April 2008 Issue - Cycling Utah

APRIL 2008 cycling utah.com 13Dave arriving at the top of the Col d'Aubisquebeing there. I was quickly coolingoff and headed to the lodge to awaitElliot inside. The place was virtuallyabandoned except for a few carsin the lot. The sale bête barked andgrowled at me all the way to thestairs up to the lodge. Finding severalsmall stones handy, I soon let himknow two could play his game, andhe backed off, allowing me entryinto the building.Elliot, who had bonked on thisclimb, thus allowing me my thirdvictory of the trip, finally arrived.We put on our cool weather garb forthe descent, and then I again had toconfront the sale bête to get back tomy bike and out of the parking lot.Our total elevation gain for the daywas 1816 meters (5958 feet).We had debated whether to driveon before finding a hotel, but thecharms of Ax-les-Thermes provedtoo tempting. As it turned out, wewere glad we stayed. We found anattractive hotel next to a creek intowhich flowed the thermal springsfor which this town is famous. Elliotwas not feeling his best after havinghit bottom on the climb to Plateau deBeille, so after our in-room dinnerof sausage, cheese and baguettes, hequickly hit the sack. It had grownPhoto: Elliot Morrisdark, and so I took my camera andheaded out for an extremely refreshingstroll while experimenting withmy nighttime photography.Two things marked our stay atAx-les-Thermes. First, we discoveredthe next morning that someonehad severely scratched the finish ona car parked just two spaces awayfrom ours. While I certainly feltfor the owner of that car, I also feltfortunate it had not been our rentalcar on the receiving end of thisvandalism. Second, after arrivingback home, I discovered I had leftbehind a pair of nice cycling shortspurchased in Bourg d’Oisans thatmatched my Alpe d’Huez jersey. Ihad retained a card from the hotel,as we had enjoyed it so much, andit had an email address. Upon contactingthem by email, the managerconfirmed they had the shorts andagreed, and did, send them to me. Sofar as I can remember, this is aboutthe only time I have ever been ableto recover something left at a hotel.Not only was it a nice hotel, but thecustomer care was outstanding.The next morning, after a greatbreakfast at the hotel, we tookanother very pleasant walk downand back up the creek before loadingup and heading west. Our destinationwas the Col de Portet d’Aspetand the Col de Menté.We began our ride at the town ofCastillon-en-Couserans. This regionis far from any large towns, and ourroute took us through a meanderingassortment of small villages tillwe reached Portet d’Aspet, a smallvillage at the base of the climb bearingits name. This is a short andnot very difficult climb. Rather, thedifficult part is the other side of thisclimb, with its two short but legburningclimbs pitching upward at17%. It was while descending downthis steep slope in 1995 that LanceArmstrong’s Motorola teammate,Fabio Casartelli, came too fast intoa turn, crashed into a rock wall anddied from fatal head injuries. Therenow stands a striking memorial toCasartelli. This is also the spotat which my friend, Elliot, nearlybrought an early end to his bicycletour, but more on that shortly.Before going back up this climb,we had to first conquer the slopesof the Col de Menté. This is a toughclimb, but one is rewarded withbeautiful panoramic views of theascending canyon and surroundingmountainsides, and a nice lunch atthe mountain top café.As this was an out-and-back ride,we descended back down the Col deMenté. Reaching the bottom beforeElliot, I decided to begin the climbup the brutal west slope of the Colde Portet d’Aspet. Once again, I wasstriving to reach the top before Elliotcould catch me. To my surprise, Iarrived first.After waiting for several minutes,I strolled over to the bar and boughtan Orangina, France’s best soda, torefresh myself. As Elliot had still notarrived, I took my soda and returnedto my bike. Finally, after nearly 15minutes, Elliot arrived. He explainedhow he had stopped to look at asmall memorial to Casartelli thatsomeone had placed on the infamousrock wall. Then in taking off, hetried to insert his cleat in his pedaland start climbing at the same time.Unfortunately, his foot slipped andhe fell, doing splits that his aginghips were ill prepared for. Indeed,that resulted in a very painful ride tothe top, and he feared his climbingon this trip was over.Thankfully for Elliot, from hereit was downhill, except for a fewsmall rollers, all the way to the car.It was early evening as we coveredthese final kilometers, and extremelypleasant. In fact, despite his mishap,Elliot later exclaimed this to be hisfavorite ride of our trip. I have riddenthis area twice now, and agreethat it is one of my most satisfyingplaces to ride because of its pleasant,picturesque pastoral setting.By the time we arrived at our car,we had covered 70.55 kilometersand gained 1669 meters (5476 feet)in elevation. We quickly changedclothes, jumped in our car, and madethe drive to the pilgrims’ destinationof Lourdes. Most people go there forthe holy site where Bernadette sawthe Virgin Mary and to partake ofthe holy water. Our pilgrimage wasto challenge what many consider themost sacred climb of the Tour, theCol du Tourmalet.Being uncertain of Elliot’s condition,we decided to drive to Campanto start our climb. I had ridden theCol du Tourmalet from the west sidetwo years before, so I was anxiousto try it from the east side. The planwas for Elliot to ride part way up theclimb, and to return to the car anddrive it to the top. We would thengo Luz St. Sauveur where we wouldalso do the climb to Luz Ardiden,with Elliot going as far as he feltable.While riding from Campan, Ihappened to espy a plaque on anold building, thus inadvertentlystumbling on to a memorable pieceof Tour de France lore. The plaqueidentified this building as the oldblacksmith shop where, duringthe 1913 Tour, Eugène Christopherepaired his bicycle’s broken fork.He was leading the Tour at the timehis fork broke. Under existing rules,no one could help. He carried hisbroken bike several kilometers tothis shop, welded the fork himself,and continued on with his race. Helost all chance of winning the Tour,but as the plaque states, he “gave agreat lesson on courage and tenacity.”While Elliot was worried abouthis hip, the fact was, once he startedclimbing, he only felt better, and Iwas again unable to keep pace as Iwatched him move on up the mountain.The climb up the east side ofthe Tourmalet is not quite so hard asfrom the west, though the last fivekilometers have an average grade of9% to 10% for a harder finale.Once on top, we made for theContinued on page 25CactusHuggerCyclingFestivalFEATURING 2 DAYS OF ROAD RIDING FUN• The 8th Annual Cactus Hugger Century, Saturday 4/26(42, 65 and 100 mile ride options)• Family Fun Ride (5 miles), Saturday 4/26• A 45 mile Ride through Zion National Park, Sunday 4/27• Helmets for Kids and safety eventsINFORMATION• Registration at www.Active.com• Find more information at www.cactushugger.org• For complete St. George area lodging, camping andtouring information, visit St. George AreaConvention and Visitors Bureau atwww.utahstgeorge.com or call1-800-869-6635.• Proceeds from the event will be usedto purchase free Helmets for Kidsand for local bicycle advocacyand education programs.SPONSORED BY3818 W 13400 SRiverton, UT888.699.4773infinitecycles.comnfiniteLIFETIME SERVICEINFORMATIONclucygo@skyviewmail.comor call 435-229-1404April 26-27, 2 8 • Ivins, Utah • www.cactushugger.org