Climb the Cols

Dr Nic

Hi Guys...
First off, this is probably the craziest idea you've ever heard.

Anyway... Im planning a 10 day holiday in France before college restarts on Aug 30.

On those 10 days i want to climb the 10 most famous pyrenee's Cols
Col du Tourmalet
Col d'Aubisque
Col d'Aspin
Col du Soulor
Hautacam (Col de Tramassel)
Luz-Ardiden
Pla-d'Adet
Plateau de Beille
Col de Peyresourde
Col de la Marie-Blanque

Now for the maddest part. I havent cycled a bike in 10 years and i only own a 15 year old raleigh mountain bike.

The plan is to get the ferry to roscoff and drive the rest of the way in my banger car, and then bang off 1 (or maybe 2!! ) a day
Or i could go dublin to uk to channel tunnel, which may be cheaper. Any expierenced ferry people would greatly help!

Also this is going to be big time budget basement, so id be camping out every night and cooking my own food etc...

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks
John

CheGuedara

Dr Nic wrote: »

Hi Guys...
First off, this is probably the craziest idea you've ever heard.

Anyway... Im planning a 10 day holiday in France before college restarts on Aug 30.

On those 10 days i want to climb the 10 most famous pyrenee's Cols...
....Now for the maddest part. I havent cycled a bike in 10 years and i only own a 15 year old raleigh mountain bike. Any expierenced ferry people would greatly help!

Well I'm giving full marks for ambition anyway.

There may be some discrepancy between dreams and reality in trying to get 10 in 10 days with no training but with mountain bike gears you *should* be capable of ascending any gradient though the length of the climbs might be a challenge for you. Whatever you do, do put slicks on the MTB - it'll make your life a lot easier cycling on the road.

It might be worth taking a break between each days cycling and picking your top 5 to do if you're starting from a very basic level of fitness - should make the chance of DNFing on any climb a bit less with a rest day between them.

As for ferrymen that might have some experience with such crazy plans, the only one I can think off is a guy called Charon

buzzingnoise

Dr Nic wrote: »

Hi Guys...
First off, this is probably the craziest idea you've ever heard.

Anyway... Im planning a 10 day holiday in France before college restarts on Aug 30.

On those 10 days i want to climb the 10 most famous pyrenee's Cols
Col du Tourmalet
Col d'Aubisque
Col d'Aspin
Col du Soulor
Hautacam (Col de Tramassel)
Luz-Ardiden
Pla-d'Adet
Plateau de Beille
Col de Peyresourde
Col de la Marie-Blanque

Now for the maddest part. I havent cycled a bike in 10 years and i only own a 15 year old raleigh mountain bike.

The plan is to get the ferry to roscoff and drive the rest of the way in my banger car, and then bang off 1 (or maybe 2!! ) a day
Or i could go dublin to uk to channel tunnel, which may be cheaper. Any expierenced ferry people would greatly help!

Also this is going to be big time budget basement, so id be camping out every night and cooking my own food etc...

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks
John

I did something similar in June. Base yourself in Argeles Gazost. It's central to all ur climbs. Loads of campsites there too. Allow one whole day for driving down. If you are on your own don't try and do too much in a day. Climb one, roll back down to the car. Drive to the next one and if you feel good, climb another. Having the car at the bottom of the hill can be a life saver.
If you are a fit person, you will make it to the top alright, it'll just take ages. Get ur brakes serviced for the descent. The tourmalet is easily an 80+kmph descent in places. Again if you're on your own, don't be silly. Also make sure your holiday insurance covers cycling.
If youre on a budget, ferries are not cheap and factor in the price of petrol is higher in France than Ireland. Argeles is about 770miles from roscoff, most along toll roads. Again allow 50€ each way for tolls.
I think you would be better off flying into pau or Toulouse and renting a touring bike. It'll be cheaper, safer and more enjoyable.
Anyway bonne chance!

seensensee

August, Irish in France, you out of shape.... your going to melt.

Dr Nic

Thanks for all the help Guys!

Re - My fitness. For what its worth we're in the middle of a heavy preseason AIL Division 2 Rugby side. I play full back and weigh about 13.5stone. So in running terms im fit enough, but nothing in cycling.

The big question is how much it would cost. Im on a very limited budget.
Flying to Toulouse return is about 188euro from Dublin.
Rent a car in toulose is about 40euro a day it seems.
I dont know how much it would be to rent a bike then.
That seems to be a cheaper option than driving my old banger car. Pity since i wanted the 'adventure' of doing it myself...

Irish Ferries quote 360euro return 18th to the 27th. Rosslare to Cherbourg. Now that manageable. My car does about 440 miles for a fill which costs 60euro here.

Roscoff to Col du Tourmalet is 1015km

Now, I wonder what's the best way to manage insurance in Europe and breakdown assist VERY VERY IMPORTANT!

Anyone?

Thanks again
John

Dr Nic

I think i might do a trial run of a week in the Kerry mountains this week or next. Just to get an idea of camping cycling what id need to do/bring etc

IM0

theres always one :rolleyes:

buzzingnoise

Dr Nic wrote: »

I think i might do a trial run of a week in the Kerry mountains this week or next. Just to get an idea of camping cycling what id need to do/bring etc

Molls gap, priests leap, caha and healy pass, gap of dunloe, black valley, short mountain, conor pass.
Bring Vaseline.

Dr Nic

me@ucd wrote: »

theres always one :rolleyes:

Ha Ha - Yep...

Molls gap, priests leap, caha and healy pass, gap of dunloe, black valley, short mountain, conor pass.
Doesnt quiet have the same ring as Col Du Tourmalet eh?
If I could in any way reliably insure and ensure my car would get there and back i would definietly be gone.

The whole idea of this really is to go somewhere I have wanted to go and do something I have wnated to do for 20 years. The tunnel/rock shelter on the Tourmalet I can see clearly in my minds eye from 1992 for sure, possibly even 1989.

A mountain in Kerry, while stunning none the less doesnt hold the same appeal really...

CheGuedara

Dr Nic wrote: »

A mountain in Kerry, while stunning none the less doesnt hold the same appeal really...

Maybe so, but if you can't cover 1/2 Kerry climbs a day for several days back to back it will tell you an awful lot about how you stand for the task you have set yourself.

More climbing FTW

ROK ON

Dr Nic wrote: »

Ha Ha - Yep...

Molls gap, priests leap, caha and healy pass, gap of dunloe, black valley, short mountain, conor pass.
Doesnt quiet have the same ring as Col Du Tourmalet eh?

I have been up Priests Leap 5 times, and the Tourmalet once. The 5km of the Leap IMHO is way tougher than the 18km of the Tourmalet, way harder. There is a climb at the base of the Tourmalet on the Lespone Valley side (Col de Courette) - which is very similar to Priests Leap (5km at 10%, with parts from 15-24%).

Tourmalet is long, but the gradient (from the side that I did) is pretty stable at 7-8%.

I think what you are aiming to do is actually pretty achievable. That is if you plan on just cycling up and down one climb each day, then getting in your car to drive to the base of the next climb for the following day. That is about 30-40km of cycling every day. If you are moderately fit then you should be fine. Just change yourMTB tyres to road tyres and it would be ok. Take your time on the climbs, take in the beauty as well as the suffering of the climb. Occupy your mind as it can get pretty boring climbing for 2hours plus.

RobFowl

Bit off the wall but you can get the ferry to Santander in Northern Spain. I think there is a direct route but can't find a link. you can certainly do it from the UK and it would save alot of driving.
Alternatively fly to maybe Biaritz and then buy a bike from Decathalon. They do reasonable bikes from €100 + and you can always ship it back to Ireland after.
The drive from Roscoff to the Pyrenees is really a 2 day trip and would eat into your time quite dramatically.
Anyway if you have the time and can scrape the cash together go for it.
I borrowed the money for living expenses for college in 1992 and blew it on a bike and a cycling trip to Nice and never regretted it
(only paid it back about 10 years later mind :rolleyes:)

2 Wheels Good

Was only giving some advice, good luck when you've to give up after one day, nothing you do here will prep you for it, even if you play AIL whatever...

honkjelly

Just back from France and did 6 of your 10 climbs. I think it's a fantastic idea. Set the bar high and make your body catch up! The section of the Col d'Aubisque after the Soular is one of the most spectacular sections of road i've ever cycled on. Enjoy!!!

LeoD

You'll have no problems doing it. With a triple set-up and a good pair of shorts you can ride up any mountain if you take a break every now and then.

Dr Nic

Thanks to you all Guys!

honkjelly, would you mind letting me know how you got there and travelled around etc?
Thanks
John

Dr Nic

pat_hurley@yaho wrote: »

Was only giving some advice, good luck when you've to give up after one day, nothing you do here will prep you for it, even if you play AIL whatever...

Arra, dont be like that...

honkjelly

Dr Nic wrote: »

honkjelly, would you mind letting me know how you got there and travelled around etc?
Thanks
John

I was doing this years Tour de France route so I cycled from Rotterdam with the odd train connection between stages. In the Pyrenees i just cycled everywhere.