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Soooo here is the deal.....I am officially three sheets to da wind....so on the odd chance this does not make sense....blame it on a wild rum...from Venezuela....and some kinda raspberry liquor. It really is hard ta focus on the screen as I type lol. That being said I shall make me best effort to recount how cool a day it was.
So we are of course watching the weather an this is where it is not looking good rain all around us and in the next mountain range you can hear the thunder....so it is not looking good.....but we could only cross our fingers and It will be what it is.
So I expected grey clouds when I woke up...not the case....I wandered to me window swung the currents and holy cow what a view. Stunning to say the least...and...it looked nice out. Definitely took some time to appreciate where I was...plus was not at me mental peak that is for sure the bar chat took a bit of a toll but was good fun. After a quick breakfast..a good one at that...there is always Iberian Ham it seems...anyhoo a bit of a burp and it was time to go. this time Martin is leading. With a support truck I can put me bags in the truck and ride a lighter bike. Not used to that, so I threw me pannier bags in there and was good to go in a few minutes. This gang is pretty quick to go too. The plan is we leave at 9 everyday...so far its holding well.
The idea of the day is that we are to climb five wild passes today zipping in and out of France in the process. Most seem to have affective. The weather forecast are dicey at best and Martin is crossing his fingers. So am I. Off we went me in the # 2 slot and we had to back track down the same canyon and north for a bit then turn west. There is a long tunnel that we go through again to get us to the valley next door. Sun was up and the temp is about 16 so its pretty nice weather and a scenic ride out. We got to the tunnel and after a few minutes.....popped out the other side into a cloud. Yup big time fog.....So the roads were wet and it was very white out....
Somewhere in this process we had put our rain gear on and it takes the nip out of the wind so is a good thing. Now what they do is who ever is in the chase van scoots ahead after a stop and sets up his camera to take pictures of us going by in a corner or something. We had stopped and Roger scooted ahead and Mike is now riding with him as his leg is really hurting him bad. He pulled his hamstring or something and had also done it before so they loaded his bike in the van and he was now Rogers ride buddy. The day before Martin blew by us while we were at a stop and I think I saw both outside wheels lift on the van...they drive it like the bike...and no I am not exaggerating at all. I was sure Mike was getting a hell of a ride with Roger heh heh. He might find a cure to be able to ride again soon I suspect.
So they scooted off ahead after a stop we had and later we did too. The roads are still wet but the clouds have lifted which is a good thing. We are going through these nice curves nothing too fast at all...remember its wet. Come to a left hander and there is Roger taking pics with Mike, I wave with me left hand. Go around the bend and a right hand bend comes up, oh and its on a downslope. Sooo I lean a bit....tap the back break the tiniest of a smidge to wipe some speed. Quicker then I can say "S#*t!" Back end snaps out a bit and catches again and gives me a nice tank slapper and I have to go a bit wide to get it back. Martin must have eyes like a hawk as he right away gave some hand signals like are you okay? I gave the yupper only thing hurt was me pride on that one. Just reminded all how slick it can be.
We continued on to our first pass climb and it was cool....Col d'Aspin (google it) it is a very twisty narrow road up and it was not too wet at all so was not to bad till we got near the top...clouds closed in so not much of a view aside from white. Martin was feeling bad because we were missing the view. It was fun riding up and I saw Eagles soaring around too. Very cool. The ride down was a blast and things are drying up...we popped out of the fog after a bit and it seems to be getting dryer. At the bottom...a cafe...of course. Cafe au lait time. Its weird, I have a bit of language advantage here and guys are asking me how to say a few things. But I can not tell Catalan from Spanish and it can be used here also as Catalan goes into France also also I am feeling very rusty in my Spanish right now.
Off we trotted again and the roads are drying... sort of...clouds got higher too. Just in time for a massive pass climb our second, Col du Tourmalet (google it....seriously)....its in the tour de france and you have to be a bit careful because the fans write stuff on the road in paint... for those not in the know... paint + asphalt + motorcyle = ackkkkkkk. So just had to be a bit more careful in the corners I reckoned, good thing is these are all things that Martin and Roger brief on the night before, off we went.
Holy crapper...was it a cool climb, I can not believe these guys do it on a bike....the pedal kind. Not much traffic and it was drying up and we ended up above the clouds. To look back at the road you just came up was crazyyyy cool. We were also able to start picking the pace up as things dried up. At the top is a cool statue and we all stopped and started taking pictures. Every car truck bike stopped to do the same. This place is like mecca it looks like. Then the clouds swept away a bit and holllly crapppin cool. I saw the road we were heading down on.....OMG wild looking. Vrrom Vroom...we were off. The descent was amazing....steep runs with switchbacks mixed with wide tight sweepers. The pavement was good and drying fast. We got to the bottom and had to wait for the guys in the rear. They are taking their time and loving every minute of it. All good so far everyone is getting the ride they want. Once they caught up we took off to hit a town down the valley for lunch.
We pull in to this cool town and uhhh I need to find it on a map to remember its name. Either way its a french tourist town..ya we is in france already...think the border is at the top of the first pass, blink and you miss the sign. Its hard to know where you are and forget direction....we are all over the place so I am directionally challenged at this point. I'll leave all the naving to Martin and Roger. They know a nice restaurant and they make and awesome thin crust pizza. We get a lot of looks from the locals when we are getting ready...not the scared time to leave kind like when the Hells Angels pull in more like a hmmm...what are they up to kind.
Oh I got talking to Mike...mostly cuz his eyes are wide as saucers....I also gave him some Voltarin to rub on the night before. He said it was helping. So I asked how it was going and he stuttered out a ...okay you need to put on your southern accent for this.... "Sheeeeitttt....that boy is crazzzzeeee...my sphincter is plumb gone...dun sucked it up my ass cheeks clenchen so hard an spat it out screaming...and that boy is listening to "Singing in the rain!" sheeeeeit its like I's in freakin Nascar race cept they turn right toooooo and there is nooo road boyyyyy serious...its hang on and get religious time for me." I busted a nut on that one....lol He did have some serious wide eye going though......
Off we went I saw Mike do a hail mary getting in the van and they were off to get ahead of us again. We took off and now the roads are getting realllll nice....but there are clouds around us. So we head for Col du Soulor (google it....really...take a peek...its ccool). Wahoooooo up n up n up n clouds......n white....n clouds ..... These roads even if dry you can't go crazy on as they are so narrow....not really sure how the van can make it to be honest as if another is coming the road is not wide enough.
Now we were to take a wicked narrow road with blind tunnels one lane wide...uhhh that means half a lane in the rest of the world that connects to another pass. Ohhh and its very foggy now. Off we go and at first it is an amazing view. We came up to a tunnel that I had to stop and take pics of. I let everyone else go by whilst I took in the view and a few pics on me own. Hopped back on road (ha ha) and played catch up. It did not take long as speed was not big on this road...then the clouds moved in....we all had to put on our hazards to see the bike in front....now I was in the rear. It was so foggy all I could see were the double amber strobes going off in front of me and I could only see about 5 feet. It started to become an illusion as with the curves...they were back and forth so these strobes jockeyed to the left and right in no sequence up and down in front of me....I had to look just at the road to not inadvertently follow one..the wrong one off the road down a cliff. ...oh no guard rails here and it was a lonnnnnng ways down. We popped out the cloud and a small truck was stopped with a few bikes....and people milling about...we all were slowly going around them as I did I made eye contact with a dude in riding gear that looked in rough shape. As I did I could see down the side of the road....and a ways down was a motorbike all bent up tied to the truck now. Holy crap dude drove off and survived....he looked bent up though but wow lucky it and he stopped. Looks like he went about 20 feet down. He's got a story to tell.
We kept going and popped into a parking lot Col D'Aubisque...there was a cafe. Time for a coffee in the cafe of course. The cafe is really cool full of old pics of the tour de france as all these passes are used. I made the mistake of looking at a hugggeeee cow bell hangin ther ...coxing me to ring it... now not sure about you but if you see a big cow bell.....are you not gunna ring it....just like the Cow Bell sketch on saturday night live, "More Cow Bells!" So I grab it and gongggggg.....the waiter popped out and quickly let me know I was now on the hook for drinks for all.....ubda ubada ubada.....son of a b#tch. Must refrain from touching bells.... I did my best uhhh nooo denaro...sheepish look.... pulled the pockets out showed the lint....looked sullen.....and got out of it at least.
After a nice coffee it was time to go again, the parking lot is full of horses too and one decided to park itself pretty much right next to me bike...seems they knew how to work the tourist for hand outs. A couple of french guys were screaming hiding from the one near their car..it was like they hadn't seen one before. The horse just looked at em...and moved bit loser. I laughed my arse off watching it, one guy grabbed a bicyle and held it up like a shield to ward off the beast. I gave my horse a nice pet and point her towards an elderly lady with a sandwich.....off she trotted....she figured it out pretty quick I had nuttin..and my seat looked rubbery.
So this was the last high pas for the day....it was time to descend back and back to Spain.
Off we went and the ride was excellent...lots of sweepers.....and it was really drying out as we came down. We ended up in an area that follows the river in a valley...lots of curves and I was chasing Martin at a good pace. Phil likes to try to keep up and we had just passed a couple of cars and they could not right away so we were pulling away.
I look in my mirror and I see Phil pull out and the car in front does too, a red Peugeot from France. It looked like it cut off Phil. So I am glancing in the mirror and I see the red car approaching fast. Martin had seemed to slow a bit to let everyone catch up a bit and I was seeing this car get bigger and bigger ...fast.....I start closing in on Martin, then Martin rolled the throttle and we were off. The car tried to catch us but it did not have a hope in hell. We popped out of the forested valley into a wider valley that looked soooo cool, it reminded me of Scotland. The road was excellent and super twisty with long sweepers. Martin took off and it was on. We had a blast I was right on his rear tire for the whole ride. This went on for about a ton of km's one curve after another, I am amazed at how well the GS rides in the right hands and have never seem them ridden this well. What a freaking blast. We finally come around a long bend....and Martin pulls over with the blinkers on...time to wait for the rest of the pack. He hopped off and so did I He had a grin on as big as mine, massive high fives all around. He said there is no way a french man is going to pass him lol. He saw the Puegot and it was on! LOL I'm pretty happy to keep up with these guys.
Phil got to us first ahead of the Peugeot, and he was happy he said it was a b***** to pass cuz this guy was givinger all it had and was screeching around the corners. The Peugeot drives by with the guy waving and tooting his horn he had a big grin on too....lol. We took in the views...and it was time to hit the hotel. It was just down the road in a town called Salient de Gallego. Very cool...up on a hill overlooking a valley below and the mountains beyond...amazing view. My room however was slightly larger than my bed....but the place had a cool deck and bar. After a quick shower I headed to the deck to take in the view and chat with the boys. The next day is to be a rest day....and as I suspected Martin broke the news during our briefing at 7:30 they had a plan to go for a cool ride if anyone was interested all hands weent up but one...he had plans to go to Pamplona. I probably would have done the same if nothing was planned but I thought they would do something. With that...another fabbbbbb meal and awesome wines from the region. After some great discussion it was time to hit the hay....yet another great day!
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David Cayley I can tell you are having fun Bud because of the s*** eating Todd grin in every picture.