June 4, 2014
Layover in Luchon
Loafing our way through an overdue rest day
Yesterday was our eighth straight cycling day, since our last break in Vernet-les-Bains. By our standards at least it's been a pretty strenuous stretch - 450 miles, 65,000' elevation gain, and at least eight significant mountain passes (or nine, if you credit my second ascent most of the way back up Col d'Agnes) - most of the time hauling along our traveling gear. This morning I feel my age more than a bit, and am not sorry that the forecast calls for rain throughout most of the day. Rachael is charitable enough to act tired also, so we decided to have a rare complete rest day and recuperate a bit.
After breakfast we walked around town and were delighted to find a terrific public market to explore for awhile. For the rest of the day though we kept mostly to our room and read our books, venturing out again only at mealtimes, to a cafe for omelette at lunch and to a nice small Vietnamese hole-in-the-wall for dinner. As it turned out the weather never developed into more than a few sprinkles, but it was gray, windy and cold all day and we were happy to just sit it out.
In the morning we'll be back at it though, entering the most iconic stretch of the Pyrenees. Tomorrow we will take a hike up to Lake Oo, partly because it is supposed to be a terrific hike and partly because I just love the name so much - and then climb over Col de Peyresourde, a featured stage of the Tour nearly every year. The following two days should be just as or more dramatic. We are elated by the weather prospects, which have lined up perfectly - the forecast is for zero percent chance of rain, highs in the 80's, and generally clear skies for the next three days. This is going to be amazing, I'm sure.
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