16 miles to the summit, 1191 metres climbed, 6.3 mph average speed, elapsed time 2hrs 33 minutes.
Set off at 9 am on bright sunny morning with a clear view of our objective from just outside our hotel.
The first part of the climb, through open countryside, was quite magical. Gears softly whirring, cuckoos calling, skylarks rising and the smell of lavender in the air. What a time to be out on the bike!
Shortly the route entered the Ventoux forest offering some shade from the sun. The gradient to Chalet Reynard averaged about 4.5% and is considered to be the easiest of the three routes. The starting elevation in Sault is higher than those of Bedoin and Malaucene. However, from Chalet Reynard to the summit the gradient varied from 7% to 11% in places. It was a long hard flog to the summit and on a couple of occasions I took a 2 minute breather. During the 11% sections I was now starting to question if it was such a good time to be out on the bike!!
Being one of the last to reach the summit there was a nice welcoming party.
Some views from the top.
I headed down from the summit with Pauline and Mick and stopped st the Tommy Simpson memorial where I placed a small enamel Christchurch Bicycle Club badge.
After the memorial we carried on down to Chalet Reynard for a hot chocolate and to buy more Lycra – a Ventoux cycling jersey. There was a choice of routes down from Chalet Reynard, the long one via Bedoin or the short one, retracing our steps back to Sault. We chose the short route. It started to rain as we left which became very heavy as we descended, making braking and cornering tricky. Fortunately, the rain stopped on the lower slopes for our run into Sault.
In the evening we had a very enjoyable group meal where certificates were presented and thanks were given to the excellent support team of Nigel, Trevor and Martin.
This was my third tour with Peak Tours and the organisation and support was of the usual high standard. All the more impressive as this was the first time the tour had run. If there were any teething problems they were not evident and that has to be down to the efforts of Nigel, Trevor and Martin – thank you guys.
Well done Peter. You can now have a good rest. Take care
Well done Mr Bridger, looked a lovely trip and makes me want to try one of these tours soon. Hope to see you soon for a nice Fordingbridge ride.