Day 4

Sorry for the late post. Day 3 was a moving day. Following the stage, we moved from Toulouse to Lourdes. It was a long enough bus ride to author the Day 3 post. Day 4 was a 'real' day of riding. Woke, ate and got straight to the ride. We rode 2/3s of the TdF stage today; one Cat 3 climb and 2 beyond category rating climbs. In all, 75 miles.

Well, today I tasked this body with more than I have in its 43 years. The body's response was less than the operator hoped for, but adequate to achieve the goals. The climb on Tourmalet was indeed off the charts. We hit the base after 23 miles of rolling hills and one category three climb; climbs are ranked 4, 3, 2, 1, and beyond category or HC. Tourmalet is an HC; 10 miles of 8.5% grade tilting to 9% at the summit with ABSOLUTELY NO grace anywhere along the route. Near the summit is a gorgeous ski village of La Mongie. Approximately 4k from the summit, my left leg was wretched in nearly a full cramp from the muscle on the inside of the knee, running all the way up the inner leg to the groin muscle. This was my first HTFU moment. I pushed through it to the summit, unreal pain. Doing this climb took more than an hour and the pros kill this climb in less than 1/2 the time.

We then rolled to the Hautacam, another HC climb and the finish for today's stage. I made it to within 6k of the summit when the police shut the course. I made it about 2/3s the way up this climb. Word is, the last 6k is an average grade of 10%+ with no grace. I had mixed feelings about not being able to summit this epic climb, but pretty sure the last 6k would have popped my cork.

Being stopped, I rolled back down the hill a bit, reaching a spot on the climb that put me in a GREAT place to watch the day's stage. I was situated in a secluded corner, near a rushing waterfall, with lots of lush vegetation and trees around. At the 2/3s point on the climb, I was in a perfect spot to watch the selection of elite riders when the attacks from the lead group began. If you watched the stage on Versus, I was the dude casually sitting on the ground along a rock wall at the 8.6k to go mark.

Awesome day! Body is definitely feeling the efforts. We still have 12 days of riding to go, 9 of them contain serious climbs. Awesome to experience all this, concerned about completing it all.