Ventoux...Ven-did-it!

This is Jeff writing the blog today.

Our friends Charlie and Carolyn Row from Tahoe visited us in Uzes for a couple of days.

They are on a 5 week (annual) trip through

the Alps,  Corsica, the luberon and more Alps.

They travel by car with their bikes mounted inside the back,

riding often and visiting friends from the past.

We showed them our favorite places, and let them feel the cafe-pace of Uzes.

The highlight of the visit was our bike ride up Mont Ventoux.

I have been wanting to climb this mountain for a couple of years

and was thinking it might not happen on this trip because of the

wind, rain and more wind.

That is until Charlie came--and in spite of the wind, we talked ourselves into it.

I met Charlie at my first French speed skiing race in 1991.

He was one of the "old" American speed skiers (33 at the time).

Since that first race we have been buddies, often traveling together on the speed tour. We have seen each other scorch the competition,

and we have visited each other in dingy french hospitals after high speed crashes.

Although we have had good times together in Tahoe,

most of our shared memories involve France. 

Now, add Ventoux to the list.

Here is a short video highlighting our ride:

We couldn't have asked for better weather:  

Not too hot with a slight breeze.

Around the corner is the Tommy Simpson memorial. 

He died on the spot in the 1967 Tour de France.  This is also the climb where in 2000 Lance dropped Jan Ullrich and chased down Marco Pantani.

Of the approximately 1000 riders on Ventoux this day we were not the fastest or the slowest. Some riders ripped by us, and we passed many others as they rode or walked their bikes. Most of the riders were from France, but many were from Holland, Belgium and Germany.

The ride up is only 22k (about 4 donner summits) but the grade is steeper and the road feels endless.  I can't imagine riding it on a windy or hot day, or like the Tour de France riders who have already been on their bikes for 4+ hours before starting the climb.

  This is Charlie thinking about the descent and a cold beer...

After a high-speed descent, here is the beer.