Saturday 21st May – Rest day but Mont Ventoux for some….
Today was the designated rest day of the St Malo-Nice challenge so being as it fell in Bedoin 🤔 what better way to spend it than spinning the legs up Mt Ventoux to 1,910m above sea level and a fantastic view over parts of the Provence 🤪
A number of the group took a well deserved day off the bike and explored Bedoin before paying for the use of the local campsite swimming pool ☀️ 😊
Farney, Bligthy and Clarky set off with Robin & Bev (as with last nights dinner, so lovely to catch up with them here) to cycle up the spectacular Gorge du Nesque to Sault where we enjoyed a more relaxed lunch overlooking Mt Ventoux in the distance.
Adding to the day was the near constant procession of classic cars (many of them priceless and probably the last of their marques in the world !!), other than their omissions which weren’t the best addition to your lungs as you were heading up on the bike 😂
After lunch we continued the ascent through the forest (though limited protection from the high midday sun …. another hot one !) up to Chalet Reynard where we enjoyed a caffeine fix before the ‘push to the top’ and the timing was perfect to see the classic cars all assembled before moving on with their route).
At this point Bev and Clarky opted for the descent back to Bedoin whilst Farney, Blighty and Robin (who was on his 10th ascent of this iconic mountain 😱) continued up the last 6km through the famous (infamous ?) lunar landscape up to the 1,910m summit 🎉
The descent took us via the Tommy Simpson memorial (extra poignant as many of the Big Cogs had cycled out to the cemetery where he is buried near Doncaster only the week before … and eerily there was a cyclist from Doncaster at the site on his way up that we helped out with water).
The evening was spent back at the campsite with the now 12 of us having a great al fresco meal in still peak summer temperatures.
Tomorrow it’s back to the route towards Nice … two days to go 🤞
