Merry crimbo !

Lunch Run

Morning Run

Moja zielonka 💚

And so are the cows; Holy cow ..! 😆😆🐄🐂

But actually today was all about water.. janey mac 😱😱

We set off through veils of soft rain; it was forecast for an hour or so, and with a long climb ahead, we thought we'll climb out of it and we'll be grand .

Not so.. ! The rain was also waiting for us down the other side of our extremely steep first climb, which looked mystical with the heavy clouds hugging the mountainsides. Dense fog, at times as little as 10m visibility, and temperatures barely a third of what we had been treated to the last days made for a test of mettles, and eventually we found a mountain hut for some refuge; hot water, coffee, bread, and best of all; a sliver of blue skies when we emerged!! 💙💙🤩🤩😋

We summited the col d'Iraty, and what awaited us down the other side can only be described as a spectacle: a sudden reveal of sunlight, scattered clouds making their last retreat knowing they are defeated, mountains rolling off into the distance, cascades of steep angles of green. Wowwwsseerrrsss!! Suddenly there were loads of other cyclists too.. evidently they chose the better way to go up today.. 😅

Our next climb was a trifle at only 22km long.. but after the wetting we had had, we were in no way ready for the 30+ degrees that were to first comprehensively dry us off, and then soak us once again in our own sweat .. 😆😰😁😁☀️☀️☀️

We descended some tiny roads down the other side, before finding our first flat roads of the entire day in the valley before the Col de Marie Blanque, which was the first climb on our route thus far that I had actually heard of ..! 🥳

We went up the less scenic and far harder side it seems however; the last 4km at 11%, with sustained sections of even harder..! 🙈🙈

The descent though, was an absolute thriller - fast and wide, smooth surface and with just gloooorious views of the surrounding peaks in the lowing golden glow, with a roadblock by some ginormous cows with their little babies stopping us in our tracks..! 

We arrived too late for any chance at grub, but thank you soooo much to Mireille at Green Bike Pyrenees for whipping something up for us!! 💚💚😊😊😊😋😋


This day felt like it could have been weeks long.. just too much to process all that happened!! Intense, marvellous, spectacular and bedazzling, 

Top Sports

Constantin Bartels - VeloVegano . com

Them hills are getting bigger...!

43 Photos

5 Comments

Segments

Sign up to view more activities from Constantin Bartels - VeloVegano . com

Merry crimbo !

Lunch Run

Morning Run

Lunch Run

Moja zielonka 💚

Want to see more?

The #1 app for runners and cyclists

Sign Up for Free. Track your progress and reach goals. Join 100 million active people on Strava.

See More from Constantin