headwind even though it was making the twisty hairpins very hard work! The summit of the Pailhieres is simply stunning. I can't quite describe what it was like reaching the top. A herd of the most beautiful tan haired, blonde maned horses and foals greeted us. The views were stunning and we got our first view of the Mediterranean Sea in the far distance......tantalisingly close. Eating my ham and cheese baguette I did wonder if this wasn't perhaps the best picnic spot in the world?
The descent off the Pailhieres is a classic. It looks like how a child might draw a road going up a mountain if asked...twisty and windy like a snake. Slightly bonkers! It's been used many times in the Tour and the one car wide tarmac road is a sea of writing and paint daubings urging the pro peloton along. It's a very technical descent as well. Overtaking campervans at nearly 40mph downhill with the smell of their brakes in your nostrils....bit scary!
The next section of route can only be described as slow and hot, very hot....road melting hot. It almost felt like the tar was reaching up off the road and trying to grab our tyres....as if we weren't going slow enough! Thankfully, I had Monica for company and we chatted our way to the next van stop where we fell on the boxes of crisps, peanuts and M&Ms and replenished bottles ready for the col du Jau, our next and final climb of the day.
After a bit of a tug up the initial part, the col du Jau developed into another shady, windy climb following a mountain stream to the summit. I was riding on my own at this point and I felt quite mixed emotions as the top got nearer. This was the last significant climb of the 'Raid' and mentally, the point at which you begin to feel (barring any last day disasters) you've made it. The worst is behind you, but it also means that a great trip is coming close to an end and whilst my legs were probably rejoicing, I was genuinely quite sad about that!
After waiting for Paul to crest the top - he'd found the mountain stream too tempting and had stopped for a head dunk! - we had a last col photo and then descended down to Mosset where we found Rod and Ian (1/2 the Glasow contingency!) already on the celebratory beers in a tiny bar with a spectacular view down the valley. It would have been rude not to stop, right? Monica joined us and then we all bombed down to Prades to our hotel for the evening. It was a very 'relaxed' descent shall we say!
A dip in the lovely pool at the hotel (good cold water leg recovery!), more food, more stretching, kit laid out and ready for the morning then time to hit the sack. The final day is almost upon us........
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