Another day, yet another Col and lessons learnt

Well, after a load of fiddling about and thanks to the ever handy superglue, Andy was able to sufficiently repair his break lever to make the bike rideable again. The day dawned with a cloud inversion which quickly retreated to leave a mixture of blue sky and occasional clouds. A low front is approaching, so we were keen to get out while the weather held. This time, the Etang de Lers was our target. It is a ride we can do from the house by cycling down into Massat, up to Le Port and then straight up to Lers. The only downside is that we then have 4kms of ascent up the Col de Port road on our return! And with my legs still feeling a bit weary after the ride on Monday, I was keen not to overdo it.

The descent into Massat was fun (as always) and then we had a gentle meander through to Le Port from where the incline steepens up to a maximum 8.9%. It was hard work in places, with, in particular a sustained gradient of never below 6.8% over a distance of 8kms. The following image shows the extension (the final blue and yellow sections) along to the Port de Lers which we didn't do because of the road closure. But we got up to the Etang 1 hr 25 min after leaving Pissou, a distance of some 17kms. Then we had the descent to look forward to! Or so we thought. By this time, the cloud was rolling in and the sun was obscured which dropped the temperature quite dramatically. We started our descent but quickly realised that the windchill was going to be a major problem. Although we both wore long sleeved upper layers and long bottoms, our long fingered gloves did not afford the protection that we needed against the chill. Likewise, our basic cycling shoes were not going to prevent the cold from attacking our feet. It soon became apparent that we were totally unprepared for this change in weather. We found ourselves stopping every couple of kms on the steep descent to try to warm up our fingers so that we could use the brakes! Frostnip started to become a real concern as the cold bit and an icey wind started to make itself felt. I was concerned at how I was feeling, but somehow, we made it back to Massat. The climb back up the Col de Port road warmed us back up to a degree, but still, I had lost all sensation in my feet. On went the down booties. On went the pan of milk for the hot chocolate. Eventually sensation returned to my feet and the hot chocolate was the reviving elixir that I had craved.

So, lessons learnt? We wouldn't dream of heading into the mountains without being properly prepared for a change in conditions. We must apply the same mindset to our road biking out here. It is too easy to think, ah, we're on the roads, we're on a bike, we can make a quick descent if needs be. Wrong. The descent is where major problems can occur. In future, we will consider taking a small pack containing extra layers, neoprene booties and gloves, extra food etc. Extra weight, but extra surety.

So totals for the day, 860 m of ascent, 36.40 kms covered in 2hrs 33 mins , 1658 kCals consumed - I deserve CAKE!!