Etape 3 Raid Pyrenees St Savin to St Lary Soulon, featuring the Col de Tourmalet and the Col d’Aspin

Day 3– how could it top days 1 and 2, which were exhilarating, challenging, spectacular, and more? How about with two more famous and challenging climbs? But first the run-up. "Raid," BTW, in the name of our tour, translates as "mission" or "task," according to guide Constantine. We speculated that "attack" or "conquest" could apply as well. 

So we attacked the route of the day, and early, catching first light, after a pre-dawn breakfast on the hotel's terrace. 

While days for the riders have started early for the last two, to get an early start to beat the heat and ride while we feel fresh, there is so much more that is done for us.

While we’re finishing breakfast and getting into our kits, the guides have set up the portable racks with all of our bikes; when we’ve packed our luggage they pick it up from the lobby and load it into one of the vehicles; they collect our kit bags, that is, our bags to hold clothing and extra gear we might need during the day’s ride. They’ve also filled their water jugs, iced the coolers, secured our lunch foods— and have even asked if there’s anything we’re wishing we had to eat and drink that they haven’t provided yet, and voila! 

There it is at our first refueling stop. And after we ride off in the morning, they break down the racks, load everything into the support vehicle, and head on down the road to a spot they know we’re likely to be wanting a water refill or some gels or energy bars. Such superb servents! 

I’ve also not talked about our hotels and meals, each different, each day and night shown excellent hospitality, and stunningly delicious food. I find myself wondering, can you even find this quality of service and food in the states? This morning’s breakfast was served at dawn on their outdoor patio: brioche and blueberry breads, baguettes (mai certainment!), a croissant individually served at our place setting; a fresh from the griddle, light, hot omelet to share at our table; fresh-squeezed orange juice on ice. Plus the usual assortments of jams, butter in individually wrapped logs, meats and cheeses, fruit yogurt, cereals—certainly more than anyone not riding a few cols would need to start their day. 

Today we had a few kilometer rollout to loosen up the legs as we rode through a valley next to a stream. The dozen km’s was about what we needed to convince each of us that our legs could, in fact, handle another day. 

Those of you familiar with French know what pain (bread) is; 

those who have climbed the Tourmalet know what PAIN is.

And soon enough we started the climb to the Col de Tourmalet, one of the highest paved mountain passes in the French Pyrenees, in the department of Hautes-Pyrénées. Some have said that "tourmalet" translates to "bad mountain," but the correct translation is from the Gascon, not French, to the English "Distance Mountain." It peaks at 2115m (6939 ft) which is also the highest altitude we'll ride this week. The western side of the peak, which we rode today, from Luz-Saint-Sauveur, is 19 km (11.8 mi) long, climbing 1,404 m (4,606 ft) at an average of 7.4% with a maximum of 10.2% near the summit. 

So how does one climb such a col? That same way one would eat an elephant: one bite at a time. And with care not to take too big a mouthful in any one bite. A cyclist would do this by paying attention to their effort, and staying within a range of exhertion that they can sustain for the duration. And how to do that? The most reliable way, I think, is via a heartrate monitor. 

Over whatever weeks and months a cyclist would prepare for such an effort, by watching their heartrate, which is a good proxy for instantaneous effort and energy expenditure, they can learn the range of exertion that they can sustain for a long time. Some call this "Zone 2 training," where the "zone" is a range calculated from their maximum and resting heartrates. My observed max is 161 bpm; my resting is in the mid-40's, so my Zone 2 calculates to roughly 120-134 bpm. If I watch my HR while riding I can adjust my effort so I don't go above the zone; if I go too high I shorten the time period I can sustain the effort. I've learned I can maintain an effort in my zone 2 for literally hours; if I bump up above 134, I know I'll run out of energy eventually; when I get into the 140's, I know I'm toast in 15-30 minutes, unless I back off and recover--that is, let my HR drop back into Zone 2. 

A climb like the Tourmalet or the d'Aspin offers few natual opportunities to back off and recover because the grade is positive, rather than flat or downhill, for almost the entire way. So the answer is to shift to a lower gear and/or slow down until my HR is back in the range I can hold for the duration. 

And the duration is long: it took me about and hour and half of steady climbing to reach the summit. A couple of times I looked at the road ahead and said, "finally leveling out for a bit, I can coast"--only to see from my bike computer that the grade was still 2.5, 3, 3.5%--it just looked level by contrast to the steeper grades that met or exceeded the average. 

 And reaching the top--it's like they say, "you had to be there:" being cheered on by shouts of "Allez! Allez!" and cheering others on, and not just our group. There is such a strong and supportive culture of cycling here, cars passing with passengers calling "Allez," cyclists taking turns photographing folks they've known for, well, a few seconds, but all sharing the bond of cycling and the thrill of completing a very challenging climb. 

And climb we all did, the entire group making both summits, and enjoying the reward of a long descent, 

as long as 12k, and as fast as each dared. What a rush! The downer of the day--not the descents, which were POSITIVE downers--was one member of our riding group testing positive for COVID. Our tour guides are taking excellent care of all of us, setting up isolation and care for the sick one, having the rest of us test before gathering, in general being very responsive and responsible about this disappointing event. Echappee Cycling Tours is one top-notch outfit. 

And now at Hotel Mir in St Lary, a glass of the locally brewed beer, more water to rehydrate, cards, messages to and from home, while we wait for what will certainly be another excellent dinner. 

 A few final notes of the day, first, dinner was at least as excellent as anticipated; second, my room was on the 2nd floor of the hotel. Remember that in Europe, "1st floor" really means 2nd; and so forth. My legs were talking to me by the landing of the premier etage, and by the deuxieme etage? It felt like the 3rd stage of the Raid. 

Tomorrow: St Lary Soulon to St Giron, via 3 climbs: Col de Peyresourde (8.3km at 8%); Col de Mente (9km at 9%); and Portet d'Aspet (4km at 9.5%, with the final few 100 meters 14.4%).