Easy last ride - don’t think so!! Setting off for home today we had some tight time lines that we had to maintain so as not to miss our flight. That being said we wanted to fit in one last climb and after much deliberation, sitting on our beds last night, we decided to embark upon Porte de Bales. It is not a climb that would resonate with most but those who have attempted it will talk about it for many years to come. Being a little more organised this morning we set off aroun

Today was the day that we had saved for our biggest effort yet, tackling two category HC climbs; Col du Tourmalet and Col d’Aspin. With the Pyrenees visible first thing this morning, rising above the valley mist, we knew that today would be hot and hard. Logistics played a key part to tackling these titans as from our base it meant a drive of 90 minutes to a lay by just outside of Luz-Saint-Sauveur, ride up Tourmalet, descend back down, drive up Tourmalet, descend the other

Waking up this morning we both knew that we had been riding hard, the descent down the staircase to breakfast was slow. The upside was the smell of freshly baked bread and homemade jams in addition to the bowl of porridge with banana and honey; the perfect fuel for the day. We set off down towards Luchon again and parked up in our lay-by as today we wanted to tackle Col de Peyresourde (Col P) then drive towards Arreau to climb Pla d'Adet. Spinning our legs for 6k was th

We awoke to a robbery this morning!!! Looking out of the window it appeared that some kind hearted person had stolen the Pyrenees. Covered in a blanket of mist our spectacular view from our room was replaced with a grey dull sky. Not to worry, Brian informed us at breakfast, it will burn off very quickly and the sun will light up your days’ climbing. Great!!! We drove 10k outside of Bangeres-de-Luchon and left our trusty stead in a lay-by. This would give us time to spin ou

With a 05.15am pick up Tim and I both decided that we would take it easy when we set off from Loudet where we are based. The converted farm house is owned by Marianne and Brian and is absolutely lovely with a small gite off to the side should you not wish to be in the large house. Not that we have experienced it yet, it has a wonderful swimming pool with a view to die for; watch this space!! We decided that we would go for a gentle ride out to Col de Mente (category 1 climb

Trying cyclocross for the first time and eating cake!

How does one set about an epic adventure? Simple; decide upon a really crazy idea and start putting together the logistics! But can it really be that easy? Tim and I thought it would be a great idea to tackle some of the best climbs ever to appear in the Tour de France whilst raising funds through Eat Cake Tri Cycling for a deserving charity: Cyclists Fighting Cancer. As mad as it sounds, for any keen cyclist who loves the Tour de France (TdF), the attraction has always b