Col de Pailheres

In some sense it's been quite a relaxing day here because we seem to have spent an inordinate amount of time sitting around chatting and eating and drinking, but somehow, in between all that, we've fitted in 76 more miles and another 2800m of climb. We did a wonderful natural circuit starting over the Col du Pradel at 1673m, a delightful climb on a very quiet narrow road, before the most awesome descent to Axat for lunch, dropping over 1200m. I absolutely love the descents here. The road surfaces are so good that you can place trust around the bends like you simply can't do on unfamiliar roads back home. It's such an adrenaline rush!

Lunch was a leisurely affair, with none of us being very keen to leave the shade and face the climb back to Ax-les-Thermes over the Col de Pailheres. It had been a very long way down from the previous col and we were faced with going another 300m higher. And the sun was blazing down out of a clear blue sky. On the way up, one of the guys recorded a temperature of 34 deg. It may not seem that bad to those experiencing the heatwave in the States, but fresh from the coolest and wettest English summer I can ever remember this was a massive shock to the system.

As soon as the serious business of the climb started the natural pecking order immediately established itself, Dave going ahead, followed by Ralph , myself and then Paul and Steve. We were soon spread out all over the climb, each in our own little world of pain! There was no shade at all and the first half was unrelenting in terms of gradient and heat. The second half, however was a lot more enjoyable as we picked up a cooling breeze and the road ascended in a serious of really dramatic switchbacks and hairpins, as featured here. It must rank as one of the most beautiful mountain passes I've ever tackled on a road bike.

The descent down to Ax was nothing like as pretty as the climb up, but a fantastic road to ride, with wonderful sweeping bends and just a few hairpins which necessitated the application of more than a feathering of the brakes! Ralph, Paul and Steve leave tomorrow so they stopped at Ax to start on the beer but Dave wanted to do one more climb up to the ski station. For some reason I found myself joining him, but halfway up and trailing very far behind I experienced a kind of epiphany. As I left the shade of the trees and started to get burnt up by the sun again I realised that I didn't have to do this! Why was I putting myself to the sword on this climb to nowhere when I could be enjoying a cold beer? Within a couple of minutes I had plummeted back down the climb and had that glass in my hand. It felt and tasted wonderful.

After a few more beers and another amazing meal courtesy of Debbie and Gary, we all felt both sated and wasted. I still can't quite believe that I've found the energy to post this blip tonight! Thanks for all your wonderful comments. I hope you'll forgive me for yet again not having the time to respond. It does mean so much to me that so many of you are following my adventures here. You're all just great.