Arette to St-Jean-Pied-de-Port

July 17, 2016

Over Col Bagargui in the heat

This was the hardest day so far!

I packed my tent soaked with heavy dew and got on the road early with a short detour into Aramits. No coffee, but I did find a market just setting up and bought my usual apricots. In Lanne I found a boulangerie that also served coffee; when I asked for coffee with milk, she brought me a double espresso with a small carafe of hot milk.

I left D 918 to go through Restoue and then south on D 26. The road followed a river upstream and climbed slowly until Laugibar when it became steep. I was exhausted when I got to Larrau but relieved to see the sign that announced its elevation as 650 metres. About 700 to go, then.

I stopped at the small épicerie and bought a cold drink and some local cheese to go with the bread I'd bought this morning. I went back in and bought a large bottle of water, drank some, filled the bottle I'd already emptied, and also filled one of my collapsible bottles. This would be the first time I'd carried extra water.

Turning onto D 19, I was saddened to find it descended to the valley bottom at 500 m before starting to climb again. And then it got steep!

I took a lot of breaks on this climb. No only were the average slopes for some kilometre sections over 12%, the temperature measured by my Garmin was approaching 45C. Those two factors (especially the temperature) made this the toughest climb of my life so far.

All that green is fern! Later somewhere I saw a "haystack" of fern.

At least the views are nice. I should have taken a picture of my Garmin showing 45 degrees C.

On the steepest parts, I actually had to get off and walk. I was going so slowly and was so tired I couldn't balance. I finally stopped to eat my bread and cheese 3 or 4 kilometres before the summit because I noticed it was already 1:30 and I thought eating might help.

As I was enjoying my lunch and the scenery, the two cyclists I'd passed as they ate in Larrau stopped for a break too. Marc and his daughter are from Paris, riding bikes that aren't quite geared well for the mountains. They had to climb standing all the way. I caught Marc drooling over my bike more than once!

We all pushed on, but they were faster than me and were most of the way through a shared two-litre bottle of Coke when I saw them at the summit. There's a lot at this summit; more than one place to eat, chalets, a laundry (!) and a tennis court!! Also a prehistoric grave site.

I finally made it! The spelling on the sign is different than on my Michelin map.

This col not only has public toilets, but a laundromat!

And tennis courts! Though they look like they've seen better days.

Starting down, I was a bit worried about Col de Burdincurutcheta as the map indicates a couple of steep uphills on the route. But it wasn't that bad and was followed by an incredibly long descent with spectacular views to the east. When I'd stopped at the top, I was chatting with an older fellow who told me that the Vuelta a España would be travelling the road we could see across the valley this year on September 3.

I thought the French name was hard to spell but I guess it's just a transliteration of the Basque name.

Way across the valley somewhere is the road a stage of the Vuelta will follow in September.

Possibly the last classic descent of this trip.

I finally arrived in St-Jean-Pied-de-Port and set up at the Camping Municipal. While I was drying my tent, Marc came by to say hello and look at my bike without bags.

St-Jean-Pied-de-Port is a popular starting point for the Camino de Santiago and it was overwhelming. Every second building in the old town seemed to offer pilgrim accommodation. Restaurants featured pilgrim menus. There was even a service to transport pilgrims and/or their bags to various points along the route. I suspect that would be the way the woman I saw with the little wheeled suitcase was going to travel.

The main tourist (pilgrim) street, St-Jean-Pied-de-Port

It's not a "Mairie" here, or is that a difference between a village and a town?

I chose to eat at a nicer place after my tough day and it was really good. Dessert was a sort of chocolate ganache on a crispy hazelnut crust. This is one of the reasons I ride, so I can eat like this!

Distance 75 km; ascent 1552 m; descent 1696 m

Heart

Comment

Link

Today's ride: 75 km (47 miles)
Total: 1,142 km (709 miles)

Rate this entry's writing	Heart	1
Comment on this entry	Comment	0