Col de Spandelles

Oh dear. I slightly overcooked our 'easing the legs in' day before the Tourmalet tomorrow. I was seduced by seeing a natural loop on the map, riding first the Col de Solour (1,474m) and then looping back via the Col de Spandelles (1,377m). Both passes were close to 900m of climbing. I have to remind myself that it's a bit like going up Scafell Pike. Sadly, the cloud was down on the mountains - limiting the views - but we were only in the clag at the top of the cols, with some drizzle on the long, very fast descent back to Argelès-Gazost. It's only when you descend and the road keeps dropping and dropping and dropping that you realise how far you've ridden up! We stopped for refreshment in the town before the climb back to our hotel at Les Gerbes. Another huge and incredibly good dinner will hopefully set us up for tomorrow. I was jiggered tonight. I'm not as young as I once was. Hopefully, the buzz tomorrow will carry me along.

Not the best conditions for photography today, so here's a rare shot of me, after Forrest kindly stopped for a few minutes to wait halfway up the second climb. He rode back down from the summit of both cols to pick me up and encourage me on. He's a good boy.