Guest Diary from 2007 Cycling Trip

By Lonna Ramirez

It was an hour into the first climb (Port de Bales) of our 10-day cycling trip. The group had split up, tackling the seemingly endless climb at their own pace. It was foggy and a little cold, but perfect for climbing. I kept hearing what sounded like dozens of people banging pots and pans somewhere off in the distance, but the fog was too thick to see where it was coming from. As I came around a switchback I saw the source: Cows, scores of them, with bells around their necks, grazing along the road and the surrounding hillsides. They were completely oblivious to cyclists, and several of us had to maneuver around a group of particularly stubborn ones that wouldn’t budge from the road.

Port de Bales, an hors catégorie climb, was our first taste of climbing in the Pyrenees on the 2007 Tour de France trip with Adventure Travel Group (ATG), run by SDBC members and professional cycling tour guides Gary Bezer and Lise Fleury. We’d be hearing the cow (and sheep) bells on most of the climbs over the next nine days. As hard as the climbs were, I always looked forward to the sound of the bells and coming across the grazing animals.

Good People, Good Times …

My husband Dan and I had dreamed of watching the Tour de France in person and attempting some of the epic climbs, and the ATG tour offered an ideal opportunity to do both. The group included several members of our local San Diego cycling club, a father-son duo and a recently married tandem couple from New Jersey came along—she wore a veil on the back of her helmet every day and was photographed and cheered on by the French. Theirs was the only tandem we saw in the mountains (for good reason).

Another group member from Northern California had just finished an ATG Tour in Italy.
Two Florida cyclists rounded out our tour group and were the strongest climbers in the
group, even though there are no hills in Florida. They claimed they practiced on bridges, but I’m guessing they trained in an undisclosed location with Rasmussen.

With the exception of the roads along the Tour route (tons of RVs and campers) and the
Col du Tourmalet (very popular with cycling tour groups),we had most of the climbs to ourselves. We wound our way up lightly traveled mountain roads, rolling over spray-painted names of riders from previous Tours. The scenery was spectacular, with green
meadows, wildflowers and snow-covered peaks in the distance—it was like a movie set from “The Sound of Music.” We rode past waterfalls, waited for grazing animals to cross the road and had the satisfaction of looking back over miles of switchbacks from the top of the cols. As beautiful as it was, it was tough. There was probably a lot that I missed while I was staring at my front tire, slipping into a climbing coma on some of the more difficult climbs.

Partying Tour de France Style Watching a stage of the Tour is like attending a huge picnic, party, parade and sporting event combined— something that every cyclist should try to see at least once. As the riders are preparing for the start, the Tour caravan begins its drive of the entire course, with costumed people tossing hats and other samples at spectators amidst loud music. The caravan doesn’t look out of place at the start or finish lines, but it’s an odd sight driving along narrow mountain roads. At the stage 15 finish line in Loudenvielle, we joined hundreds of people on the grass in front of the TdF jumbotron to watch the progress of the race. We saw Vinokourov get his last stage victory of the Tour before he was kicked out. Similarly, we watched the stage 16 finish on Col du Aubisque, where Rasmussen earned the yellow and polka-dot jerseys for the last time. And we were there to watch Team Discovery’s Alberto Contador and Levi Leipheimer seal their positions on the podium.

You Call That a Climb?

Looking back on our ride, the miles didn’t seem so significant— around 40 to 60 miles a
day—but it felt like so much more. They were definitely some of the hardest, but
sweetest miles I’ve ridden. Everyone in the group improved as a rider, and all of us had different opinions about which climbs were the toughest (it was Tourmalet for me). And because most days included hours of climbing, nothing seems daunting anymore— an
hour of climbing? A grade of over 10%? No problem, we did that for days.

Cycling together as a group also gives you an opportunity to get to know people a little better— whether it’s because careers and lives outside of cycling are secondary, or whether people are more likely to let down their guard on a bike. It’s hard to beat the friendships you develop through cycling. We all came away from the trip with memories of great cycling, shared pain (the good kind), scenery, food and new friends to call for a weekend ride or to plan future cycling adventures with.