 |
|
|
|
|
||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||
|
Bike Shop Hours: |
||||||||||||||
 |
|||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Scott Baker - Mont Ventoux |
|||||
|
I did a little reconnaissance a few days before and everything looked good. I drove up the southern ascent and was impressed by the climb and a little intimidated. The weather was in the low 60’s, so it should not be too bad of a ride (for March). I planned on beginning the ride from there. If the pros can do it, surely I can, right? I Since I was there on official business, I had to plan out my ascent based on the most feasible schedule, The weather was getting cooler and windier than the week before when I did my first visit. The temperature in Bédoin was in the mid-50’s, but with +/- 25mph winds from the northwest. From Bédoin, the southern ascent travels briefly easterly and then turns northwest. In case you're not familiar with the stats of this climb, here they are in a nutshell:
The photos here (not in the gallery) are ones I found on the web, so kudos to those who provided them. Note that the southern ascent was resurfaced the following month after I was there for the Criterium Dauphiné 2004. Prior to that, the road still had dozens of painted areas with old US Postal team members and such. That was pretty cool knowing I was riding on the same route and same asphalt as the Tour de France. Please enjoy the photos in the photo gallery. I have provided some narration with photos I took with my digital camera while riding up the mountain. The ascent took me 1:59:40. For anyone interested I used a 39x27 gearing almost exclusively the entire climb. I would have loved to have my 50x34 compact crank. It was 28F at the top once I started back down. The photo in the gallery was just as I got to the top where it says 32F. The descent took about 20 minutes. Needless to say, I was absolutely frozen when I got back. Fortunately, my new friends at the Bédoin Location had a roaring fire and plenty of hot food. Click here for the view of the actual fireplace where I thawed. I changed into dry clothes, sipped on some hot chocolate, and ate a huge bowl of spaghetti in front of the fire. They did not have any of the Mont Ventoux jerseys in my size. There are cool 360 degree views at this web site. I can’t wait to go back. The following video clips are shown with the permission of Scott Coady. Scott’s documentary, The Tour Baby!, chronicles Scott’s journey through the 2004 Tour de France with only his digital video camera and sense of adventure. Go to The Tour Baby! web site for more information and to get your own copy of the DVD. It is outstanding. Thanks Scott!
|
|||||
|
552 West Main Street - Sylva, NC 28779 - 828.586.6925 |
|||||
In March of 2004, I was fortunate enough to be in southern France with my bike. I was staying only about 70 miles from Mont Ventoux (
didn’t have in mind trying to ascend it in the sub-hour range like the big dogs, but under two hours would be respectable in my book. I befriended to owners of a little pizzeria/bike shop, 
