All the cyclists seemed
over retirement age, it
was during the week, so I
guess younger riders were
at work. Riding is clearly a
lifelong passion for these
old boys, either that or all
the bloody hills ages the
hell out of them
I stopped for gas and drinking water
in Bielsa, on the Pyrenees lower slopes.
Pressing on, there was a short mountain
climb, a couple of cool switchbacks, some
epic Pyrenean views and straight in to the
Bielsa tunnel through the Alps and in to
France. It’s a decent tunnel, about 3km long
and climbs 200 metres as it heads north
and exits into France at over 1800 metres
altitude.
The descent was a fantastic series of
switchbacks down to very lush woodlands
and picturesque villages – very different
to the Spanish side. At Arreau I turned
from the D929 and headed up over the Col
d’Aspin mountain pass. In this area a lot of
the passes are used for the Tour de France
cycle race with frequent road painting and
signage to proudly advertise the fact. I
constantly passed riders grinding up these
15 to 20km climbs and admired their grit
and stupidity in equal measure – after all,
the motorcycle has been around for well
over a hundred years, but this little fact
86 KIWI RIDER
seems to have escaped them.
Another thing that was interesting was that
all the cyclists seemed over retirement age,
it was during the week, so I guess younger
riders were at work. Riding is clearly a
lifelong passion for these old boys, either
that or all the bloody hills ages the hell out
of them! It was about this time that my GPS
crapped out completely, which was a bit
of a bastard because it was almost dark
and getting to crunch time for my B&B
destination. The old French villages are real
rabbit warrens with very little signage.
I gave up looking for the road I wanted
and stopped at a pharmacy for directions,
the only place open. Thankfully one lady
spoke a little English... and I was close by
my destination. A quick 2km ride up an
unmarked road on my map and I found the
place – phew. No sooner had I stopped than
Phil, the B&B owner, thrust a beer into my
hand. I’ve never appreciated a beer so much
in my life. A long days riding in full gear and
30 plus degree temps does that to you.