Cadeac to Sainte Marie de Campan, Col de Hourquette

September 30, 2022

A choice of two routes was possible for today's ride to Campan. Being Robert Frost fans, we took the Hourquette, slightly longer and higher than the more famous Col d'Aspin, but less travelled, which made all the difference.

It took longer than planned to get going; first there was the buffet breakfast with an impressive assortment of cakes as well as the expected croissants and unlimited coffee, then there was the weather. The forecast was for 50% chance of rain for most of the day. When we got up it was raining -hard- so an early departure looked unlikely. Probability would say that we could eat, dress and pack, by when it would be the 50% time to pedal dry. No such luck. It actually stopped raining as we were packing, but by the time we had our bags at the door it had started again. The thermometer at the entrance registered 9°C, so getting wet was not a pleasant option. We made small talk with the owner, then used the hotel wifi to read the home newspapers and other cycle blogs until 10:30am when the puddles out front were no longer splattering. We loaded up and made it to the end of the driveway, where luckily there was a bus shelter to duck into and escape being soaked by one more shower.

Finally, at 11am, we rode through the sleepy town of Ancizan and were on our way up the Hourquette: Almost 10km with 800m of climbing at an average of 8% on a one lane road that we had mostly to ourselves. We warmed up fast and pedalled our way up a most delightful, wooded road with the clouds clearing just ahead of us, opening to views of the valley below and the mountains above. The cold, wet night had covered the high peaks in snow, which then didn't seem so far away as we climbed into increasing cold. The steep ride was hard but we were feeling strong after the great meal and good rest the night before. A couple of times Steven started to cramp up so we got off and walked. As we crested the top the view changed to an alpine meadow backed by towering, white peaks. The Garmin showed 5.5°C as we put on all our warm clothes, then paused to take in the splendour of our surroundings. And to think we had got all the way up there under our own power. Cycling is such a trip!

The alpine meadows are active pastures used for grazing cows, horses and sheep - and no fences. The horses were surprisingly skittish as we approached but the cows seemed unimpressed and barely looked up. We had to stop a few times to thaw fingers, take photos and just gawk at the incredible scenery.

With our luck in finding lunch we could almost have predicted that the restaurant half way down, the only one for miles around, was not serving lunch today. So, we made do with the boiled eggs smuggled out of breakfast, and then stopped at a man selling cheese who insisted that we taste everything, which amounted to a small meal. We bought travel size chunks of the chèvre and the cow-sheep mix for wine and cheese later.

Sante-Marie de Campan is a ski town so we had a great price on an out of season, skiers' studio, with a little kitchen and a lovely view from the balcony. Tomorrow is the start of a streak of sunny days and we are going for the big one, Le Tourmalet.

The official start of the climb. Now we know the posted grade is only the first km.

The sun came out for a view back into the valley

Zoom in to see the evenly spaced cows on the slope.

This view from our balcony is reminiscent of a painting we have of New Brunswick titled "New Bandon Farm"

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Today's ride: 29 km (18 miles)
Total: 764 km (474 miles)

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