It was tempting to try and slalom around them to ease the gradient as I heaved myself uphill.The mountain affords its conquerors a magnificent vista - if they're lucky enough to do their vanquishing on a clear day. Just as walking among the skyscrapers and yellow cabs of New York makes you feel you're on the set of a movie, cycling up Ventoux for the first time is at once foreign but familiar.I'm not sure what I was expecting of Chalet Reynard. That's me right there, stood beneath that stickered signpost once again, leaning on the bike for a second triumphant photo, outwardly smiling but inwardly contemplating if I had it in me to return for a third shot.Thankfully, the long run down to Sault, the third of the three basecamps, was benevolent enough to convince me it would pose no threat on the return.

Trip includes airport transfers, Cingles registration, van support on Ventoux and 4 nights B&B accommodation. The only challenge was finding the right day to make my CDC attempt. I found that impossible. Veloventoux Cycling Tours, 84110 Faucon, Vaucluse, France By using our website you are consenting to our use of cookies in accordance with our Cookie Policy.

Only now I was advancing at half-speed, frame-by-frame, with nothing but the dead weight of my legs, long-since drained of any muscular power, turning the pedals to push into the head wind. The next however many hours would see me ascend a total of 4443 metres in just 136 kilometres.I first circled the village to locate a public lav, then got my race card officially stamped in a newsagent's before setting out sans ceremony through the vineyards. I'll tell you what, if old Groucho had squeezed himself into some lycra bib shorts and toiled up all three sides of Mont Ventoux in a day, under the burning sun and into the gusting wind, he'd have worn that club badge with pride.Family holidays aren’t what they used to be. There were no souvenirs suitably pocket-sized or sweat-resistant to justify the purchase of the ice-cold coke I really wanted. There's no pressing need to stand in the pedals, but no possibility of tapping out an easy rhythm either. Instead I found a grey-brown building, deserted and lifeless, still mourning the passing of the ski season.The famous way station sits just six steep kilometres from the top, black and yellow candy canes marking either side of the road.

As if.Nope, nobody noticed. Please enter a valid email address! Still no René, but a bit more bustle and buzz about the place. Such is cashless life.There's something uniquely dispiriting about dropping down a mountain knowing that when you reach its foot you're going to be turning around and cycling straight back up. And in my case, the effort was just enough to bring an early twinge of hamstring cramp.It's all dusty road between pine trees until you get a first glimpse of the iconic weather station at the summit. - before making one final gargantuan effort to reach the top. The Club des Cinglés du Mont Ventoux restricts entry to those foolish enough to climb all three sides in a day. Genius.Other blogs do a fantastic job of describing Mont Ventoux - not least Our holiday house near Avignon was certainly full. Mine was the only vehicle in the car park just outside the small village of Bedoin, the start and finish line for my challenge. The Club des Cinglés du Mont Ventoux restricts entry to those foolish enough to climb all three sides in a day. Way harder than your average provincial bouncer. Arriving in tip-top form, a fast time was a foregone conclusion, right?Stay up to date! It's exhilarating while it lasts, but at some point the fun stops and you have no choice but to start making repayments or declare yourself bankrupt. Andy Elliott Heaving myself up out of the wicker chair, it took a long time for the blood to make the return journey from my stomach to my limbs.Every five minutes for the next hour, the peace of the valley was punctuated by a loud belch. https://www.velonomad.com/articles/how-to-do-les-cingles-the-ventoux-3-peat I wish I could say I was repenting at leisure, but it was punishingly hard work. Starting at 5am will enable you to get two ascents done in the morning before the midday heat. Identical diabolical twins only their birth mother could separate.The heat and impending exhaustion had me stopping occasionally, but I'd long since stopped caring. Invent Then just sit back and watch the cash roll in. Even better, it's organised by Broleur.OK, so L'Etape UK may not cover an alpine stage of the Tour de France, but squint and the Chilterns are every bit as beautiful. Any attempt to piece them together in a coherent sequence would produce a photofit likeness no rider of the same road would recognise.It took me two and a half hours to reach the summit for a second time, more than enough time to rue my decision not to swap out a semi-compact chainset for a compact. Give the challenge a name that adds to its allure, by suggesting membership of an exclusive group, something like the 'Club of Madmen'. But soon enough I was back on the bike, emptying my pockets of energy (and my stamped CDC race card, it turns out).Beyond the numerous bike shops and the shade of the plane tree-lined avenues it begins to heat up. Still, on the day I was still up sufficiently early to have to creep out the front door in darkness, two Nespressi hastily downed, munching on a semi-stale baguette wedged open with a chock of comté cheese.A forty-five minute drive in the car gave the sun all the time it needed to rise behind the squat conical silhouette of Ventoux. There was the obligatory glory shot, this time holding three fingers up in the extremely vain hope some bystander might notice and politely enquire if the number of digits could happenchance indicate the number of ascents of the mountain I'd made that day.

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