Australian Cycling Forums - Bicycles Network Australia

I'll be over in Montpellier - so why not!

Does anyone know of a tour around there?
Something like: http://www.veloventoux.com/?c=tour1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
(except they need 4 people)
I'll be needing bike hire & accom etc.

Thoughts/recomendations?
I'll be ready to go from 16th June or slightly after

If your in Montpellier, just hire a care and drive to Bedoin... hire a bike from these guys in Bedoin for the day, http://www.francebikerentals.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; , you won't have any trouble getting a bike mid June... a couple of weeks later you will. Then do the 3 routes up Ventoux http://www.clubcinglesventoux.org/en.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

There will be a whole bunch of guys riding Mont Ventoux on 14 July, they even have a support crew with spare bikes, maybe they can lend you one so you can tag along

Isn't toolonglegs living thereabouts, maybe he can make a more helpful suggestion. edit & in the time it took me to type this, he did

find_bruce wrote:Isn't toolonglegs living thereabouts, maybe he can make a more helpful suggestion. edit & in the time it took me to type this, he did

great - thats all I need, someone to hold me up...!
Looks like Bedoin will be the go - cheers all

I cycled Ventoux in June last year - hired a bike from Bedoin and rode up from Bedoin and Sault. Great experience.
wrote about it in my eBook on cycling around France.
enjoy the trip
http://www.amazon.com/baguettes-and-bic ... B00ADTILCW" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Just rent a bike and ride. No need for a tour, just follow the steady stream of riders up the mountain...

Bedoin ascent







I had contemplated joining clubcinglesventoux. But as my hotel had a lovely pool and I'd ticked off enough climbs in the preceding 3 weeks... So instead had a crack at the one ascent from Bedoin.

Edit:

Not sure if they have vacancies when you are going, but I stayed at Les Arcades Le Lion D'or in Buis-les-Baronnies. They had a bike room, all you can eat breakfast and bonus was the pool and garden.

*tick*
Tore me a new one on the second leg like there's no tomorrow... climbing with 90kg aint easy!
Didnt think i'd recover for Alpe d'Huez, so will do that area next trip!

Great stuff!!! Well done Nate.

I'm over there in sept/oct and considering that exact route. 8:30! May have to reconsider taking the full day and just do the one side.

How did you go with the bike hire?

Impressive!... how was there weather up top?. Monday was one of the hottest days of the year so far... OK for an aussie is wasn't that hot .

Might do a proper write up if BNA wants an article when I get back home (still over here for a month)...

all sorts of stuff happened in the leadup, got a cold just before i left aus, 2 week UK/Ireland tour & only had 3 hotels with an exercise bike, everyone on the bus (aka moving retirement village) got coughs - so i got a chest infection the week before & was on antibiotics....
all in all I was in sh*tters ditch cobber...

1st leg - not too many issues, hard, but i was fresh
2nd leg - destroyed me, ran out of fluids, snoozed for 10min on the side of the road, went to pieces, got a flat (best thing ever - legitimate rest)
3rd leg - easy as apple pie until 6k's to go, was stopping every 1km for a 2min break to recover

cancelled my alpe d'huez ride as my knee ligaments were sore (just over worked), figured they'd take a week to heal up, but they were fine after 2 days, however the weather moved in anyway.

Straw - you MUST do it, all three... its only 2 you have to worry about, Sault is 4.5% avg which is (as you will learn) basically flat.
After the first leg, for me (90kg) 7.5% was hard & I could *JUST* keep a double digit speed (tripple ring). Anything more would simply destroy me - there was no going slower or i'd roll downhill backwards... then you get around a corner & see 12.5%... 1km of that I was off resting for a bit. Big mind games, small lungs (big heart). Fuelinig strategy was key... Made a mistake & should've drank HUGE amounts in Malacene - as I could only carry 2 bidons.

Spoke with a guy from Melb in the hotel, he did it while i was there (55yo & <60kg, using his own bike & had a double ring with 30 rear) - said that d'huez & d'olive (spelling?) was MUCH easier than a single run of Ventoux, which really surprised me. Ventoux is an unrelenting bitch of a ride simply put.

TLL - it was a 34deg day, with 2 bidons storage it was more than hot enough for drinks, temps were fine for the most part as you're of course in the shade. 1/2 of Malacaune & most of Sault was full sun which was a bastard, but it was 2pm-7pm so slightly weaker sun. 45+km/h winds at the top... but thats around the 700m mark & then the last 100m or so where it was insane.
ol mate (mentioned above) got blown into the path of a car & 3 big burly blokes behind him were on their ar*e as they were blown over on the last 100m.

So glad I did it, just gotta plan the next one for the cols/alps...

Nate wrote:Might do a proper write up if BNA wants an article when I get back home (still over here for a month)....

If you don't, I will hunt you down personally and demand an explanation

ha!

Yes sir - will do.

Nate wrote:Might do a proper write up if BNA wants an article when I get back home (still over here for a month)...

Look forward to reading it. Great job Nate!

Nate wrote:

Straw - you MUST do it, all three... its only 2 you have to worry about, Sault is 4.5% avg which is (as you will learn) basically flat.
After the first leg, for me (90kg) 7.5% was hard & I could *JUST* keep a double digit speed (tripple ring). Anything more would simply destroy me - there was no going slower or i'd roll downhill backwards... then you get around a corner & see 12.5%... 1km of that I was off resting for a bit. Big mind games, small lungs (big heart). Fuelinig strategy was key... Made a mistake & should've drank HUGE amounts in Malacene - as I could only carry 2 bidons.

Sold! Will have to start earning the brownie points now then

Can't wait for the write up

Went up today ... Only got blown off once, most people were walking. On the final west facing ramps you hardly had to pedal!... On the north facing ramps it was all I could do to hold the front wheel straight!. Phone died at the top with the cold ( around zero ).
Even the ride down was scary... Cars don't realize you can't ride straight.
Just happy to do it in one piece!.

ok - write up is pretty much done... scribbled on the bus between towns.

I'm back in Oz on the 14th, so will clean it up & have it together by the end of hte month!

Looking forward to reading Nate!

toolonglegs wrote:Went up today ... Only got blown off once, most people were walking. On the final west facing ramps you hardly had to pedal!... On the north facing ramps it was all I could do to hold the front wheel straight!. Phone died at the top with the cold ( around zero ).
Even the ride down was scary... Cars don't realize you can't ride straight.
Just happy to do it in one piece!.

Might have been the same day that my mate went up recently - post about his day! - https://www.bicyclenetwork.com.au/forum ... 35#p633477" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

What do you weigh TLL?

Nate wrote:What do you weigh TLL?

94 kgs ...

toolonglegs wrote:

Nate wrote:What do you weigh TLL?

94 kgs ...

Say What!
here I was expecting a 65-75kg range & about to burn you for not having enough weight over the front wheel...

Dismissed.

Insane weather though... I guess i'm glad I got a stinker of a hot day, at least the summit was bearable & "fresh".