Windows of Opportunity
For everything we want to do, there is a window of opportunity. For many activities or events, the window is so large that it is almost impossible to imagine that there are limits to the time possible to conduct or complete the activity. And there are some activities where the window may open repeatedly, even seasonally. For many other activities though there may only be, or you may only perceive that there is, a single window, and sometimes that window can be quite narrow.
‘If I get the chance to go back to Europe, I must visit the Pyrenees and ride the famous passes.’
This window can open more than once, but only after a particular set of conditions has been met, such as; I must be healthy & wealthy enough for a trip to Europe, leave is approved at the right time of year, I have the fitness for attempting the objective, I can arrange the logistics of travelling through Europe such that I can arrive at the Pyrenees at the right time.
At an age when toasting to good health is more than a token gesture, in a commercial world that is downsizing, in a professional role that has mandated deadlines to be achieved, opening that window creates some effort and determination.
And then, and then, there is the weather ….
The day we drove into the Pyrenees we did not see them, and as Pam so adroitly noted, ‘that’s the problem with being in the mountains, you rarely get to see them.’ The next day, we rode the Tourmalet under unbroken blue skies.
Today, the forecast is for thunderstorms and rain from midday. And that forecast has stood in place for the past week. After today, the forecasts have persistently shown rain for every day for the next week.
Col D’Aubisque the objective for today. Back to back major mountain passes is not something either of us have attempted before, and the opportunities to open a window for achieving that are diminishing. The Col D’Aubisque is not as famous as the Tourmalet even though it has been ridden almost as often as the Tourmalet during the Tour. It may be that it is not as famous because it is not as consistently hard as the Tourmalet.
Which side to ride? For some of the passes, there is a universally agreed ‘better side. The definition of better varying depending on the particular mountain, it could be the tougher side that captures the imagination, or the more scenic. I had been tormented for some time about which side to ride – East or West. Some reported the West as the most spectacular climb in the Pyrenees – a view not matched by all. We are staying right at the base of the eastern side, and it is an hours drive around to the start of the west, so the east it is.
We have started even earlier than yesterday, such that it is still quite dark. It is a gentle few kilometres into and through town, where we turn left and immediately the road kicks up to 8%-9% and stays that way for several kilometres. I had seen this on the profile, but it surprised Pam.
Where yesterday my knee had started to hurt somewhere up the climb, today it is right from the start.
Once the road flattens, Pam re-joins, and we ride up the valley, through mountain meadows, as the sun that is rising behind us, starts to hit the tops of the peaks in front of us. Majestic!
Leaving the last town, the gradient steepens to 8%. This was not expected. I knew it steepened for the last few kms before the col du Soulor, that is reached on the way to the Col d’Aubisqe, but I thought that was still some distance away. We have looked at the profiles for so many rides that they have all blended together and I can no longer remember what this one looked like. All I know is, you reach the col du Soulor, and then it is flat for awhile and then it kicks up again to the col d’Aubisque. You can only spend so much time studying the roads and then they must be ridden.
It has started to rain. Not heavy, but rain. Not sprinkling, but rain. This was forecast but not so early. I press on as the rain washes the sweat stains off the handlebars and top tube of my bike, and hope that Pam who is now behind me does so as well, as the views continue to impress.
From when the road steepened leaving the last town I have been standing, to ease the pressure on my knee, a tactic that appears to be working, but with several kilometres still to ride, this will take some effort.
The rain eases, the gradient doesn’t, and the road is covered more and more in fresh cow droppings. I try to remember, but can’t, that phrase, ‘slippery as ….’ With the road very wet, and covered here and there in slippery stuff, my tactic of standing now carries some risk.
The higher I climb, the more I believe that this climb is prettier than the Tourmalet. The Tourmalet is grander, through a more barren landscape. The farm land and forest is lusher for longer on the Soulor, and the surrounding peaks more dramatic.
Then without any warning or fanfare, there it is, the col du Soulor. The views from here are stunning. Back east, the sun trying to break through the clouds above ridge after ridge of mountains: west, the sun randomly hitting cliffs and steep hills.
No ‘Sweeney’ exclaimed, this not being the final top.
The col is empty, the café shut. Of course, there are the ubiquitous motorhomes. Some sheep & cows chiming in the paddock, and a man on a hill, with a row of cameras facing in different directions, each with a big lens. And a road, that does not match my memory of running flat from here, but instead annoyingly drops down the hill on the other side for some distance. And a lot of dark clouds and some rain here and there.
Col d’Aubisque the objective, the Col du Soulor achieved, the thunderstorms looming.
Even with my effort and determination, I could not create a window with enough comfortable space to go through it, and back again, as required when riding up and down mountain passes.
Before we start the descent we stop and look around again, one eye on the weather and the closing window, and the other on the effort to open it in the first place. Are the Pyrenees a special place? Stand at the col du Soulor with threatening clouds, swirling mist, cliffs disappearing into steep gorges, a road that hugs the hill then disappears into a tunnel, eagles soaring above, and tell me they are not.
The Numbers
Distance: 45km
Height Gained: 1,300m
