Jour treize – La bete de Provence.
This is it, the day we attempt to climb Mont Ventoux, all 1909 metres of it. Sleep is a bit difficult if I am honest as I’m ridiculously nervous and even now, after 850 plus miles,I still have my doubts about what we are about to attempt.
It’s still dark when we set off out of Malaucene and into the forest at the base of Ventoux….
We agree to take it easy, stay together and pause for a quick break every 1000 feet or so of climbing. It is slow, painful and relentless and in places brutally steep.
It’s not too long before we are through the 3000 feet point and already above the clouds in the valley below…
It is unsuprisingly really hard going but we stick with it and keep pushing forward. The views are already absolutely breathtaking…..
It is impossible to imagine how this would have even been possible without all the pain and effort we have endured so far on our trip….we are definitely much stronger for it.
We have been cycling relentlessly up and up and up for around 2 hours when we get our first site of the iconic observation tower above us….
…..we know this means we are getting closer but having read countless blogs of other peoples experiences we know that we should not get carried away just yet…there is still a long, long way to go!
Eventually we do come round the very last switch back and give it everything we have to speed up the final incline….WE HAVE DONE IT!
It is a totally overwhelming feeling and we are all pretty emotional about what we have managed to do (except Dan who is cold and dead inside!)
We spend a good hour at the very summit of Ventoux savouring our incredible achievement, taking photos and celebrating in a very British way with a nice cup of tea (which draws a few stares!)….
What also draws a few stares are our panniers….apart from a man who has his dog in a little basket there is not a pannier to be seen and it’s clear from the inquisitive looks we get no one can quite believe we cycled up under our own steam….we feel like cycling legends.
There is obviously the bespoke t -shirt photo opportuntiy (yes I did carry them 850 miles) ….
…..before we decide that even though it is amazing we probably cannot stay here forever.
We stop less than 1km from the summit to pay our respects to Tommy Simpson who died climbing Ventoux in the Tour de France 50 years ago ….
…..and then we drop down (very quickly!) to Chalet Reynard for a proper celebratory drink!
Our expected final destination tonight is in Sault which is a short but speedy 14 miles down from the summit……it is the most exhilirating descent I have ever experienced or am ever likely to.
Within what feels like a few minutes we arrive in Sault and settle in for lunch and oh go on then ……just one more beer!
Once lunch is dealt with we head off to find our campsite which turns out to be pretty hideous…..we decide to give it a miss without even getting of our bikes!
A quick google suggests another site 15 miles away in Banon which is still open this time of year. Unfortunately it isn’t actually open but we dont find this out until we have visited the supermarche and topped our panniers to the brim with essentials (I think we all know I mean beer)
We find another site which again suggests it is open and again is a further 15 miles away and we head off this time weighed down with our excessive shopping. Again unfortunately it isn’t!
This, as you can imagine is not how we wanted to spend the toughest day of our trip and there are early signs of sense of humour failure all round.
Third time lucky I decide to phone the next one on our list (yes I know should have though of that 30 miles ago!) and unbelievably this one is also closed for the season. The one bit of good news is that the owner very kindly recommends a site she knows will be open in Manosque not least because it is owned by her son.
It’s another 10 miles a good deal of which is in the wrong direction but eventually we find “Camping Provence Vallee” and start to “attend” to the shopping.
It has been an amazing fantastic and exhausting day. We end up not only climbing Mont Ventoux but clocking up an additonal (additional!!) 40miles on top of the planned 30.
By rights I should have been fast asleep ages ago but I have manfully battled the poor internet connection to get something posted whilst it is still fresh in my mind.
I hope you enjoy sharing our achievement with us …..it really has been an incredible and unforgettable day…..”allez les trois hommes!”