Day 7

Final day of riding back to where we started in Luchon. Things seemed a little different today. The last day that I would be cycling with these new found friends. The last day that I would be riding up these long and sometimes steep climbs. In some respects I was glad that today was the last day of riding so that I could be back home with my family and take a well deserved rest. In other respects I just wanted the journey to continue. The challenge of riding up the Cols for six days would be complete by the end of the day, but I wanted more of this again tomorrow. I wanted to see the mountains, I wanted to listen to the other riders stories and their experiences. I had got to know my riding colleagues over the last few days and really enjoyed their company. By the end of the day, this would be no more.

Today's ride would not be an easy final hurrah back to where we started. We had two more Cols to climb and there was good reason to be extremely careful on the descent of the first one. We all set off at 0830 as the group had to get back to Luchon in time to return and dismantle our bicycles, prior to heading back to our original hotel to shower before getting a bus to Toulouse Airport. This was all to be finalised later. First we had to complete the ride.

When we left for our final assault on the Pyrenees, I again found myself towards the front of the group with the stronger riders. When we arrived at the first Col most of the riders stopped for a call of nature, but I proceeded to carry on riding with Baz and Jason. The bottom part of Col du Portet d'Aspet was rather easy in comparison to the other climbs that we had endured. I suddenly found myself out on own. Not happy with being alone at the front, I slowed and was suddenly overtaken by Paul, Baz and our guide John. The gradient started to increase and soon Jason was passing me too, then Brian. I felt myself going slower and slower but the end was in sight. With about twenty yards to complete the climb I had the indignation of Dean and Aaron laughing with glee as they sped past me to sprint to the top and pip me out of spite. Did I care? Not one little bit, for I found myself laughing at their collusion to scupper my progress to the top before them. As we waited for the final few riders to complete the climb, birds of prey started to circle above. These were not eagles, or buzzards or kites, but vultures, and the flock was getting bigger and more impressive, circling on the air currents. Obviously there was food below for them but, fortunately, all of our riders did complete the climb.

On a serious note (and this is where I previously mentioned careful descent on the first Col of the day) we all reconvened to pay our respects at the memorial of Fabio Casartelli. Casartelli was riding in the 1995 Tour de France. As he peaked the Col du Portet d'Aspet he made a critical and fateful error with a group of other riders. The road bends on the steep descent and as riders crashed, Casartelli hit his head on a low concrete block at the side of the road just beyond the apex of the bend and later died in a helicopter on the way to hospital. Prior to his death, he had won the cycling road race Gold medal at the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games, being the last amateur rider to do so. As we were there, several other riders stopped to pay their own respects. The realisation of how vulnerable cyclists are on the roads, whether racing, leisure or commuting hit home.

Fabio Casartelli Monument (Col du Portet d'Aspet)

Exact location where crash happened

Approach to bend in Road

After sombre reflection, we descended ourselves to the bottom of the penultimate Col before heading to our final climb of the challenge. There was hardly any respite, as we soon found ourselves climbing again, but this time it would be for the last time. We were not going to have it easy for the final climb of our adventure. The Col that was separating us from Luchon was Col de Mente, a Category 1 climb to finish with. This final object to get over is 11Km with an elevation gain of 681 metres with an average gradient of 6%, however it gets steeper towards the top where there are parts that kick up at over 11%. A hard way to end our journey and the coffee that Richard finally bought for me at the last summit cafe was the most cherished and enjoyable coffee that I will ever drink. Well, not quite the end of the journey. We had to ride back to Luchon, remember? We cycled in line for some 20Km at quite a fast pace until we got back to where we started; and that was it. Challenge complete.