This is the hardest part...: 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.