Wind swept on Ventoux

The thing I love about cycling is the huge variety of challenges, events, sportives and generally stupid things you can do on a bike - all in the name of fun! Knowing me well a good mate of mine and long time cycling buddy enticed me with such a challenge - Mt Ventoux!  SportiveHQ were running a trip to the mountain and having entered numerous SportiveHQ events in the past we knew this would be a cracker. Without hesitation I grabbed my wallet and we were signed up.  All I had to do now was the training.

I’ve been riding for many years and manage to maintain a reasonable level of fitness, but in recent years had let things slide a little so knew I had to refocus on the challenge that lay ahead - time to do some research and put some kind of training plan in place.

Crazy Giant!

The main aspect of the event was to join the Club des Cingle du Mt Ventoux - now admittedly my French is pretty poor but Cingle must mean “single”, “once”, right? Wrong. Cingle means Crazy, and to join the club of the crazy cyclist the challenge is to ride the mountain up all 3 of its ascents, 3, in a single ride! This just got a bit more serious.

The Giant of Provence is famed in cycling history, but perhaps most well known for the climb up from Bedoin which has been used in the Tour de France 15 times since 1951; British cyclist Tom Simpson famously died on the mountain whilst riding in the tour in 1967, and in more recent years those famous images of Chris Froome in 2016, resplendent in yellow, running up the mountain!

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Another aspect of the mountain for which is famous, is wind. The highest wind speed recorded was 200mph at the summit, and the wind blows at over 56mph for 240 days every year - and at 6,263ft high we knew the weather could be anything, and everything.

Training?

And so the training began. I'd love to be able to impart on you the perfect training plan I employed which delivered me to the summit in tip top form, but I can’t. My plan was simply to up my riding volume steadily over the months ahead, and keep my fingers crossed I’d done enough.

The months of preparation came and went and finally we were in the final week before the big day. I felt as good as I had all year, my ftp was up and I felt mentally prepared for what could be 10hours or more of riding. The best thing at this point was that SportiveHQ had all the logistics sorted for us too, with bikes and luggage collected a couple of days ahead and taken over ready for us. This took a lot of stress out of the final stages, and we flew out with just hand luggage and a belly full of nerves.

We were staying in the foothills of the mountain in the small town of Malaucene, and the starting point for the first climb. The three climbs are

• Bedoin (21km, avg 8%), which is the most famous route used in the tour, the hardest, and with that iconic final 6km from Chalet Reynard across the barren lunar landscape.
• Malaucene (21km, avg 7.6%), a shade easier on paper but in practice there isn’t much in it
• Sault is the longest at 25km but has the most gradual gradients of the 3 - until you hit Chalet Reynard for a second go at the famous final 6km.

The Challenge

After a breakfast of croissant and coffee (and just an orange for my riding pal!) we set off up the Malaucene climb in bright September sunshine. Summer jerseys on, and with gilets soon dispatched, it was perfect weather. The climb was steady and unrelenting with long sections of 10% or more, and with some stunning views. 

As we approached the summit we caught glimpses of the famous weather station perched on the top of the mountain - it looked like we had a cliff to climb to get there though!

Zig zagging up the final bit of the ascent we had made it, 1 down 2 to go. The climb had been hard, but the legs felt great so I was looking forward to the descent and confident about the next climb up. With just the final few yards of the climb remaining we saw the SportiveHQ van waiting for us - and that was also when the famous Mt Ventoux wind hit us. Having been  relatively sheltered on the way up this was a big surprise and the temperature dropped by a good 10-15 degrees, and all of a sudden we were freezing. Thankfully we had jackets in the van so we grabbed those, along with a handful of madelaines, a refilled bidon and got our Cingles cards stamped in the summit shop.

Time for the descent, and this was where the day became a bigger challenge than we’d expected, or rather than we’d hoped. The wind whipped up the side of the mountain so as we set off we could feel it hitting us sideways, not great when riding on 50mm deep wheels. The first hairpin away from the summit  was scary - the wind caught my wheels and seemed determined for me not to make the turn - never have I had to muscle a road bike quite so much. Heading down towards Chalet Reynard was not much fun - 6km of shaking with cold and fighting the wind - not to mention dodging the odd sheep too. When we reached the chalet, and the relative protection now we had moved down into the trees, we stopped to warm up. Hands were frozen and shoulders ached from trying to hold the bike steady. Heading down towards Bedoin through the forest was amazing though, with a seemingly perfect combination of narrow sweeping roads cutting through the trees, a handful of hairpins and long sections where you could really let the bike run.

Reaching the town of Bedoin we quickly got our card stamped in a small bike shop and headed back the way we had come.

The start out of Bedoin was pretty gradual so it gave us chance to warm the legs up again after the long descent, and prepare for the climb ahead with it soon becoming clear just how fast we had descended these same roads - they seemed to go on for ever heading back skywards. We eventually found ourselves back in the forest, where long sections of the climb remain around 10% for mile after mile. It never ramps up, but never seems to relent either. The absence of switchbacks also adding to the relentlessness of the climb.

Once again we reached Chalet Reynard, losing the shelter from the forest and for the first time hit the final climb up through the rocky, baron almost lunar landscape - the wind was stronger than before, and it started to rain. It didn’t seem too bad though and the rain initially provided some welcome cooling after the long climb thus far.

Unlike the last time we approached the summit, when it was bustling with other cyclists finishing an event, it was noticeably quieter this time - the weather obviously turning many people back down to the calmer, warmer rolling hills of Provence below.

We had the obligatory photo number 2 and quickly headed back the way we had come towards Chalet Reynard. Whilst I was more prepared this time for the battering into the wind and rain it didn’t make it any easier. I was possibly more tense knowing what to expect, and even colder now I was wet from the rain too. Once again we reached the chalet shivering with the cold and stopped for a quick breather to warm the hands and loosen the shoulders.

The remaining descent to Sault was not the fast flowing affair from earlier, it was actually hard work at times into the wind and on shallower slopes, but we kept pushing on as we desperately tried to stay warm. On a different day it would have been a beautiful ride, descending through the woods on perfectly winding roads until you come to the more open, rolling fields of Lavender on the lower slopes of the mountain.

By the time we reached the town of Sault the rain had eased a little. Time for another stamp and a couple of energy bars.

The climb back up started gradually, and being the easier of the 3 climbs never really ramped up to anything particularly challenging - it was the cold and length of time in the saddle that was getting to me now, much more than the gradient. It was also at this point I realised my fuelling strategy for the day was starting to let me down. I’d chosen a combination of energy bars, gels, the odd banana and a handful of madeleines. I was now craving something savoury, and felt my head starting to spin, unsure if it was from too much sugar, or not enough. If there had been another way back to chalet I think at this point I may have been tempted, but there was only one way which was up and over the top. After letting Mike go on ahead, who was fairing far better than I was at this point, I was alone on the mountain with a headful of sugar and doubt. It was almost by magic that out of nowhere came the only vehicle I’d seen for the last hour or so, and it was Paul in the SportiveHQ van. I didn’t really need anything but it was heartening to have support close by, so with some added encouragement I kept the pedals turning.

I eventually reached Chalet Reynard for the final time and the rain was really coming down now, and the wind was considerably stronger than before too. This time, with cold tiring legs, the final 6km felt a lot longer and steeper than before. Selecting my lowest gear I just sat in grinding the gears slowly, so slowly in fact I managed to spot the Tom Simpson memorial for the first time. I was glad I’d spotted it and so doffed my cap knowing I was nearly at the top.

Its been emotional

Reaching the summit for the third time was an emotional moment, I’d done it. 3 times up Mt Ventoux, and in weather which only served to make the challenge more memorable, and more… challenging!

The wind was absolutely howling now and would easily have picked my bike up and whisked it off the mountain side had I let go. The only other person to be seen was a rider with huge panniers on his bike - kudos to him for sure, although secretly I assured myself I had had the harder day as he’d not ridden the mountain 3 times (probably!).

One quick photo and it was back down the road to  where it had all started, back to Malaucene. I was  hoping for shelter from the wind, rain and now heavy  mist as the clouds had settled firmly on the mountain.  Unfortunately shelter was not forthcoming and the  descent was certainly not the highlight I had hoped it  would be. It was 21km of driving rain, shivering, painful hands and shoulders and holding the brakes on to  keep speed on the wet road to something which  resembled safety - I was desperate to reach the bottom now but descended like a snail. It would have made for   the best descent of the day with wide, open roads and only a few sharp corners to be wary of.  Eventually the town came into view, and instantly I could feel a little more warmth. Riding up to the hotel I was in a bit of a state. Eyes on stalks, visibly shivering and not quite able to get off my bike. Thankfully I had help from one of the other riders who had seen sense and called it a day much earlier. I felt amazing though. The sense of achievement, endeavour and challenge all lived up to exactly what I hoped for - you may read this thinking I had hated every minute - couldn’t be more wrong - I LOVED IT!!

It didn’t take long to warm up thanks to a good shower so it was time to find the others, share stories and take it all in with a beer - but not before getting our final stamp - and proof that the wind indeed was a little blowy at over 100kph, with gusts around 123kph!

What have I learnt?

• Riding for a maximum of 3-4 hours through training seemed ok for the legs, but I clearly hadn’t tested my fuelling strategy properly for a 10 hour day, and I definitely suffered as a result.
• Gears. I paired a 32 rear sprocket to my pro compact chain rings and was glad I had.
• Wind. Next time I'd sacrifice the deep section wheels for shallower ones - just in case!
• I would highly recommend SportiveHQ. They looked after us superbly the whole time. Having bikes shipped over, transfers taken care of, and support on the day was absolutely invaluable and possibly the only way to really do something like this
• Would I do it again? - err - possibly. I’d love to do it again on a day with nice calm weather. I wouldn’t mind rain even, but the strong wind made those descents much harder than I’d bargained for. Mike - I hope you are not reading this!
• Disc brakes - love em - I’m pretty sure I’d still be up there, somewhere on the descent to Malaucene, without them
• We flew out Friday, rode on Saturday and flew back home Sunday. I’d recommend adding a day either side so you could better appreciate the beautiful area, and provide a little flexibility around the weather if you have several riding days to choose from

Most of all, this was the inspiration for RaceInk.... I really wanted something to help remember the day but struggled to find anything I liked, so I created it RaceInk. RaceInk Prints are personalised for you, with your route, your data - a true record or your achievement.