Day 11 TdF - 2009

Mt Ventoux is a beast. Today, we transferred from just outside Grenoble to Bedoin, the town at the foot of Ventoux. The temperature at the base of the mountain was hot, wicked hot. The local bank indicated 39 degrees centigrade; this is around 100 degrees fahrenheit. This is also my kind of weather. Beastly hot, or horrible wind, rain, cold. On the bus transfer to Bedoin, I was mentally preparing for this climb. I really wanted to smash my time from last year and approach the mental prep much like a race.

Today, for the first day on the trip, I wore the iPod for the climb. Today, I'd be in my world. A world of pain, but something on which I focused; a goal. I created a special mix for this day, consisting of 311, Red, Metallica, Godsmack, Satriani, and a few others. From the town to the top we're looking at 25 km. It is about a 5 km roll out to the left hand turn onto the road to the summit. The roll out has a small 2-3% uphill grade. I spun a big cadence to get the heart rate up in preparation for the climb. On the roll our, Mt Ventoux is off to your left, taunting you, almost laughing at you. I made the left hander and saw the sign, 19 km to the summit. It's on.

The first few km of the climb have a nice 4-6% gradient. I was slamming it at better than 20 kph; feeling great. I passed so many people. I am sure they were thinking this guy's gonna pop. Not today! After the first 3-4 km, the road really kicks up. My next goal was the Chateau Reynard. The chateau marks the 6 km to go point and the point where you exit the forest landscape and enter the barren landscape of the top of Ventoux. From the 4 km point to the chateau, the mountain feeds you 6-9% average grades with a few pitches over 10%. Ms BA and I gave it right back. I was watching my metrics; heart rate, spin cadence and time. I was on the number to have a good day.

Ventoux is located in Provence in southern France. The area seems a bit arid, but is known for great wine, awesome food, and its beautifully scenic rolling terrain of vineyards, lavender fields and olive orchards; gorgeous. Probably my most favorite spot to which I've traveled. The lower slopes of Ventoux have a fairly typical Colorado landscape; aromatic pines, rocky sandy soil, and sparse ground cover suitable for this rocky, arid climate. But, it has enough shade to keep you reasonably sheltered from the wind and sun. At the chateau, the landscape transitions dramatically. The trees vanish and the ground cover quickly fades way to a limestone rock and boulder terrain devoid of anything resembling plant life. Some refer to it as the moonscape section of the mountain. No shelter, at all, from the sun and the winds. Regardless of the direction of the road, you feel you're always riding direct into a headwind. On this day, the headwinds were about 15-20 kph.

The mountain was packed with people, cars and cyclists. Folks were already lining the roads, parking their campers and partying on the mountain. As you rolled past, most would cheer for you, scream "Allez, Allez" to encourage you up the hill. I passed one group of younger men drinking beer and having a great time. I rode near them and held out my hand for a hand up of beer. They all laughed, one fella jogged behind to deliver on the offer. I waived him off and said: "just kidding". Finally, I hit the chateau, 6 km to go. At that point, I knew I was well ahead of last year's time. So, time to press to see by how much I could beat myself; Jamie would be proud of the effort on this day.

With 2 km to go, I was near the area where the tour set the barriers for the final segment to keep the crazies off the road. The last 4 km of the climb are an absolute kick in the teeth. It averages 9%+ grades and just keeps kicking you. We kicked back. You look up the road to see the summit and you view the incline of the coming segments of road. Your legs want to quit, but your heart and lungs win the battle and you press, even harder. I made the final turn had less than 150 meters to the finishing point. I beat last year's time by more than 10 minutes. Didn't achieve my goal of a beat by 15 minutes or better; but, I'll take it. The legs were smoked and really felt I had nothing more to give. But, pleased with the results.

The Lance Armstrong Foundation (LAF) had a presence at the tour. They distributed package which contained three thick sticks of yellow chalk. The wanted folks to scratch messages on the road. On the second day of the trip, a LAF working gave me a package. I saved it for this day. On the descent, I scratched my mark on the final turn on Ventoux. I think it actually made the TV coverage. It was on the left hand side of the road, on the flatter part of the last right hander leading to the summit. It was on a flatter part of the road, the line I thought the riders would take. This mark was for me, and the Tour. If you saw it, you’d know. Otherwise, you'll need to climb the mountain to see it. Hope you get to do it some day. The climb and the view are well worth it.