Murs - Sault

Friday 29 July 05

Todays ride took us up and over the Col du Murs (627m), another pass used in the Tour on a regular basis. Today was a lot cooler as we were under cloud for most of the day.

We took a slight detour upto the town on Venasque - supposed to be one of the prettiest hilltop town in France. I think Tuscany ruined us as neither of us thought that this town was anything special.

From Vanasque, we joined the route again and headed towards Blauvac and awesome views of Mont Ventoux. The decent out of Blauvac was awesome, new road surface and soft sweeping corners.

We stopped in Ville sur Auzon for lunch before climbing though the Gorges de la Nesque on our way to Sault. The Gorges were beautiful, very similar to the Gorges du Verdon but on a smaller scale. Although the road climbed the whole way to Sault (30km) it was an easy climb. As we arrived in Sault the rain started. We had just enough time to put up the tent and get all our stuff unside. It only rained for a short period of time before clearing up. We spent the rest of the afternoon trying to decide how we were going to tackle Mount Ventoux with paniers!!

Saturday 30 July 05

We woke up to a fabulously blue sky, the sun was out and the rain from last night had washed away the haze. We decided last night that we would climb Mont Ventoux and then circle back around to Sault.

So.... Month Ventoux here we come........

The climb to the Chalets was pretty easy. The grades were not to hard. What was hard was the wind. We had heard about the Mistral but has so far managed to avoid it - but not today. It is always something....

As the road climbed from Sault you cant actually see the summit as it is hidden behind a rdge. The ride is most unlike the other two major climbs in so much as you cant see where you are climbing to. Also, the road for the first 10kms or so doesn't hug the side of the hill. You could really just be climbing any old hill/mopuntain. However, the niceness of the climb cpmes top an abrupt halt 6kms from the summit. The coutryside goes from lush forest to stark white rocks, on top of all that the road turns into a 7.3% grade climb.

The 6kms are realy tough, you literally just have to grind the gears. To take your mind off the pain in your legs, the views is totally breathtaking - you can see all the way to the sea. You can also take a rest at the Tom Simpson memorial which is nicely placed about 1.5kms from the summit. Once at the top (it took us 2.30.03 to ride the 28kms) we donned our warm clothes and found a nice spot for some coffee and croissants. It was really cool - at the top there are 2 stalls with dozens of different lollies for sale. A favorite with the cyclists. : ) Yum!!

Once we had recovered we went for a look around before starting the decent. Oh we decending. According to my cycle computer, I topped out at 71km per hours, so most of you would be able to guess how fast Cam must have been going. We decended for around 25 minutes before turning off and heading back to Sault. This road turned out to be not so friendly. After decending for another km or so we started another long climb. By this time the sun was beating down on us and the going was tough - not to mention - I'd just CLIMBED Mont Ventoux - how many big climbs does one have to do in a day.

We finally made it back to the campground after stopping at the supermarket for our supplies.

What a day. Couldn't wait to climb in bed!