June 2000 Diary
8th June - The giant of Provence, Mont Ventoux
A little bit out of the way on this ride as I was in Provence to watch the Criterium de Dauphine Libere climb the Mont Ventoux. I'd been here four years earlier to watch the same race on the same mountain, and climbed the Mont Ventoux from the west starting from Malaucene.
This time I was here to climb from the south, the hardest of the three routes up the mountain and starting from the village of Bedoin. The Mont Ventoux doesn't look like the imposing climb that awaits, as the mountain rises gradually from the valley floor with no vertical cliff faces. It is more like a huge hill.
As with the time before, I left the campsite at seven thirty in the morning and the temperature was already in the mid twenties with a clear sky. The climb doesn't properly start for around seven kilometres and the road winds past vineyards and cherry orchards and through the hamlets of Sainte Colombe and Les Bruns, slowly gives an evolving view stretching south. The Mont Ventoux rises to the left with the Observatory perched on the summit, above the treeline and then the barren pale rocky landscape.
Once I had passed the hamlet of St Esteve, seven kilometres after Bedoin and notable because it is the last hamlet and has the last water fountain before the climb, then the gradient ramped up to around ten percent. The road started to wind its way through woods, a mixture of pine, larch, oak and cedar.
Depending on the time of day, you can climb the mountain in shade or direct sun, and that is why I was up early so that I could miss the heat. This is for me, the toughest part of the climb as the gradient is relentless and there are no real chances to get back get some energy back with an easing of the slope. The climb never hairpins but twists and turns in the same direction climbing the mountain till a kilometre or so from the Chalet Reynard, six kilometres from the top of the climb.
After the Chalet, the climb changes for two reasons, the first being the trees disappear and I started to climb through the barren 'moonscape' that Mont Ventoux is famous for. The second change is the wind starts to pay a factor in the climb.
On the previous occasion that I climbed Mont Ventoux, the wind had howled as I left the treeline, and this time was no exception. The gradient had eased to around seven percent but I had now turned left into a viscous headwind and began the final part of the climb the followed the winding contours of the mountain towards the summit..
Although the first riders in the Dauphine Libere race would not pass on the road for another eight hours, there were numerous people climbing from camper-vans and cars grabbing their spot, and setting up their tables and chairs. They would have a cold and windy wait as my cycle computer was reading 18 degrees and the wind was really howling.
The climb of Mont Ventoux really is like no other. There are no other mountains of a similar altitude in view and the impressive panorama stretches off south in the direction of Carpentras and Avignon. The landscape for the final few kilometres is unique, like cycling through the Casse Desert on the Col d'Izoard, it has to be experienced. I passed the memorial to the British cyclist, Tom Simpson and made a mental note to pay my respects on the way back as I hadn't yet stopped on the climb.
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| The
view of the Observatory and the distinctive 'moonscape' at the summit
of the Mont Ventoux. |
I cycled the last kilometre against a headwind that seemed to be trying everything to prevent me getting to the Col. The final hairpin and I had made it with 23 kilometres, 1610 metres of climbing in an hour and a half. I sheltered behind a lorry that was setting up the finish area for cycle race later in the day and donned my wind cape before hitting the descent. The first ten minutes were relatively scary as the wind buffeted me around the road but once past the Chalet Reynard and back into the trees then I could enjoy the descent.
The descent is fantastic, very technical but a lot of fun on a good road surface. The best section is around three kilometres from St Esteve as the road takes you through a series of left and right hand sweeping curves that allow you to take a good racing line across the apexes before a long fast straight.
9th June - The Col du Rousset
Following a large lunch in Die, at the southern most point of the Vercors range, I began the 20 kilometre ascent of the Col de Rousset in 33 degrees of heat.
From the start I liked this climb. The gradient never rose above six percent and the countryside is beautiful, green forest and the striking cliff faces of the Vercors above. The last village, Chamaloc, is 14 kilometres before the Col and thankfully does have a water fountain if bottles are empty.
I had the advantage of a strong tailwind pushing me up the climb and once I had left the village the road hugged the left-hand side of a valley for five kilometres before I hit the final nine kilometres of hairpins. I could see the climb above me, winding up the mountainside, a rugged cliff face toward the top with the road's hairpins built out on concrete platforms.
The sweat was pouring off me and half of my water went over my head, which gave as much relief as drinking it.
;) |
| The
winding road of the Col de Rousset with the rolling mountains of the
Drome region. |
The panorama south steadily unfolded and the rolling green mountains of the Drome region stretched into the distance. The road was remarkably quiet and halfway up surprised a nice big green lizard, basking in the sun. The climb continued up the hairpins with a tailwind section then headwind then tailwind, and so on. Each section getting shorter and shorter as the hairpins drew closer together.
At 1254 metres in altitude, I reached the Col. I stopped at the parking at the top for breath and for a great view of the climb I'd ridden. A view that included the hairpins winding their way up the mountainside and the start town of Die, hazy in the distance and surrounded by green rolling mountains. It is certainly a climb that I recommend.
After the Col there is a short stretch through a tunnel, which is lit, but not too effectively in places so I removed my sunglasses. It was then into the lovely rolling roads of the Vercors with that strong tailwind pushing me towards Grenoble.
