Day ride to Port de Larreau

June 11, 2024

PPWe woke to another wet day. We consulted our favourite weather apps. Meteoblue thought the day would be overcast until around 3, when showers would start. YR thought it would rain all day. We noted that when they differed, Meteoblue has been more accurate (so far). Of course, these forecasts were for where we were sitting in Tardets (and were similar for Larrau), but we were heading into the mountains and anything could happen.

Since there wasn’t really anything else to do in Tardets on a potentially rainy day, we packed our layers and headed out once the morning rain had reduced to drizzle. The weather should be improving, according to Meteoblue.

The original plan was a 115 km loop ride into Spain over Port de Larreau and back over Col de la Pierre Saint Martin. Unless the weather suddenly improved, however, w expected to simply do an out-and-back.

At first, it was okay. The drizzle increased to light rain (jackets on), stopped (jackets off), repeat. There was hope.

The view shortly after the road starts tilting upward before Larreau. Are the clouds moving up or down?

Made it to Larrau! I remember this sign. It says “Altitude 630 m” so I thought that meant only about 700 more to Col Bagargui. I hadn’t realized there was a significant descent first.

Much of the ascent was through trees but there were some open areas. No views today, though.

These cows stared at me like I was out of place

After this point, the drizzle started increasing in intensity and the temperature was dropping as we went up. We kept going, though, because we had come this far we really wanted to make it to the top.

And a selfie too, just because. Riding without glasses, which I rarely do but they were fogging badly on the climb. The air was sodden and so was I.

Al got to the summit with enough time before I arrived to get his extra layers on. He still looks cold!

While I was struggling into my tights, Al ventured around the corner into Navarre. It was cold and windy and raining there too.

As soon as I was layered up, we headed down, shivering and braking. It seemed steeper than on the way up!

By the time we got down to Larreau, my hands were stiff and not working very well. We warmed up a bit looking for somewhere to get in out of the rain but nothing. We continued downward. It wasn’t really that far to Auberge Logibar, where we each got a hot chocolate and ate the sandwich and cookies we’d brought. (They had a policy that, if you bought a drink, you could eat your food at their picnic tables.)

Slightly warmer, we continued down the valley, now of a gradient that we could ride rather than be on the brakes.

Between the Logibar and Tardets, we saw at least 6 emergency response vehicles heading up the valley, some with flashing lights. We were very glad not to be involved! (We learned later that a minibus carrying 7 emergency responders to a training exercise in the La Verna cave had gone off the road near Ste-Engrace. None seriously injured.)

By the time we got back to our hotel, the rain had stopped. Maybe it didn’t rain in Tardets this afternoon? In any case, we were warm enough to use the hose in the little garden area to clean our bikes and then lube the chains before stashing them back in the dining room. Then a hot shower and feet up for the rest of the day.

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Today's ride: 59 km (37 miles)
Total: 1,881 km (1,168 miles)

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Rachael AndersonYou sure are tough!
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6 months ago