Ventoux

Today my objective was Le Ventoux. An early start to avoid the 90 degree weather… stomach tied in a knot for some reason, but there are public restrooms *with toilet paper* in town. Those of you who have visited France will probably know the horror of discovering too late that there is no toilet paper in the bathroom. Anyway, I grabbed a gel from a local shop, sucked it down, then went for it. I think other people have described the climb much better than I could, but my quick impressions are that the first section is not bad at all. Everyone seemed to still be getting used to the idea that they had just embarked on such an iconic climb and were taking it easy. A bit later the road started getting twisty and pretty steep, but I managed to get into a pretty good rhythm until the Chalet Reynard. For me this was probably the most difficult part. Next, the moonscape section which, except for a few ramps towards the end was not physically harder than the middle section, but mentally quite difficult, as it seemed like switchbacks kept appearing between myself and the summit. I passed the Simpson memorial, where people were paying their respects -- I didn't know it was so far up actually -- but was too focused on the top to stop… and then the top. I should mention that there was some wind at the top, but having read other peoples accounts, it seems that it was pretty mild for Ventoux in retrospect. It did not feel mild at the time however. The multidirectional nature of the switchbacks also insured that the wind was at my back for part of the time too, which was excellent. It's a great climb. Super difficult, but so memorable and beautiful at the top. And the descent? Just amazing, particularly through the middle section. I talked to my friend Hank about this, and we had the same impression -- just disbelief at how good it is weaving through steep banked curves. I had to ease up a bit because there were so many people, and the visibility is reduced with the foliage (Hank tells me sight lines are a lot better in the Fall). I was also having so much fun that I forgot to record it! Video is below