Day 8: Sun 1st July 2007

 

Ride: St. Lary to Esterencuby - 215 miles

 

Before we left St. Lary this morning Madame presented us with two apple pies for the onward journey. Also Chris B, who dropped his bike on loose gravel yesterday, had a broken bracket that held the rear brake lever. Madame's father ran the local garage and she arranged for him to make a temporary repair - he refused to accept any money for this.

 

Today saw us heading over the Col de Portet d'Aspet again and west across the Pyrenees to Esterencuby, about 5 miles from St. Jean Pied de Port. However we were split on how to get there. Pete and Gaz decided to go the most direct route while the rest of us decided to go the scenic route through Bagneres de Luchon and over the Col de Peyresourde - on the D618 - to Arreau. From Arreau we picked up the D918 and rode over the Col d'Aspin, Col du Soulor and Col du Tourmalet to Luz St. Sauveur. The Peyresourde, d'Aspin and Tourmalet were all enjoyable and for Phil it was his second time to ride over them, having ridden them last in 2005.

 

At the top of the Tourmalet we stopped for a coffee and watched all the cyclists we'd passed on the way up grind their way to the summit. Unfortunately we rode straight past the classic Tourmalet photo opportunity - "Le Geant du Tourmalet" or "The Giant of Tourmalet" - a giant steel sculpture of a naked man on a bicycle. It was created by Jean Bernard Metais to commemorate the first passage of the Tour de France across the pass in 1910.

 

 

The Peyresourde did highlight one issue to be aware of when driving in France and that is they often patch roads up and leave a lot of loose gravel around the repair - a nightmare when the gravel is left mid corner. We came across one patch of road later on where they just appeared to have dumped tons and tons of gravel over a 4 mile stretch and it was like riding on marbles.

 

At Luz St. Saveur the weather had closed in to the west, just where we were planning on riding over Col d'Aubisque to Laruns. Unfortunately we made the mistake of continuing with the planned route - when we got above 1,300m we were in thick cloud and could see next to nothing. The road surface over the d'Aubisque was dreadful, very narrow and deformed, and not recommended - not even for a car. From Laruns we just hacked our way across country to Esterencuby where we received a miserable welcome at Hotel des Sources de la Nive from a hatched faced old woman and her equally unpleasant daughter.

 

Without doubt this is the worst hotel we have ever stayed at which is a shame because the location is good and very picturesque, the rooms are clean and comfortable, and the food is very good. Sadly the attitude of the staff sucks and they shouldn't be allowed anywhere near a service industry relying on people skills.