Today was all about riding the mountain that has been my goal for the past year or so - Mont Ventoux. Actually, riding it is the goal of almost every cyclist I know who follows the Tour de France and other bike races in Europe: it is one of the toughest climbs in professional bike racing, has seen some of the hardest-fought battles for the win at the finish line atop the the mountain, and is always crowded with loud strange-acting crowds of spectators who almost block the road for the cyclists trying to race to the top. Anyhow, today we did it! A LOT of other cyclists were there too...this is no private event.
Tom Niznik, my Jacksonville friend from the world of racing and cars, is also an experienced bike rider, who was recently transferred to Italy for his job. He’s always wanted to do the Mt. Ventoux climb, so drove 6 hours from Torino, Italy to meet up this morning for the ride. We had many adventures, saw many sights, took many pictures, and pedaled a million times, to finally reach the summit. Pictures to prove it below!
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| Mt.Ventoux by telephoto lens from our starting point 5 miles from Bedoin |
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| John and Tom Niznik at start, 5 miles from Bedoin, after unloading and assembling bikes |
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| John climbing last 6 kilometers, where it looks like the surface of the moon, or a mountainous gravel pit |
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| Last short climb to finish, John and Niz |
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| Few yards to go to summit |
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| SUMMIT of Mt. Ventoux! Niz and John, and yellow/white signpost proving this is the top, with incredible scenery to make it all worthwhile! |
After a 5 mile warm-up ride in the country, we took the "classic" route (the one frequently used in the Tour de France) up MV: start in Bedoin, and pedal 16 KM to Chalet Reynard, then after a rest and some hydration, go the last 6 KM up the stark narrow road above the treeline to the summit. What you can't see on television race coverage is how unrelenting and steep this climb is for 22 KM! No way to get a short breather or let your legs have a break, unless you stop...it is UP all the way. The pro racing cyclists have usually already raced nearly 100 miles on the road before reaching Mt. Ventoux, then they have to endure the climb we did today. "Respect" is too weak a word to describe how I feel about them being able to RACE the Ventoux climb to finish such a race day. That's why you want to climb these classic routes, to see and feel a tiny bit of what your cycling heroes have dealt with in the classic races.
This day there was a huge charity ride going on, with crowds of riders wearing orange jerseys, some fast, some my speed. Other cyclists came from all over to ride their own version of MV, and maybe a few professional teams were there practicing: we saw some support vehicles and some awesome-looking cycle dudes (I mean that in the most respectful and benign way!) At a shade tree on a curve with an awesome view of the summit, Niz and I met our new Dutch friend Ed Heerschap, who was riding with his brother and a
kidnapped buddy!
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| Ed's brother, the kidnappee, and Ed at the summit - tradition preserved |
Ed's story: All Netherlands cyclists are supposed to ride Mont Ventoux before their 50th birthday. He did it, his brother did it, and his buddy DIDN'T do it yet. So, for his 50th birthday, they made a short video recounting the legends and rides of Mont Ventoux, and showed it at the buddy's birthday party ....after which they kidnapped him for a pre-arranged trip to ride Ventoux, and that's when Niz and I met Ed! Fun guy to talk with and strong rider. I can't complain about being from flat Florida anymore as the reason for poor climbing: Ed motored the steepest parts way in front of me, and he's from the Netherlands for goodness sake! . Anyhow, Lynn got plenty of pics of Ed, his brother and kidnapped friend at the summit. They kept the Dutch tradition intact!
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| Chalet Reynard, 6 KM from the summit. PART of the crowd on the road this day! |
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| SUMMIT of Mont Ventoux has this weather-science-observatory-mystery building on it. It scan be seen from all over Provence, like in many of my bike trip photo from this trip. Iconic structure on iconic mountain. |
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| Road pitch goes to 11% just 507 meters from the summit - we handled it, there was worse before and after! In fact, it was 14% pitch going down the other side for awhile! |
The mountain road remains open to motor vehicles all the time, so we shared the road with cars, trucks, and motorcyclists all day. The other traffic consideration was cyclists who had already made their climb UP the Ventoux, and were now DESCENDING at high speeds, easily over 50 mph for some of the riders. They took quite a few liberties with road surface and discipline, but MAN were they FAST! Oh, there was also (apparently) a PEUGOT club rally going on today: DOZENS of old Peugots, descending while we rode up, with many of them being restored or preserved RACING Peugots. These were rally cars, just cool as hell, that we never see in the states. The topper was a Lancia Stratos rally car which appeared a couple of times on the mountain and blew Niz and I away - 1980's era all-conquering World Rally machine that is still legend among car enthusiasts.
The third member of our team was Lynn, who drove the car to meet us a couple of places up the mountain, met us at the summit, drove DOWN the mountain, got us a place to sit and eat and drink at a nearby restaurant, and was the day-long photographer. Thank you, Lynn, for always supporting my goofy projects!
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| LYNN at the SUMMIT- Most important part of the team - we had fun because she helped out so much. THANKS! |
I learned later how scary Lynn's part of this adventure was. The drive UP Mt. Ventoux in our rental car was terrifying: sheer unprotected drops off the sides of the road, crowded road with LOTS of climbing cyclists and motor traffic, dodging each other and all the DESCENDING speed demons on motorcycles, bicycles and cars of all descriptions. She toughed it out, lucky for us, and made our day! The descent, which was pretty dicey for me, didn't give Lynn much trouble at all. My courage on steep mountain bicycle descents is thin at best. Today, the pitch was so steep (14% at one point, then 12% and finally moderating out) that my bike was oscillating at the front wheel, so I was using my brakes pretty heavily to avoid getting too much speed on the steepest parts. I was SLOooow. Had to pull over a few times when I was too freaked out by the oscillations. On the stops, I felt my wheel rims: VERY HOT from all the braking on the way down. This was definitely a new experience. It got better for me as we got down to more moderate pitches and I could let the bike go. Niz sacrificed a screaming descent for himself by staying close to me on the way down. Even so, he recorded at least one stretch at 48 mph, catching up to me after stopping for some pictures.
Lynn made it to Malaucene a few minutes before us, got a place at our pre-arranged restaurant meet-up place, and waved us in. A beer, a Kir, and a sandwich and we were all back to feeling normal! We eventually made it back to L'Isle, showered, changed, and headed out in search of food on the river. Found a great place for pizza and pasta, and celebrated. This was a day to remember, thanks for reading along!
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| John and Niz après Mont Ventoux adventure. |
LINK TO all the photos we took so far, if you'd like to see more:
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