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Just for inspiration... Mt Ventoux


MildlyWild

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Had the fortune of a holiday in France in Sept - did Mt Ventoux on my 13kg FS, with knobblies.  And from the steeper Malaucene side nogal, not from Bedoin like the TdF wimps do (had I only known before I started :-( )

 

EISH!!! She is not friendly... Lap 2 shows the climb details - drops in HR line is when I stopped for pics and taking of jackets etc (5min stopped not shown in graph)

 

Btw, if you're willing to scout plane tickets, hire a car, camp and make your own food you can about do 14days in France for +- R20k.  DO IT!!  The Alps are fantastic and you will sell your soul to ride there for as long as possible.

 

20091006_021658_Mt_Ventoux_a_ed.JPG
MildlyWild2009-10-06 02:18:55
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I was supposed to do the Etape Tour (was going to be a birthday present) which goes up this very same mountain the day before they do it on the Tour De France.

 

However, it is still on the cards for one day. I must say it looks awesome on TV. Havn't you got any pictures for us?
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I chickened out on Ventoux after Annecy and Bourg St Maurice this year, but Ventoux is still on my to do list!  Also waiting for my son to grow up a bit more so he can ride the camper between campsites and be our support guy (my wife is somehow unwilling to spend her holidays in support mode...)

 

POST SOME PICS TO INSPIRE!
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It can also be done completely off road as well.

 

The Malucene side is the same average gradient as the Bedoin side, but I think the gradient is more variable.
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Mont Ventoux from the Bedoin side is long, but the gradient is not too bad (you'll be fine on a 39/25 gear ratio).  But what is strange, is that it's the only climb in the region ... the rest of the vicinity is flat (Provence).  So if you want to go climbing, visit the Alps - there's a small town called Bourg d'Oisans from where you can ride in any direction and climb the likes of Col du Galibier, Alpe d'Huez, etc.  Here's a view looking down from Mont Ventoux, which illustrates how flat the surrounding region is:

20091006_080953_10_134.jpg
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Will post some pics this afternoon.

Also did Alpe d' Huez (from Bourg d' Oisans), a lot easier than Mt Ventoux cause its 7km's shorter.

Top of my list to do next would be Col d' Iseran and the Galibier - on the pics you'll see why.  We drove it (no time to ride it) and it is AWESOME.

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Anybody interested in doing the big cols should read some of Graham Fifes books before, he gives good insight on what it is like to ride these famous climbs from an amateurs point of view.

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20091007_083258_080920093320.jpg

Mt Ventoux almost at the top

20091007_083509_080920093335.jpg

Mt Ventoux the way the TdF climbed

 20091007_083729_Alpe_d_Huez.jpg

Alpe d' Huez, partway up, looking toward Bourg d' Oisans where the climb starts
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20091007_084306_Col_d_Galibier.jpg

Part of the Col d Galibier - and most of it you can't even see from here20091007_084439_Col_d_Galibier1.jpg

And it's not quite the top yet... pity i could not ride this one (wife constraints...)

 
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I was supposed to do the Etape Tour (was going to be a birthday present) which goes up this very same mountain the day before they do it on the Tour De France.

 

However' date=' it is still on the cards for one day. I must say it looks awesome on TV. Havn't you got any pictures for us?
[/quote']

 

I am moving to Luxembourg at the end of January and will be spending a few days on the Tour route and at the finnish in ParisBig%20smile.

I can't wait
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Spot the difference ...

 

20091006_084854_Img_8444.jpg

 

 

 

Hah.If i am not mistaken i stopped in that town in the picture for lunch last year. The town is between Alps D Heuz and Col d Galibier if i am correct?Deep Section2009-10-07 09:03:47

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