Assault on Mt Ventoux ✅

May 29, 2017

My assault on Mt Ventoux was more like a leopard crawl than an assault but nonetheless I made it the whole way up and without walking. I did stop a few times for gels, water and a nature break but otherwise it was 21km/13mi uphill over 2.5 hours. The worst for me was between 8-10km from the top where it was consistently 11-12% with no relief. I actually did not find the moonscape part at the very top that tough. We were also very lucky with the weather conditions that were practically perfect. There are 3 ways to go up and we went from Malaucene which apparently is the 2nd hardest way after the route from Bedoin which is the way the Tour de France goes. The 3rd is from Sault. Our route was well treed so we had lots of shade until the last 3km. There is a special club for those who complete all three ascents in one day, for me there are not enough daylight hours to be able to do that. The descent is fast as you can imagine so you have to keep things under control. Once down I had beer, lunch and purchased a jersey. I need the jersey like a hole in the head but this is a once in a lifetime accomplishment and I just had to have the jersey. I bought a long sleeve one for the cooler weather since I have fewer of them. Tomorrow is a well earned rest day and we are off to the local market. The stats for today we 65km and 5600 ft with 5500 of it in the 21km up the mountain. At the top 1909m or 6300ft

Every km there was one of these markers showing how far from the summit and the average grade for the next km. I learned to hate the ones with double digits. Also it is amazing how easy 8% feels after several kms of 11%.

What goes up must come down. 2.5 hrs up and 25 min down.

The back. The 21 on the pocket is for the length of the ride from Malaucene.

A view from the top of the moonscape terrain that you ride though. This was caused years ago by cutting down the trees. It is so windy that without trees there is only rock and nothing will grow.

Today's ride: 65 km (40 miles)
Total: 375 km (233 miles)

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