Saint-Savin

June 6, 2014

Hourquette d'Ancizan

Cycle touring is such an amazing way to see the world. The experiences feel so rich somehow when you're so actively engaged in them; and even after a day like yesterday, which felt as good as it could get, the next day has it's own unique experiences to engage and inspire you.

First though, you've got to earn the reward. Today's ride began with a climb to Hourquette d'Ancizan, an oddly named pass that parallels the much better known Col d'Aspin, one of the most often used routes on the Tour de France. Hourquette must be a better experience though - it is much quieter, rises up above Aspin and offers better views, and the west side is an open range zone that made it feel a bit like we were cycling through a wildlife safari on our descent.

The climb begins in the village of Ancizan, about three miles south of our hotel. Those three miles were a lovely glide upriver toward the huge wall of mountains through the south - just enough to loosen up a bit before the climb. It begins with a bang, switchbacking steeply and immediately from the village at what felt like about a 15% grade. After about a kilometer of that nonsense it backs off to a more manageable 9%, and actually eases off a bit more as it neared the summit, 7 tough miles away. It is a very minor road, little more than a lane, and carries very little traffic. In the first half hour or so I think we encountered one walker, one cyclist, and one car. The first four miles zigzag up the south face of a ridge, giving increasingly fine views of the valley and mountains; then, it rounds the edge of the ridge and continues on the north side, mostly under the trees and without views until breaking through to the summit.

The other side of the summit is awesome - a spectacular landscape of snow capped peaks and velvet green slopes. Not far below, a small herd of donkeys is lazing by the side of and in the road. When Rachael cycles down to pass through them, a youngster moseys up, sticks it's snout into her videocam, and then hangs around apparently hoping for a handout, and starts sniffing at her saddlebags.

After gliding down through the highest meadows we entered the woods again, rounded a corner, and were arrested by the largest sheep drive I think I've ever seen. It seemed like there must have been thousands of them filling the road, and spilling over on the slope on either side. And, they were coming our way. Nothing to be done but stand by and watch the show as the river passed us by just feet from our bicycles. You should really look at the video on this one.

What more could we hope for, after that? Well, horses as it turned out. Another small herd of beautiful animals grazed beside the road, with the youngsters standing in it like they were waiting to be petted. Amazing.

After that, it was pretty humdrum - just the usual fast 10 mile drop to the valley, another 10 miles gradually descending as we raced the river downstream, and a stop for sandwiches in Campan. At Bagneres de Baigorry we turned west on the small, lovely D26 which carried us over the ridge to the nex valley, dropping us just south of Lourdes. This must be the best cycling route through the ridge, because we passed many more cyclists than cars.

Then, upriver again, and back toward the mountains and our hotel in Saint-Sevin. By the end of the day the sun had disappeared and the air looked almost ashy. Some small storm came across the mountains, bringing intense winds and a few drops of rain. It is a bit disconcerting, but the forecast is still for two more days of sun so hopefully it will all pass in the night.

We go to bed not knowing what route we'll follow tomorrow. Our plan has been to cross over Col d'Aubusique, one of the great climbs of the tour; but we don't know if it is open yet. All our information so far has been that it is still closed with snow, but in town tonight a group of Dutch cyclists said that it had just opened today and they had cycled to the summit and back. So, we'll see in the morning. We plan to bike up as far as we can and see what's happening, and have a fallback route mapped out if it's needed.

Net elevation gain: 4,800' today, 77,400' total.

Today's video clip is really great: https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=73ED18EEC8BA7424!562&authkey=!AMll0wtfjig9LUY&ithint=video%2c.mp4