Day 12 TdF - 2009

The day after Ventoux my legs were feeling a little crispy, for the first time all trip. I guess the 500+ miles and the crushing climbs over 12 days had a little to do with it. The planned ride for the day was a cruisy 40 km ride through some gorges near the base of Mt Ventoux. We then planned to watch the race from a vineyard along the course, sample some wine and watch the finish on a big screen TV.

The gorge ride was gorgeous. The legs were feeling HEAVY with lactic acid. I committed to myself to ride with the slow group today, small ring only, spin the legs to flush them of all the crud from the last 12 days. My plan was in place for the first 25 km. The ride around the gorge had it's ups and downs; we made the summit view point at kilometer 20. We had two options: 1) go back the way we came or 2) go around the full canyon for a little extra climbing and miles. I selected option 2; legs were feeling better and wanted the view from the other side. We descended to the valley below.

At the base of the valley, we began climbing again. I was still in the small ring. Doug and Dave were on the front setting tempo up the hill. I found the going was a little quicker than I wanted; but kept pressing. The tempo increased and I noticed we had dropped the group. At that point, I decided, if its on, then let's be on. I pulled around Dave and Doug, selected a bigger gear, but still in the small ring, and pressed the tempo, hard. It was a nice grade of 4-5%, legs flying at 110-120 rpm; perfect. After 1 km or so, we were screaming up the gorge, Dave and Doug trying to hold the wheel; I was smiling a bit. At the summit, the three of us smiled a bit at each other, no need for words - it was a good feeling. The view on the other side was awesome; well worth the effort. We snapped a few photos then started the descent.

Doug took first position on the descent. He was jamming it in the big ring. I was still committed to the small ring for the day, but was spinning out my 34/11. The pavement was like a wash bard all along the straight sections and even worse in the corners. The bikes were bouncing all over and I was spinning so fast, 130 rpm, to stay on Doug's wheel the rear wheel was dancing all over and I felt really unstable in the corners. Doug began to drop me, on the descent. I couldn't allow that. I jumped to the big ring, sprinted as hard as I could and rode 4-6 feet off his rear wheel. Doug rides a great line on descents and in the corners - I trust his wheel. We screamed down the gorge on narrow roads, wind blowing us around. It was way too much fun; but also taking way to much risk. I came around for a pull. I was setting up a right hand turn, which appeared extremely tight. I gave a look ahead and no cars were coming. I set up the corner, starting from the oncoming traffic side of the road, big speed. I was on the right line, then the winds hit, sweeping me from the correct line back to the left hand side of the road. On the left side (the oncoming traffic side) the road ended abruptly with a shear rock wall less than two feet off the edge of the road. Bike and body were headed that way. I was thinking cheese grater shredding my legs, arm and bike (or worse). I dug in, leaned Ms BA hard on her side and once I knew I'd make the corner, jumped on her pedals and sprinted out of the corner.

Did I mention Doug and I were taking too much risk? At the end of the descent, Doug and I were rolling along the flats. He looked, smiled and said, "That was pretty close." Without mentioning the segment, we both knew it was the cheese grater turn. We rolled at a cruisy pace back to the vineyard, put the bikes away. We were done riding for the trip. Great trip. We spent the day sampling wine, cheese and watching the race. We shared stories, laughed and told lies of our adventures with our Aussie mates we met on this trip. The pros zipped by, we resumed drinking our recovery drinks: Cote du Ventoux, I think it was a 2005 vintage. Nothing better than some mountain juice to help your legs recover and enhance your recollection of what you accomplished. In the last 12 days, we climbed 46 thousand feet and covered 550 miles on the bike. It was a good trip. Did I mention I love this stuff and the Tour, ((THIS MUCH)).