Col du Soulor and Col d'Aubisque

Hooley Dooley, what a ride.  I have been waiting to do this ride for a long time, seen the photo's, read the reviews, the day finally arrived.  I was quietly excited.  Weather forecast was for sunshine till midday then socked in with cloud.  So we set off promptly on a glorious morning, 60km or so ride with two climbs.

To get to Aubisque and the famous balcony road, we had to ride Col du Soulor, 7km in length with an average of 8.3% to 1474mtrs.  The first few km's were tuff, you certainly knew you were heading skywards and there were pitch's, that reminded us of a Jindabyne climb, the Beloka wall.

We had been told by our host's, that the road was closed 3km from the summit, road signs at the bottom also, this was due to the road subsiding after an earthquake in March.  Basically a big dip that drops off the edge.  Yes so I'm glad they were fixing that.  We meet the road crew and they let us walk across the heavy crushed rock fill, they were bedding down. 

The last km is in double digits, but you can see the top so it doesn't feel too bad, cause the brain is telling you, nearly there, nearly there..


We get to the top with the clouds hovering above and I'm warm and sweaty after the climb.  A nice fellow offers a photo before we drop over the other side to continue our climbing on towards the Col d'Aubisque.  
Oh boy, what a sight?  No not us two, the breath taking views of the green valley way below. 


One of the most beautiful roads in the world, for cycling, I have read. The road descends for 2km's before you start climbing again, it's about 10kms to the summit. Its drop dead gorgeous, a good surface, few cars, through two short tunnels, souring birds of prey hovering above, on a road that hangs off the cliff face. 
Yep I agree, definitely stunning.

It's a very special moment, I feel so happy and fortunate to be experiencing this today.  

The last four kilometres are hard at 7% and upwards, road markers kindly let you know what the percentage is for each kilometre, sometimes that's great, other times I'd rather not know what's ahead. We are now in the alpine terrain, high above the tree line, stunning purple orchids and little blue flowers give a pop of colour amongst all the green. Past Tour de France riders names adorn the road in white paint, Dave says it reminds him of Kiandra area in the Snowys, but on steroids.  

Really quickly the clouds descend on us, with less than a km to the top, the sun fades away and we are suddenly in pea soup.  How cool, a surreal feeling with outline of riders and coffee stop building ahead.  



The coffee was really good, we went back for a second.  Of course, we have to cover everything for the two long descents of Aubisque and Soulor.  It's fun though, a gorgeous descent, probably my favourite. 

As we round a bend, I notice the road covered in cow shit, fresh and dry.  I ride slow to miss those wet fresh ones.  It's still misty and Dave wonders 'how the cows can put up with their bells ringing all the time?' I couldn't answer that one. No sign of the white dog guarding the herd of about 20, but they just go about their day, not bothered by photographers or cyclists, just enjoying the lush spring alpine pastures.



A truely great ride. 


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