Mt. Ventoux and a great dinner in Lyon
We awoke with hopes that yesterday's winds had died down. It seemed that way from our room but once we stepped outside, it was clear the room was sheltered. They were blowing as hard or harder.
The day started with a jolt as I realized that my tool bag (which is critical for dis-assembling the couplings on my bike) was left in Nel's van. A quick call reached Nel in Germany...that won't help. On the way to the Ventoux, we stopped at a bike shop in Bedoin and found a work around. Thank goodness.
As we started up from Bedoin at which point I realized that my camera chip was still in my computer from yesterday so climbing/summit photos will come from Howie in a a supplement. (not my day so far)
Pretty quickly we were in the forest. Howie and I agreed that each would go at their own pace. The forest is steep and long but after all the cycling we had done, it was much easier (and cooler) than during last year's E'tape du Tour when it was 96 degrees hot and came after 80 miles with a lot of climbing. Once we reached Chateau Reynaud just outside the protection of the forest, the winds grew fierce. At one point I was putting out 210 watts and going only 6 kilometers an hour! The good news is sometimes the wind pushed you up the mountain but it was also doing it's best to stop you or blow you off.
Howie reached the summit in 2'04" and I came in at a 2'18". Due to bike packing and without our normal tools, we decided to descend back the way we came up. In part this was also driven by the fact the wind was coming from the north which would make the descent to Malaucene pretty gnarly. That said, it was gnarly until we got back to the forest and even then it was straight into the wind back to our hotel.
After packing our bikes we drove to Lyon and had a terrific dinner at a restaurant I had been to with my wife several years ago. Run entirely by a couple and "mom" (see photo) the food was superb, more than ample and a bargain to boot. Undoubtedly the best meal of the trip! For those who are ever in Lyon, it's Restaurant Les Retrouvailles in Vieux Lyon.
We just drove to the airport,, dropped the car and will fly back tomorrow.
