Mont Ventoux

Road cycling: Bedouin-Mont Ventoux-Bedouin
Distance/Climb: 50k/1622m
Peaks: Mont Ventoux (1909m)
If Alpe d'Huez was a predictable way to start the holiday, the 'Geant de Provence' was an equally predictable finale, squeezed into a brief halt on our long journey home. The most legendary climb of all, it did not disappoint. After pitching the tent just outside Bedouin, I began the classic route up, the one always used by the Tour. A headwind battered me even as I made my way up the gentle slopes above the village with vineyards on either side: a buffeting higher up seemed likely. This first section is easy, but there is no chance of being lulled into a false sense of security as the peak looms directly above - the way it rises directly from flat Provencal vineyards is what makes it so special. Then comes the brutal first hairpin, which leaves you fumbling for small gears, followed by the relentless climb through the forest. This is very different from the Alpine cols of last week, as it just goes straight up with no hairpins to ease the angle. It was quite humid, with sunny intervals, but I felt comfortable and well trained after last week's exploits, so just churned upwards in a small gear. The long pull is disrupted by one steep hairpin, before you leave the main forest section and see the summit again, still looking pretty distant. The route makes you work hard, staying steep all the way to the Chalet Reynard, where Kate was waiting. I was setting a reasonable time, so didn't linger, particularly as they'd understandably already spent the budget on crepes at the chalet! I'd taken about 75 minutes to Chalet Reynard, and felt great as the angle eases for the top section of the climb, which is hugely atmospheric and completely unique. All vegetation is left behind as you climb through the bare scree slopes of the upper mountain. I clicked up through the gears and went for it, passing numerous struggling cyclists. The wind was swirling around, giving me the classic Ventoux treatment. At times, it came from behind, at times from the side, until it battered straight into me for the final 2k past the Simpson memorial. This gave me a taste of the battle I'd been hoping for from Ventoux. Black clouds glowered ahead as I passed a Dutch cyclist to take the brunt of the wind past the final very steep hairpin to the summit in 1:49 from Bedouin, which I think is a relatively respectable time - for a runner at least! The summit was suitably hostile - cold and windy, with dark clouds overhead and limited views of the plains beyond. I descended to the Simpson memorial to pay my respects before enjoying the sensational descent, plummeting down the slopes into the warm air of the plains. Kate only caught up with me as the road levels out beyond the forest. A lovely evening in Bedouin followed, before the black clouds we'd been watching all day really got their act together and flooded the campsite with a violent and lengthy thunderstorm.