Another day...

This route seemed a bit daunting to me as there were 4 cols in it, but you can always go slow, and I was feeling quite good considering.

We were determined to no get lost this day, as we had been semi-mocked as "the guests who hold the record for getting lost" ... gee thanks!

So we checked the map at pretty much every turn, corner, sign etc.

The first climb was Col Des Ares, not very long 797m and not very steep. Actually Julie and Ian use it as a hill climb Time Trial with their camps. They have a little top 10 fastest times posted in the dinning room, Colin recognized a couple of the guys on the list as "big names".

We were just going to go slow. But as we started, some guy rode past us, and that was enough for me. I started to chase. And that was enough for Colin, he lay into it also. So there we were suddenly time trialing up. I actually felt awesome! Good way to start the day. Unfortunately we had no idea of where the "official start" was to the climb, nor did we time ourselves, so we couldn't compare times... (we also found out later that the TT was up the other side...!)



This was the only picture of the two of us together from our trip. (You see, the camera was slightly broken, the lens wasn't holding on well, so we didn't want to ask anyone to handle it.)

Climb one down, on to the next... Col de Buret. Well it was so subtle, only 599m that we didn't even realize we were climbing it, until we reached the top, which wasn't really a top at all.

Then Col de Portet d'Aspet. This was, for me, the toughest climb of the trip. It was not very long, nor high, 1069m, but it was STEEP! At some spots up to 17.6%, where the only way you are moving is from direct pushing straight down from standing.

At the top, I was a bit cranky, but only just because I was hungry...! Mars bars hmmmm!





At the top, we bought the customary meat and cheese from the local farmer. (Colin had moustache envy.)





Descending we were cautious, as it was so steep with sharp turns. Actually an Olympic cyclist Fabio Casartelli, died on this hill during a Tour de France, very young, very sad. Here is the memorial:



Now the last climb. All these hills were very close together, all in the first 40k of riding. So it was good hard work! Col de Mente was the longest and the highest of the day 1349m, but it was a very nice climb. Very scenic, and steady even climbing, were you can get into a good rhythm. And after a mars bars and some cheese I felt energized.

Climbing through the cows again.



At the top.



We then had a delicious lunch at a lodge on the top.



Colin also went for the ultimate dessert:
"You've got a little chocolate on your teeth..."



The we made our way back through more beautiful French towns and countryside.



Even though the weather wasn't the best again, we still had a wonderful day!

Day 2: To Tourmalet or not to Tourmalet...

Of course we wanted to do the biggest climb in the area! I thought it would be best to tackle it the second day, after a little warm-up day, as I hadn't been on a bike in a month...

It was cloudy and cold when we woke up, but thought the sun was sure to break through soon and burn off the clouds.

We chose to take our video camera this day, so without going into too much more detail, I'll post the clips...



Well just at that very moment, a local rode by, he had descended Col d'Aspin, so I eloquently conversed with him in French, (impressing nobody except myself) and he said "Pas de problemes!" So we started to climb. Now Aspin is not a terribly crazy hard climb, but if you've ever been to Cypress on cold rainy day, you'll understand that it's not the going up that disconcerting... it's the going down.

At the top of Aspin, we bought some meat and cheese... of course! Isn't that what you would expect? A farmer selling his beautiful wares, from May until October everyday at the top of the mountain. Actually there were quite a number of tourists, who drive up and go for hikes, or just have a picnic with lots of cheese and meat and bread (since that's all they eat in France). But there were no picnics this day, too gross out. As we had sweated it out on the way up, it didn't take long to get really cold at the windy summit.

So again, I chatted and made jokes with the farmer, who loved that we were Canadian, at first he thought we were British. He wanted to know why I spoke French and not Colin, and that I should charge him for lessons, he made fun of Colin, for only knowing one French word - OUI. He also said it would be madness to ride up the Tourmalet today...

I was shivering before we even started our descent.

To make a long story short, we descended for 30k! It was a long windy, way to the base, into a town. I was crying and shivering so hard I was convulsing. I also had long lost any sensation in my arms and legs (notice I am not saying "hands and feet"!). I called out to Colin who was ahead of me, to stop. We found a little restaurant, and I pulled out the number to call Julie and Ian, I needed to know if there was a shortcut back home, because there was NO WAY I was climbing up another mountain!

Unfortunately there was no short way home, it would be another 70k home...

We didn't do the Tourmalet, we were bummed, but there was no way we could have, we had no proper jackets, no long tights, no gloves... unprepared for how unbelievably hot it could be one day then how cold it was the next! To think I had put on sunscreen in the morning!!

Starting it all off...

Here will follow a series of our honeymoon pics!
We started our trip off flying into Toulouse, getting a pick up from the Pyrenees Multisport...

This place is awesome for the cyclist / triathlete. Julie and Ian Wright run a sort of bed and breakfast / training center, and it is a wonderful place! We literally just needed to show up at the airport and they picked us up, they set us up with bikes, helmets (BYO pedals and shoes), they provide all cycling routes, AND AWESOME FOOD!! Breakfast and dinner included and so all you need to do is eat lunch when you're out riding. A note on the riding... A route of 80ish km will take a lot longer than anticipated... When you take into account all the wrong turns, the photo-ops, and the long lunch... not to mention all the climbing, the winding and the general sight-seeing, you'll be out all day!

Our first ride took us to the Port de Bales, a long 22k col (it would've been a bit shorter but we took a wrong turn and rode up the back side...). This is the famous climb where Andy Schleck dropped his chain. Off we go!


One of the small villages nestled in the mountains, they just popped up over and over again.
It was a hot day...




Fill up! Check out these water fountains! They were all super beautiful like this, scattered amongst all the villages. Actually I was very worried about just guzzling down this water that flowed off the side of the road.... but we were told, "If there is no sign 'Eau non-potable' and it's flowing, (ie. do not dip water bottle into stagnant pool!!) you're good to go for it!





This was a long climb, and considered one of the most beautiful climbs in the Pyrenees. It starts out for the first 12-13k, pretty easy and steady, just pushing a little on the pedals, winding your way through beautiful villages and farms and countryside. Then it really kicks up, and the last 8-9k go vertical, with an average of about 8% (not too bad, but there are parts that are a real slog!)
At the top, it's pretty sparse and windy, but the view is spectacular!




On the descent, through the cows, and over a couple "Passage Canadien" which we learned were cattle-guards... who knew?




And then a few more villages on the way home (which were supposed to be on the way out.... but we ended up somehow doing the route in reverse order...???
(Colin had just taken his helmet off for this pic... all safety rules were followed, helmets were worn at all times on our cycling!) Mauleon-Barousse...


It was a great route, we were amazed at how beautiful this countryside was, and looking forward to our next route the next day!

Off to France!

We'll be riding the Tour de France climbs in the south, then along the coast in San Sebastian, and end off in Paris...

Building an "Identity"

Lately I've been thinking about the concept of identity.

Yesterday at kits pool, I swam past a guy, who was wearing the local triathlon shop logo on his swimmers. He then picked up his pace to try and swim with me. I wondered if this guy, looking at me (albeit underwater...) wearing mismatched tops and bottoms, that aren't even "training" suits, and judged that he should be a faster swimmer than me. Now granted I may just be making all this up in my head, and he just wanted to draft off someone faster, because that's good training sometimes.

But whatever the reason. It got me thinking about how people feel the need to "build an identity". And what does that mean really?

Today, it is easy to go out and buy an identity. It's easy to go the shop, and buy a brand and thus thrust your identity alongside with all the associated traits, behaviours, looks, personality, friends, past-times, age, even sexual preference. This is more and more prevalent, in our commercial, consumer society. We shop for an identity, and we build it with clothes and with behaviours, but what is more fascinating is now we have the means to "publish" our image. On facebook, on twitter, on blogs... (irony noted!)

But I wonder about how it was in the past? What did people do, in order to tell others without actually 'telling' them, all about who they are? And what about societies that aren't submersed in advertising and consumerism and internet? How do they "build an identity"?

This is by no means a new concept. Sociologist and psychologists have long been pondering the questions about identity, about it's link to personality, it's link to behaviour, whether it is something that is constant or whether is changes over time, or across varying situations. I love thinking about the "human animal", one of the reasons I took psychology in school, to see if anyone had any answers... turns out, nobody really did, I found myself spending a lot of time, learning about what other people "theorized" about human beings.

I know for myself, I am constantly trying to define, redefine, pinpoint, understand, justify and defend my identity. Just when I think I know who I am, something changes, and I start all over again.

I think there may be two ways to define our identity:

1. By the things we do, and surround ourselves with (outside stuff)
2. By the way our minds work, the thoughts, the feelings (inside stuff)

And here is where there can be real discord, for myself at least... I marvel at the people who seem to know exactly who they are, and I mean marvel in the best possible way. The one thing I did learn in all my psych courses, is that yes we do have "personality traits" that are fairly consistent across our lives, yet the way a person behaves, is more dependent on circumstances or situations, and so these traits determine a range of behaviour.

A range. I think some people may have wider ranges than others. Such as women may have wider ranges than men, as we tend to ride a wave of emotions throughout a monthly cycle!

I have quite a wide range, of what I consider the realm of my identity. And it is always changing, sometimes my range gets very narrow (and anyone who knows me, knows that I can be very focused on one thing ... almost too focused) I throw myself into a new thing with 200% and then the energy needed to stay that focused is like a short fuse, it doesn't last long until I explode (which usually means get injured, because I've trained too hard too fast - this is where a coach with a plan is a good idea). So I move on... to the next thing...

Do the people who surround themselves with very visible and strong identity cues, such as brand names, have a more narrow range, maybe it's more constant? They are certain about what they want others to think about them. Or maybe, it's because they feel a security in "building it up". It's good to know who you are, and even easy when you just put on a shirt and all the questions are answered.

There is security in belonging. Human beings are social animals. We need to have the security of being a part of something greater. (A side note of interest would be, that in our day of waning Church influence and participation, people have substituted belonging to a certain Church, for belonging to a certain Brand Name, or activity (thus the cult-like following of running and triathlon clubs.)

I am not trying to say this a bad thing. I think it's great for people to belong, better than isolating! I love joining, swim groups, running clubs, cycling clubs.

But what happens when we loose the thing the very thing that defines our identity?

We have all seen it, and most likely it has happened to you. You get injured. And if it's lasting enough, you have to redefine yourself. And then you are put face to face with the second way that you understand who you are: Your mind, your thoughts, your feelings. This can be scary!!

Maybe the people who have mastered this realm, have been more in touch with this side, and can cope better. And perhaps even can find a level of more sustainable and constant happiness.

Perhaps this is how people of the past, and people who live more simply (not under the blanket of consumerism) create an identity, or do they create it at all? Maybe they don't need to. They don't rely on all outward trappings of a visible identity, they have come to understand and live with the inside stuff. Maybe... I can only think of a couple people who might live this way. But then dwelling too much on the big daunting questions like: "Who am I? What is them meaning of life?" is definitely not very productive or helpful, believe me I've been there! Being busy is better than being idle. And since I've given my bike a rest, haven't pedaled a stroke in weeks, haven't put my energy towards a triathlon or running goal, and it being the summer, I've had a bit more time on my hands... Who am I? What does it all mean? .... ; )

“The busy man is troubled with but one devil; the idle man by a thousand.”