Biking

Mention the Pyrénées to most people, especially those who enjoy a bit of road biking, and the famous cols of the chain such as the Tourmalet, Aubisque and Aspin will be hot topics. The Tour de France has obviously reinforced people's idea of  the Pyrénées as an arena of suffering for the masochistic road cyclist. However, the amateur road biker who doesn't fancy energy-sapping, leg-busting col-grinding will no doubt be relieved to hear that there are endless opportunities here for mile upon mile of gently undulating riding on quiet lanes amidst stunning scenery. After our last couple of outings, I am convinced that where we are now, near Aspet on the border of the Haute Garonne and Ariege departments, is the best area for road cyclists of all abilities.

We have had two cracking rides on the road bikes over the past week. The first one, last Wednesday, was an exploration which took us into the undulating 'bosses', the fingers of hills that are North of the A64 autoroute. This area provides contrasting scenery ....

.....and also contrasting riding to the roads that are south of the autoroute, with the option of either following the little valleys that separate the 'fingers', keeping the ascent to a minimum, or tackling them head on, which gives you a ride profile something like this!

In some ways, rides such as this with small hill after small hill can be more exhausting physically than sticking the bike into granny gear and grinding your way up a col. But thankfully the little old legs were working well and I felt fine after the 70kms/1000m+. It had been a beautiful ride out in perfect weather on wonderfully quiet little roads. Full stats on the usual site.

I have been working hard to try and resolve the issues that I have been having with my right knee when I run, doing regular targeted exercises to try and strengthen my right glute max and glute medius muscles in particular, combined with stretches for other specific muscle groups that affect the knee. The overall result appears to be reduced tension on my hamstring, looser calves and less tension on my knee. I will probably test it out running when the weather cools down a bit, but for the moment my work seems to have made things easier on the bike and I am really enjoying our outings. 

Our other roadie outing was on Sunday and was my longest ride for some considerable time, 88kms/1100m+, which took us from here near Aspet along the amazingly quiet roads of the Comminges, heading East and then South along the river to arrive at our old stomping ground of Saint Lizier and Saint Girons. Fantastic riding! We meandered back via the beautiful roads through Montgauch and Cazavet...

... before heading West again back towards home via Saleich and Urau in the Comminges

For some reason, after 70kms, we chose to finish the ride not by taking the easy route, but by tackling the relatively insignificant Col de Larrieu which links Aspet with the Arbas Valley. We have ridden down the Col into the Arbas Valley before but have not ridden it in the other direction. It felt so steep in parts (OK, so apparently it did ramp up to 14%!) and I had a serious battle with myself not to stop and rest. But, despite the increasing heat, I somehow managed to keep the pedals turning and made it up the col in one piece. The profile ended up like this!

Again, no repercussions in the leg department. This is a very very good sign!. Again, the full stats are on the usual site.

For a relative change, we took the mountain bikes out for a run today. With temperatures set to rise up to 30+ Deg C, we tried to set out in decent time so as not to die in the heat. Exploring new routes and new link ups is great and it allows you to eventually separate the 'good' circuits from the 'not so good'. Today's circuit was a grand old mixture of 'Jeez, sod this for a game of bingo, I'm going home' and 'Bloody hell, that was just amaaazing!' The problem section was approx 1km long, up through the woods from Izaut l'Hotel to Arbon, a steep, rocky, slippery path that was beyond my riding capabilities where I had to resort to pushing my bike. Andy on the other hand put in a sterling performance. Thankfully, the route soon became rideable again and we enjoyed some fantastic views

After some superb riding, we arrived at the Col des Arès before beginning a fast, fun descent down a forest track and then good paths with some pretty technical riding in parts back down to Payssous and the meander home. Apart from the tricky section up to Arbon (which can be avoided by riding up the little lane instead!), the route was fantastic and I can't wait to ride it with mountain biking friends who have promised to come and visit us in the near future. 30km/700m+, 2h30 of riding and we were back in time for lunch :-) Full stats on the usual site.

Tomorrow (Wednesday), we sign for the house and get the keys. We are going to busy over the coming weeks and months, but we will of course make time for more biking and hopefully walking and running up in the mountains too. Fun times ahead!

Busy times

Yes, I know these pages have been sadly neglected for the past 2 weeks. But, you see, I have been just a little bit busy. Preparations for the move to our new home are at full pelt. We get the keys on the 27th of this month! There is some work that we want to get done before we actually move in.... messy, dirty, dusty work like sanding down the big beams on the ground floor before we treat them and then attempt to restore them to their former splendour. The house is now empty, the owners having done a fine job of clearing it of the vestiges of the lives of three generations, which has been an enormous task. We are obviously now impatient to move in and get to work creating our new home.

When I returned 10 days ago from my trip to the UK, the poor weather that I had experienced there decided to follow me home, which I really did not appreciate. However, at the end of last week the weather finally took a turn for the better with temperatures climbing to 30 degrees. I was keen to get up high to experience more of the amazing scenery that we have in this area, so we popped up to the Col du Portet d'Aspet and made our way on good paths to the ridgeline that runs high above it. The views did not disappoint

I wanted to use the outing to test out my knee and I was very encouraged by what I was feeling. Despite running several sections of the very undulating 10km/800m route I had no discomfort at all except for on the final 100m of the descent. I may actually be making some progress here! I now need to be careful not to get too carried away by my enthusiasm and do too much too soon. Steady steady!

The bikes have also had an airing over the past week with a cracking 33km/700m+ ride out on the mountain bikes which saw us linking up several different tracks and paths in the area. We also had a wonderfully leisurely 63km ride out on the roadies in the sun, over into the Barousse Valley and back through the foothills of the Comminges. Just stunning! Good times, good times.

Change of scenery

On Wednesday last week I left to spend a week in the UK for a long overdue visit to catch up with family and friends. But before I left, Andy and I got in a cracking mountain bike ride on Monday during which we explored and linked up even more of the myriad paths, tracks and trails around Aspet. The ride involved a fair bit of ascent and some technical riding, some of which I think I have captured on the video cam that Andy gave me for Christmas. We managed to fix it to the handlebars although I believe the video quality would be improved if we got it set up on my helmet. I'm currently working on putting the various video snippets together to make a short movie which I'll stick on Youtube when it's done. In the meantime, the ascent profile ....

.... and a glimpse of Pic de Cagire towards the end of the ride which came in at 30kms with 850m of ascent

The next day, as the weather remained good (dry, not too hot), we popped up the road to the Mourtis ski station above the Col de Menté (just 25 minutes us)  from where we walked up to the Pic d'Escales 1816m. From there, stunning panoramic views of the high mountains

The Spring flowers are really starting to appear now. These gentians were just stunning

Then it was home to pack for a flight back to the UK on Wednesday and a flying visit to mum's in Dorset before heading up to stay with friends in the Peak District for a few days. Typically, the stunning weather that the UK had been enjoying decided to break on the day that I arrived. But never mind, Ayshea and I still enjoyed a lovely day around and above the Derwent Reservoir which is one of my favourite parts of the Peak District.

Unfortunately, my knee troubles are continuing which meant that my running was curtailed. It was disappointing as the Peak District is a fantastic area for running. Still, I'll be back another day and will make up for it then. After catching up with more friends over the weekend, it is now time to head West to visit my son and future daughter-in-law. Back home on Thursday.

Bikey bikey

It has been a mixed bag here weather-wise. A week ago we had howling gales, rain and low temperatures which resulted in snow down to 1300m - thoroughly unpleasant. Mid May and we had the woodburner lit which is just bonkers. But that's Spring in the Pyrenees for you. It is unpredictable at best. Fortunately we got out for a cracking mountain bike ride the day before the weather worsened and covered 30km on a fantastically varied circuit from the house which included technical woodland single track, hardpacked tracks and short sections of tarmac. For the first time in quite a long while I actually felt like I had some energy and was hungry for the exercise. A great feeling! The ride was only slightly marred by Andy's chain breaking just as the storm was about to hit! All good fun.

The road bike has also seen some action with a couple of good 70km rides from the house, the last one on Thursday in weather more befitting the month of May (clear blue skies, temperatures into the mid to high 20s....) which involved 70kms/1000m+ from here near Aspet over the Col des Arès to the Barousse Valley then up to Mauleon-Barousse, down to Barbazan and back through the Comminges. Everything was working well and the knee played the game which was something of a relief. The same can't be said when I attempt to run unfortunately. The twinge on the lateral side of my right knee starts as soon as I attempt to run downhill which is, both metaphorically and literally, a pain. I have however been working hard on exercises to fire up the glutes which I think are paying off. The leg generally feels under less tension now and the ITB pain in particular seems to be lessening. I am going to head out for a test run tomorrow and see how it all feels in practise. Cross your fingers for me!

Lastly, the bird sighting of the week is a red-backed shrike which is another stunning bird that I have never seen before! It is on the red list in the UK. Photo courtesy of nature-photography.co.uk

Birds!

This area is amazing. The variety of bird life is truely stunning and continues to surprise me. Today when we were out walking locally we spotted two bee-eaters sitting on an overhead cable. I have never seen such beautiful birds. Photo courtesy of Wikipedia;

Slightly later on as we were walking back to the car we spotted a short-toed eagle circling overhead, being mobbed by a kite. The wing span of the short-toed eagle around 1.70m! Photo courtesy of Iberianature.com. What a bird!

Another unmistakable spot yesterday was the Egyptian vulture which we again saw locally. It is a striking bird which was soaring gracefully above a ploughed field.

I must also mention the elusive nightingale which has regaled us with its song most mornings as we have been walking the pooch. It eventually revealed itself to me, coming out from its dense hiding spot in the bushes to pose briefly on a low branch, singing its heart out. Just wonderful.

Have I mentioned the hoopoe yet? No? We often hear its characteristic 'Oop oop oop' call in the trees around us here and have spotted it several times in flight. I love its Latin name Upupa epops!

Photos

Today, we signed the compromis de vente for the house. The seller cannot now retract from the sale so we have a bit more security, so it seems like a good moment to post some more photos of the property. This one is a photo of the property that currently hangs on the kitchen wall.....

This is the property (centre photo) in its setting - wonderfully peaceful!

The inside of the house is perfectly habitable and full of wonderful old beams and other original features. It does need bringing into the 21st century but that will be an ongoing process. This room will be the living room...

... the door through to the kitchen...

The floor boards in the first floor bedrooms are in wonderful condition. We may however be replacing the wallpaper!

It is however the potential of the attached barn that we are most excited about. The structure is in fantastic condition and the timbers all appear to be sound. This is just the end offshot section. The barn as a whole is over 300m2 in size across 2 floors!

The 5600m2 of land also has masses of potential for the creation of a potager, an outdoor living area and possibly even, at some point in the future, the installation of a natural pool. We're going to be busy when we move in, that's for sure. We're hoping that date will be at the end of June if all goes well. Fingers crossed!

At last!

I was starting to despair. The process has been long and frustrating and I couldn't see an end to it. People speak of patience, but mine has been severely challenged over the past few months. But then, on Friday, I had a call from an agent that had shown us around a property a few weeks ago. He had been well-briefed on our criteria and on our budget. Madame, he said, a property has just come to me that I think fits your criteria, he said, do you want to take a look? Email me some photos, I said. Which he did. Wow, said I. We popped along the road from Aspet to view it the same afternoon, we put an offer in on Saturday, haggled a bit on price and had our final offer accepted yesterday! It is the property I had always hoped we would find but was despairing of ever finding it. In brief, it is a wonderful old farmhouse that has been well maintained, is perfectly habitable and with bags of character, has a mahoosive attached barn that is in excellent condition and with tons of conversion potential, has 5000m2 of land and, most importantly, is in the perfect situation. Just 5 minutes from Aspet and yet on the edge of a tiny hamlet with waymarked VTT/mountain biking from the door, paths and tracks that lead up to the Col de Larrieu and beyond and more road biking possibilities than you can shake a stick at! Oh, and it is so peaceful. I still can't believe it is within our budget. Here are some photos.

Watch this space for further developments!