On Saturday, July 14 (Bastille Day) my dear and close friend Arcabulle Odriscoll raced on the second part of the 2012 L’Etape du Tour – Acte 2. The race took place over the same route that Stage 16 of the Tour de France (TdF) will travel on Wednesday July 18.
The course is one of the toughest in Tour history. The 197 km course offers a classic succession of great Pyrenean cols: the Aubisque, Tourmalet, Col d'Aspin and Peyresourde. This is an up-and-down course which calls for a mastery of all aspects of cycling.
Arcabulle finished the race in very good time, averaging 20 km/h over the entire 197 kilometers of the course.
Arcabulle is a very strong rider, whose mental toughness keeps him pedaling long after his jambes go into lactic acid debt and scream for him to abandon the race.
Here is a description of the various mountain passes that Arcabulle had to climb on his way to the finish line:
Mountain passes & hills
Pau / Bagnères-de-Luchon 197KM
• Km 53.5
Col d'Aubisque (1709 m)16.4 kilometre-long climb at 7.1% - HC
• Km 120.5
Col du Tourmalet (2115 m)19 kilometre-long climb at 7.4% - HC
• Km 150.5
Col d'Aspin (1489 m)12.4 kilometre-long climb at 4.8% - Cat. 1
• Km 181.5
Col de Peyresourde (1569 m)9.5 kilometre-long climb at 6.7% - Cat. 1
This year Arcabulle has already completed the 150 km of the Paris – Roubaix race and the 148 km of Stage 11 of the TdF. Last year Arcabulle raced the 208 kilometers from Issoire to Saint Flour (Stage 9 of the 2011 TdF). In previous years Arcabulle has raced up Mt. Ventoux (where British racer Tommy Simpson died in 1967 after his heart just gave out before reaching the summit) and he has also raced up Le Tourmalet, another epic mountain in Tour history.
Arcabulle has been my dear friend, French tutor and bike mentor for nearly five years. He is a a good friend of Between Homes and a personal friend of many of our residents. I encourage all of you to send him an IM and congratulate him on an impressive race.
Félicitations mon cher, cher ami and Happy Bastille Day.
Viva France !
Today is Bastille Day, the French national holiday that commemorates the storming of the Bastille July 14, 1789. The Bastille was a prison and a symbol of the absolute and arbitrary power of Louis XVI’s Ancient Regime. The storming of the Bastille marked the beginning of the French Revolution. By capturing this symbol of the French monarchy, the people signaled that the king's power was no longer absolute: power should be based on the Nation and be limited by a separation of powers.
Although the Bastille only held seven prisoners at the time of its capture, the storming of the prison was a symbol of liberty and the fight against oppression for all French citizens; like the Tricolore flag, it symbolized the Republic's three ideals: Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity for all French citizens.
Bastille Day was declared the French national holiday July 6, 1880. As in the United States, where the signing of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, signaled the start of the American Revolution, in France the storming of the Bastille began their Great Revolution. In both countries, the national holiday thus symbolizes the beginning of a new form of government.
To read more about Bastille Day (from a previous Between Homes blog article) go here
Do you want a “traditional” French dish to celebrate Bastille Day? Then try mussels steamed in wine with shallots, garlic, and lots of parsley and oven-fried pommes frites flavored with herbes de Provence.
To celebrate Bastille Day in great style, French riders in today’s Stage 12 of the Tour de France (TdF) won significant victories.
On this special day for the French people, French rider Thomas Voeckler, of Team Europcar, defended the maillot jaune that he won on Stage 9 of the TdF. This marks the first time, in many years, when a French rider wears the maillot jaune on Bastille Day. Another French rider, Jérémy Roy, was the first rider to reach the summit at Col de Tourmalet. So on Bastille Day, France is 2 for 2. Félicitations! Viva La France!
Here is a recap of Stage 12:
The Tourmalet
After experiencing technical problems on the descent before the final climb to the Tourmalet, Welsh rider Geraint Thomas was a man on a mission as he pedaled his way up the Tourmalet, dropping his remaining breakaway companions and going at it alone for the second half of the foggy climb. In the meantime, French rider Jérémy Roy valiantly hung on to Thomas’ wheel. But on this day, the French rider would not be denied a victory. Roy finally made contact with Thomas just under a kilometer (0.62 miles) from the top and eventually took the King Of the Mountain (KOM) points and a cash prize of $7,000 Euros (or approximately $5,000 USD in this lousy year for the US dollar).
Final climb to Luz-Ardiden
On the descent from the Tourmalet, Sammy Sanchez (from the Basque team Euskaltel – Euskadi) hit the base of the final climb with a 20-second gap. As the climb steepened, Sanchez and Jelle Vanendert (Omega Pharma-Lotto) caught and dropped Thomas and Roy. The pair looked fresh and traded paces steadily and built a gap of over a minute ahead of the yellow jersey group.
Thomas Voeckler and his team took over the front at the base, as the lead group dwindled to nine or 10 riders. In the final 3000 meters before reaching the summit at Luz-Ardiden, the Schleck brothers (Andy and Frank), Alberto Contador (last year’s winner of the TdF), Cadel Evans, Voeckler, Ivan Basso formed a group to give chase to Sanchez. After at least four attacks, Frank Schleck finally got free. Evans and Basso took up the chase, with Andy Schleck, Cunego and Contador following and Voeckler finally losing contact.
Frank Schleck quickly closed on Sanchez, coming within sight in the last 500 meters. Sanchez, however, would not be denied and powered the final 300 meters to cross the finish line seven seconds ahead of Jelle Vanendert and 10 seconds ahead of Frank Schleck (team Leopard-Trek).
Quick results:
Stage 12 Results
1. Samuel Sanchez, Euskaltel – Euskadi, 6h 01′ 15″ 2. Jelle Vanendert, Omega Pharma – Lotto, at 0:07 3. Frank Schleck, Team Leopard-Trek, at 00:10 4. Ivan Basso, Liquigas-Cannondale, at 00:30 5. Cadel Evans, Bmc Racing Team, at 00:30
General Classification (overall standings)
1. Thomas Voeckler, Team Europcar, at 01:49 2. Frank Schleck, Team Leopard-Trek, at 1:49 3. Cadel Evans, Bmc Racing Team, at 02:06 4. Andy Schleck, Team Leopard-Trek, at 02:17 5. Ivan Basso, Liquigas-Cannondale, at 03:16
Here are some pictures of the Tourmalet in previous TdF:
Tourmalet 1934 – Please note the poor road conditions. Also note the absence of team cars to support the riders. The riders had to carry their own supplies, including spare tires (see them draped across the rider’s chest and shoulders).
Tourmalet 1937 – Take a close look at the pulley arm underneath the bike, right behind the front chainring and ahead of the rear gears. These pulleys were the predecessors of the modern front derailleur; they helped keep the chain properly tensioned when the rider shifted from the big ring to the small ring (in the front).
Tourmalet 1952 – By now, riders were using “modern” bikes with regular front and rear derailleurs.
Tourmalet 2003 – American rider Lance Armstrong and German rider jan Ullrich battle it to the top. Eventually Lance would win the stage and the TdF.
Profile map of Stage 12 of the 2011 TdF.
Finally, in honor of Bastille Day, here is a little musical quiz. What BEATLES' song opens wiht the starting notes from "La Marseillaise," the French national anthem?
Tomorrow is Bastille Day, the French national holiday celebrated each year on July 14. In France, Bastille Day is formally called La Fête Nationale (National Celebration) or more commonly referred as “le Quatorze Juillet” (the fourteenth of July). Bastille Day commemorates the anniversary of the storming of the Bastille on July 14, 1789.
The attack on the Bastille, a fortress-prison in Paris, is widely seen as a symbol of the uprising of the modern French nation and the beginning of the French Revolution. Official festivities are held on the morning of July 14, on the Champs-Élysées avenue in Paris in front of the President of the Republic.
Of course, the French Revolution did not start on July 14. The social, economic, political, philosophical and even environmental factors that gave birth to the French Revolution can be traced to a few years back, before the actual storming of the Bastille.
Economic factors included widespread famine and malnutrition, due to rising bread prices (from a normal 8 sous for a 4-pound loaf to 12 sous by the end of 1789). As discussed in a previous blog post, the Little Ice Age that fell upon most of Europe following the eruption in southern Iceland of the Laki volcanic fissure during an eight-month period from June 1783 to February 1784, led to the destruction of crops and a steep rise in food prices, including bread. (See Iceland’s Volcano Affects All Of Europe) Malnutrition among French citizens increased the likelihood of disease and death and even intentional starvation in the most destitute segments of the population in the months immediately before the Revolution.
(History records that when Marie Antoinette, the wife of King Louis XVI, was told that starving French peasants could not even afford to buy bread, she infamously replied: “Let them eat cake!” Soon after making that remark, Marie Antoinette and King Louis XVI were both beheaded, using a new invention called “the guillotine.”)
Another cause of the Revolution was France's near bankruptcy as a result of the many wars fought by Louis XV and in particular the financial strain caused by French participation in the American Revolutionary War. The national debt amounted to almost two billion livres. The social burdens caused by war included the huge war debt, made worse by the monarchy's ineptitude, and the lack of social services for war veterans. The inefficient and antiquated financial system was unable to manage the national debt, something that was both caused and exacerbated by the burden of a grossly inequitable system of taxation.
(If I may be allowed a brief digression at this point, there are two valuable lessons that Americans can learn from the events leading up to the French Revolutio. First, we Americans should be reminded of the immense debt of gratitude that we owe the people of France. I often overhear comments about how “ungrateful” the French people are, especially after we saved their butt during World War II. Well, had the French government not lent their support to a rag tag team of American revolutionaries, America may have never been able to win its independence from the British Empire. Without France’s help, there may not have been an America to go to the rescue of France when France was being overrun by German Panzer units. So before we make dumb remarks about the ungrateful French, let us remember how we needed their help to become the nation that we are today.
The second lesson that we can learn from the events leading up to the French Revolution has to do with the folly of runaway government deficit spending such as the ones now facing the American public. As it was true in the years prior to the French Revolution it is also true now: a nation cannot long survive when its government spends more than it takes. A government cannot shift massive amounts of debt to future generation thus saddling our children and grandchildren with debt that they will never be able to pay. We would do well to look to Canada and borrow a few lessons from its economic model that, according to many financial experts, is now the envy of the industrialized world.
OK, now back to the French Revolution…)
Meanwhile the conspicuous consumption of the noble class, especially the court of Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette at Versailles continued despite the financial burden on the populace. High unemployment and high bread prices caused more money to be spent on food and less in other areas of the economy. The Roman Catholic Church, the largest landowner in the country, levied a tax on crops known as the dîme or tithe. While the dîme lessened the severity of the monarchy's tax increases, it worsened the plight of the poorest who faced a daily struggle with malnutrition.
There were also social and political factors, many of which involved the social aspirations given focus by the rise of Enlightenment ideals. These social and political factors included resentment of royal absolutism; resentment by the ambitious middle class (including professional and mercantile classes) towards the privileges and dominance enjoyed by the nobility. Many of France’s professional classes were familiar with the lives of their peers in commercial cities in the Netherlands and Great Britain; they resented the control that the nobility exerted over French life. There was also resentment by peasants, wage-earners, and the bourgeoisie toward the traditional seigniorial privileges possessed by nobles. Finally, there was resentment of clerical advantage (anti-clericalism) and aspirations for freedom of religion. In pre-revolutionary France, the Catholic church wielded undue control and influence on institutions of all aspects of French life.
All of these factors were the precursors to the eventual storming of the Bastille. On May 5, 1789, Louis XVI convened the Estates-General to hear the populace’s grievances. The deputies of the Third Estate representing the common people (the two others were the Catholic Church and nobility) decided to break away and form a National Assembly. On 20 June the deputies of the Third Estate took the Tennis Court Oath, swearing not to separate until a constitution had been established. They were gradually joined by delegates of the other estates; Louis started to recognize their validity on 27 June. The assembly re-named itself the National Constituent Assembly on 9 July, and began to function as a legislature and to draft a constitution.
In the wake of the July 11 dismissal of Jacques Necker, the people of Paris, fearful that they and their representatives would be attacked by the royal military stormed the Bastille, a fortress-prison. Besides holding a large cache of ammunition and gunpowder, which the revolutionaries needed in order to protect themselves against an attack by royal forces, the Bastille had been known for holding political prisoners whose writings had displeased the royal government, and was thus a symbol of the absolutism of the monarchy.
When the crowd—eventually reinforced by mutinous gardes françaises—proved a fair match for the fort's defenders, Governor de Launay, the commander of the Bastille, capitulated and opened the gates to avoid a mutual massacre. Due to a possible misunderstanding, however, fighting resumed. Ninety-eight attackers and just one defender died in the actual fighting, but in the aftermath, de Launay and seven other defenders were killed, as was the 'prévôt des marchands' (roughly, mayor) Jacques de Flesselles.
On August 4, 1789, shortly after the storming of the Bastille, feudalism was abolished and on August 26, the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen proclaimed.
From the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizens (inspired by our own Declaration of Independence) the phrase: liberte, egalite, fraternite (freedom, equality, fraternity) entered into the world’s consciousness.
Sadly, the political excesses and bloodshed that followed the initial glory days of the French Revolution managed to wipe out many of the ideals held by the promise of: liberte, egalite, fraternite. Eventually, however, the French nation was able to overcome its initial growing pains to become a world-leader.
To my French brothers and sisters (and especially to Monsieur Arcabulle Odriscoll, cyclist sans pareil) I wish you all a happy Bastille Day.
Today is a very important day for France and also for others nations because this day is a great symbol !14 juillet ! I want to share it with you to give you the sense and why this event is so important !
Bastille Day, the French national holiday, commemorates the storming of the Bastille, which took place on 14 July 1789 and marked the beginning of the French Revolution. The Bastille was a prison and a symbol of the absolute and arbitrary power of Louis the 16th's Ancient Regime. By capturing this symbol, the people signaled that the king's power was no longer absolute: power should be based on the Nation and be limited by a separation of powers.
The demonstrators had earlier stormed the Hotel des Invalides to gather arms (29,000 to 32,000 muskets, but without powder or shot), and were mainly seeking to acquire the large quantities of arms and ammunition stored at the Bastille - on the 14th there were over 13,600 kilograms (30,000 lb) of gunpowder stored there.
The list of vainqueurs de la Bastille has around 600 names, and the total of the crowd was probably less than one thousand. The crowd gathered outside around mid-morning, calling for the surrender of the prison, the removal of the guns and the release of the arms and gunpowder.
Although the Bastille only held seven prisoners at the time of its capture, the storming of the prison was a symbol of liberty and the fight against oppression for all French citizens; like the Tricolore flag, it symbolized the Republic's three ideals: Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity for all French citizens. It marked the end of absolute monarchy, the birth of the sovereign Nation, and, eventually, the creation of the (First) Republic, in 1792.
Bastille Day was declared the French national holiday on 6 July 1880, on Benjamin Raspail's recommendation, when the new Republic was firmly entrenched. Bastille Day has such a strong signification for the French because the holiday symbolizes the birth of the Republic. As in the US, where the signing of the Declaration of Independence signaled the start of the American Revolution, in France the storming of the Bastille began the Great Revolution. In both countries, the national holiday thus symbolizes the beginning of a new form of government.
The French Revolution had numerous causes which are greatly simplified and summarized here:
* Parliament wanted the king to share his absolute powers with an oligarchic parliament.
* Priests and other low-level religious figures wanted more money.
* Nobles also wanted to share some of the king's power.
* The middle class wanted the right to own land and to vote.
* The lower class were hostile toward everyone and farmers were angry about tithes and feodal rights.
* Some historians claim that the revolutionaries were opposed to Catholicism more than to the king or the upper classes.
Here was a resume of this very great event hope you appreciated it don't hesitate to ask for more detail see you soon arc
Stage Seven of the Tour de France (TdF) was the first stage in the mountains, and the longest stage of the TdF. Stage Seven was also the stage where the rivalry between teammates Lance Armstrong and Alberto Contador (team Astana) finally came to the front; and it was in Stage Seven where a previously unknown, young French rider, Brice Feillu (team Agritubel) won his first yellow jersey
When the riders had crossed the finish line of Stage Seven, seven time American champion Lance Armstrong was in third place just behind Alberto Contador and Italian rider Rinaldo Nocentini (team AG2R La Mondiale) who was in yellow and the lead.
Nocentini was part of an early breakaway and managed to stay in front long enough to win the yellow jersey.
Feillu won the stage on the power of his last 3.1 miles (5K) breakaway from the summit making him the star of the day and perhaps a new rising star in professional cycling.
It was the final 6.2 mile (10km) climb of Stage Seven where team Astana stamped its authority on the race by controlling the stage as Alberto Contador broke free of the chase pack in the last kilometer to gain precious seconds on Armstrong who stayed back in the chase.
STAGE EIGHT:
Little-known Italian Rinaldo Nocentini (team AG2R) retained the 2009 Tour de France yellow jersey (“Maillot Jaune”) after the eighth stage on Saturday. Spaniard Luis Leon Sanchez (team Caisse D’Espargne) won the stage, finishing in 4 hours, 31 minutes, 50 seconds. Sanchez timed his burst of speed perfectly zooming past Sandy Casar (team Francaise Des Jeux) meters away from the finish line. Casar was just about a second behind Sanchez and Mikel Astarloza (team Euskaltel) also behind by one second.
Nocentini will go into the third and final day of racing in the Pyrenees on Sunday with a six-second lead on pre-race favorite Alberto Contador of Astana, the 2007 champion. Seven-time champion Lance Armstrong, also of Astana, is third overall at 08sec.
Early in the stage Australia's two-time TdF runner-up Cadel Evans (team Silence) provided some drama by managing to escape his yellow jersey rivals joining a small group of breakaway riders. The Silence team leader's bid to make up time on his three-minute deficit to Nocentini and Contador, however, came to a fruitless end.
The riders will now prepare for stage 9 on Sunday before they get a day of rest on July 13. Stage 9 will wind 99.7 miles (160 km) from Saint-Gaudens to Tarbes.
July 11, 2009: Tour de France – Stage Eight Andorra la Vieille to Saint Girons (176.5 km):
1 Luis León Sánchez Gil (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 04:31:50 2 Sandy Casar (Fra) Française des Jeux 3 Mikel Astarloza Chaurreau (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 4 Vladimir Efimkin (Rus) AG2R La Mondiale 0:00:03 5 Jose Joaquin Rojas Gil (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 0:01:54 6 Christophe Riblon (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 7 Peter Velits (Svk) Team Milram 8 Sébastien Minard (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit en Ligne 9 Jérémy Roy (Fra) Française des Jeux 10 Thomas Voeckler (Fra) BBOX Bouygues Telecom 11 Alexandre Botcharov (Rus) Team Katusha 12 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Quick Step 13 Christian Knees (Ger) Team Milram 14 Kurt-Asle Arvesen (Nor) Team Saxo Bank 15 Grischa Niermann (Ger) Rabobank
TdF Overall rankings after Stage Eight
1 Rinaldo Nocentini (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale 30:18:16 2 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Astana 0:00:06 3 Lance Armstrong (USA) Astana 0:00:08 4 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Astana 0:00:39 5 Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Garmin - Slipstream 0:00:46 6 Andreas Klöden (Ger) Astana 0:00:54 7 Tony Martin (Ger) Team Columbia - HTC 0:01:00 8 Christian Vande Velde (USA) Garmin - Slipstream 0:01:24 9 Andy Schleck (Lux) Team Saxo Bank 0:01:49 10 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas 0:01:54 11 Luis León Sánchez Gil (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 0:02:16 12 Maxime Monfort (Bel) Team Columbia - HTC 0:02:21 13 Fränk Schleck (Lux) Team Saxo Bank 0:02:25 14 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Liquigas 0:02:40 15 Vladimir Efimkin (Rus) AG2R La Mondiale 0:02:45
STAGE TEN
Stage Ten of the TdF will be a memorable Stage. The Stage will be run on July 14, France’s Bastille Day. Given the in-fighting between Contador and Armstrong, I fully expect to see fireworks, both up on the air and on the road.
As I have previously written, Stage Ten of the Tour will start from the town of Limoges. Limoges is the hometown of our very own Arcabulle Odriscoll.
Please stay tuned to the television coverage of Stage Ten of the TdF. Perhaps we will see a very crazy Frenchman running ahead of the peloton waving a white and blue BH flag.
With all of this talk about the TdF. let's not forget the pleasures of mountain bike riding...
On Monday, July 20, 2009, just four days after Bastille Day, Monsieur Arcabulle Odriscoll, a friend of mine, a frequent contributor to this blog, a friend of many of you and a friend of BH will ride on L’Etape du Tour.
Arc is a very modest, even self-effacing, person. He thinks that riding on L’Etape du Tour is not a big deal – I disagree. This year’s riders of L’Etape du Tour will climb France’s fierce Mont Ventoux. For those of you who do not ride bikes competitively and for those of you who may not be familiar with Mont Ventoux, let me put what Arc is going to do on July 20 into its proper perspective.
MONT VENTOUX – THE WINDY MOUNTAIN
Mont Ventoux is a mountain in the Provence region of southern France, located some 20km north-east of Carpentras, Vaucluse. On the north-side, the mountain borders the Drôme département. It is the largest mountain in the region and has been nicknamed the "Giant of Provence", or "The Bald Mountain." Mont Ventoux rises to a height of over 1900 meters at the top. (For us Americans who do not know metric conversions, that is over 6,200 feet.)
As the name suggests (venteux means windy in French), it can get very windy at the summit, especially with the mistral; wind speeds as high as 320 km/h (200 mph) have been recorded. In fact, the road over the mountain is often closed due to high winds.
Mont Ventoux, although geologically part of the Alps, is often considered to be separate from them, due to the lack of mountains of a similar height nearby. It stands alone to the west of the Luberon range, and just to the east of the Dentelles de Montmirail, its foothills. The top of the mountain is bare limestone without vegetation or trees, giving it an almost lunar-like look. The white limestone on the mountain's barren peak appears, from a distance, to be snow-capped all year round (its snow cover actually lasts from December to April). Its isolated position overlooking the valley of the Rhône ensures that it dominates the entire region and can be seen from many miles away on a clear day. I have read that the view from the top is absolutely superb.
A VIDEO BY CANNONDALE BIKES – THE CLIMB TO THE TOP
MONT VENTOUX AND THE WORLD OF CYCLING
Mont Ventoux has become legendary as the scene of one of the most grueling climbs in the Tour de France bicycle race, which has ascended the mountain thirteen times since 1951. The followed trail mostly passes through Bédoin. Its fame as a scene of great Tour dramas has made it a magnet for cyclists around the world.
The mountain achieved worldwide notoriety when it claimed the life of British cyclist Tom Simpson, who died here on July 13, 1967 from heat exhaustion caused by a combination of factors including dehydration (caused by lack of fluid intake and diarrhea). It has been reported that as Tom approached the summit, he began to wildly weave across the road before falling down. Although he was delirious, he asked spectators to put him back on the bike, which he rode to within a half mile of the summit before collapsing dead, still clipped into his pedals. There is now a memorial to Simpson near the summit; the memorial has become a shrine to fans of cycling, who often leave small tokens of remembrance there.
For road bicycle racing enthusiasts, the mountain can be climbed by three routes.
• South from Bédoin: 21,8 km over 1617 m. This is the most famous and difficult ascent. The road to the summit has an average gradient of 7.43%. Until Saint-Estève, the climb is easy: 3.9% over 5,8 km, but the 16 remaining kilometres have an average gradient of 8.9%. The last kilometres may have strong, violent winds. The ride takes 1h30m-2h30m hours for trained amateur riders. Professional riders take 1h-1h15 min. The fastest time so far recorded has been that of Iban Mayo in the individual climbing time trial of the 2004 Dauphiné Libéré: 55' 51". The time was measured from Bédoin for the first time in the 1958 Tour de France, in which Charly Gaul was the fastest at 1h 2' 9".
• North-west from Malaucène: 21,5 km over 1570 m. About equal in difficulty as the Bédoin ascent, better sheltered against the wind.
• East from Sault: 26 km over 1210 m. The easiest route. After Chalet Reynard (where the "lunar landscape" of the summit starts), the climb is the same as the Bédoin ascent. Average gradient of 4.4%.
The climb by bike from Bédoin to Mont Ventoux is one of the toughest in professional cycling. In case you missed that, let me repeat it: the climb from Bédoin to Mont Ventoux is one of the toughest for PROFESSIONAL RIDERS. To get a detailed impression of this climb, the route has been measured accurately.
BEDOIN TO MONT VENTOUX – THE CLIMB
The figure for the average gradients per kilometer can be found in many books and websites on cycling. The average gradient of the total climb and also the average gradients per kilometer differ slightly, depending on the source of the information. Accurate measurements result in an average gradient for the total climb of 7.43%, based on a horizontal distance of 21765 meters and an ascent height of 1617 meters. The actual distance ridden is 21825 meters.
The average gradients per kilometer are as follows:
Kilometre Average gradient Kilometre Average gradient
I have never climbed such high mountain tops on my bike; and I will probably never be able to either. I am just not a strong climber, riding against the wind, not climbing, is my forte.
I have, however, ridden my mountain bike in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where the elevation is approximately 7,000 feet. I have also ridden my mountain bike in Flagstaff, Arizona, where the elevation is approximately 6,900 feet.
I did not ride to those places, I rode in and around those places. I rode on the flat portions around town, never climbing very high. But at that altitude, even when riding on the flats, the lack of oxygen is simply brutal. From the moment that you start riding, to the moment that you finish, your lungs are literally burning, screaming for every molecule of oxygen. If you are not in good shape, and I am not in good shape, lactic acid starts to build in your leg muscles and soon your legs send a signal to your brain: FOR GOD’S SAKE STOP THIS STUPID RIDING BUSINESS AND TAKE A TAXI CAB HOME! (As you can see, my legs are very chatty.) One, of course, must ignore the legs and just keep on riding. Eventually, the brain completely disconnects from the legs and even though the pain is still there, you just can’t feel it anymore (or you stop caring).
ARC will not be riding “around” the summit; he is going to ride all the way to the summit and back. This is an amazing physical feat and although he won’t admit it, it takes a very special athlete to even try to climb Mont Ventoux. As I mentioned in an earlier post, Arc has not been able to train as much as he wants. He has been sick over the last few weeks and that has drastically cut into his training time. His mental attitude, however, remain positive - that is where we can all help him conquer the Monster of Provence.
I want each of one you reading this post, to send an IM or a notecard to Arc, wishing him luck and telling him how much you respect his attempt to climb Mont Ventoux. Then, I want you to do one more thing.
On Monday, July 20, I want all of you to focus your thoughts, your goodwill and your mental energies on Arc. I am not sure when the ride start, (France is nine hours ahead of California time) but I want you to take time to think about Arc climbing that mountain and send him your energy. I think that if enough of us do that, we will help carry Arc safely to the top and back down again.
So remember, this is what we need to do:
1. Send Arc an IM or a notecard telling him that you support his efforts, and 2. On ride day, focus your energy and your positive thoughts on Arc as he climbs to the top of the windy mountain.
Merci! Here are some pictures, taken off the Net, of what Arc will face on July 20th.
ELEVATION CHART
CLIMBING TO THE SUMMIT
MONUMENT TO TOM SIMPSON
LUNAR LANDSCAPE AT THE SUMMIT
A SON’S VIDEO TRIBUTE TO HIS FATHER, AS THE FATHER CLIMBED MONT VENTOUX
