Another day, another Col

Well, in for a penny, in for a pound! Andy's break lever is knackered after the tumble yesterday, so he won't be out on the roadie for a few days, but Pat called yesterday to ask if I wanted to cycle back up the Col de Port with her from the Tarascon side. The plan was for Kev to cycle from this side, down to Tarascon where he would go swimming in the indoor pool for an hour. Pat and I would drive over, bikes in the car, leave the car for Kev and then cycle back up the Col de Port. I was a wee bit apprehensive about doing another climb after yesterday's outing up the Col de Latrape, but I felt really good this morning so thought 'why not'.

Up to the Col de Port from Tarascon is a 17km route over which you climb 777m. It is a steady climb, with no particularly steep sections on it. This was my first attempt at a route of this length but it seemed achievableSo we set off from Tarascon in still, sunny but slightly chilly conditions. Within a few kilometers, we had to stop to strip off as we were over heating, as the warmth of the sun penetrated through our layers. The first 8kms were easy with a gentle gradient. The next 5.5kms were tougher work, but head down and steady pedalling saw the worst of it over until eventually, the road levelled out and we started on the switchbacks which took us the final nearly 3kms to the top of the Col. Yee-haa! Not as bad as I had been expecting and I still felt strong. There really isn't anything to this Col climbing malarky ;-) Then it was a fast descent back down to Kev and Pat's and after a very welcome cup of tea, it was back to Pissou. All in all, another successful outing. Total distance covered 27km (inc. the descent) in 1 hr 42min, 1016 kCal consumed