Day 5 Mont Ventoux

Been there, done that, got the T shirts!

Set off this morning without panniers, tent etc to do a wee bonus loop up Mont Ventoux, about 14 miles uphill all the way 5400ft to the top. http://www.climbbybike.com/climb.asp?qryMountainID=4

The first couple of miles were a fairly steady gradient of about 4-5% then it ramped up to about 10% relentlessly (no flat bits) for the next 7 miles until we reached chalet Reynard where we stopped for a break. It was a bit easier after that for the next 2.5 miles until the la last 1. 5 miles which got really steep and eventually got us into our lowest gear.  

The climb was tough, Sandra loved it, I'm not so sure how enjoyable the climb was but the whole experience up and down was certainly fantastic. The descent was brilliant, there are very few hairpin bends so you can easily keep up 30-40 mph without pedalling.  We had to stop off at. Chalet Reynard again to buy some cycling tops. Sandra went for the pink outfit and was almost going to buy the matching shorts, fortunately she didn't or I would have had to buy a blue chauffeur's hat and said "yes m'lady" for the rest of the trip! The only mishap on the descent was when a big bitey beastey flew down Sandra's cleavage and allegedly started stinging. I couldn't help for laughing and taking photos. (Hopefully to be posted later)

I've been having problems with my phone throughout the trip and was really dissapointed that I couldn't record today's route on Strava. But I might have fixed that tonight.  I also might be getting the hang of posting photos, I've added a couple to the first few posts and will try to add some more later.

Today's route http://www.strava.com/routes/924829