Tardets to St-Jean-Pied-de-Port

June 12, 2024

I had created three potential routes for today, but we both ruled out Col Bagargui for today. Neither of us wanted to ride up to Larreau and beyond again today, and we had both been there in 2016 (from opposite directions). The other two options were essentially the same at the beginning and end, but one went north around a ridge and the other kept to the south side. We would make the decision where the two diverged.

Leaving Hotel de la Poste. Quite acceptable, run by two friendly guys, and the only accommodation in town this week.

The first 5+ km were along the valley bottom. Then we reached Alçay and turned uphill. It was steep! And stayed steep with very little reprieve for 7 km, though of course it felt like more.

The road was narrow, especially after leaving Alçay.

Al must have taken this on one of the reprieves!

Then I stopped too and took this photo of the view to the left

When we got to the first summit, I saw this off to the side.

Just beyond the first summit, the road remains very narrow.

We coasted down a short distance and then rode across a plateau before starting to climb again. Happily, the grades weren’t nearly as steep as to the first summit.

Cows on the plateau. This must be a summer grazing area; most of the cows I saw in this group wore collars with Alçay on them. Alçay is the village we rode through at the beginning of the climb.

I stopped and took photos; Al was braver and took a video clip.

A more advanced version of yesterday’s FOTD. They seem to turn blue as they develop.

At the decision point, essentially the top of the second climb, there was no summit sign for Col Burdin Olatze but there was a cool wind. I can’t say “cold” because it was nothing compared to yesterday’s summit. However, after putting on our gilets and jackets, we decided to take D417 on the southern side of the ridge in the hope it might be warmer than the north side (which featured Col d’Alphanitze). Both routes were highlighted in green on the Michelin map and we can verify that the southern option was spectacular, even on an overcast day.

There were a few short ups but mostly it was down on a very narrow road.

Soon after we passed the group of horses, we stopped to put on our tights and switch to warmer gloves. We were chilled, there was a lot of descending left, and it was getting steeper. Down, down, down we went, until we came to Lecumberry where we saw an open bar with several bikes outside. We stopped too and had sandwiches and hot chocolate. Then it was another 10 or so km to our B&B in St-Jean-Pied-de-Port. It started raining shortly after we checked in. Timing is everything!

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Today's ride: 41 km (25 miles)
Total: 1,922 km (1,194 miles)

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Scott AndersonHooray! Someone else took this route over Burdinolatze. I loved this climb. So green! So much livestock in the road!
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2 months ago

Rachael AndersonWhat beautiful photos! I love passes with lots of animals.
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2 months ago