in planning » Twisties in the Pyrenees

I'm delighted to confirm that I'm once again going to be enjoying the amazing roads in and around the Pyrenees.
This year's tour will be in the middle of May, so earlier than previous visits. I hope that the currently-closed and snowed in passes will be clear by then!!

I'll be travelling with my regular touring buddies for a week of epic riding. I've spent ages on the various routes to be taken, and they are a combination of roads I've ridden before (and loved), and exploring some new territory based on recommended rides I've found online.

Here's the majority of the tour:
Full Tour.JPG - Bild entfernt (keine Rechte)

Here's the bottom bit of the route, ignoring the long slog there and back, though it also misses most of the first day's 'proper' riding from Rocamadour to Castres, which features one of the top 5 roads I've ever ridden:
Full Tour2.JPG - Bild entfernt (keine Rechte)

Hello Scorch I was thinking of doing something similar in May but w advised that many of the passes will still be closed due to snow
Good luck, it looks like great riding

Both times I've ridden Col du Tourmalet previously, the approach roads were cloudy and rainy, but near the top we broke through the clouds to a spectacular view. I wouldn't mind that.

Google Maps has some of the roads marked as closed until March / April, so hopefully they'll be reopened by the time we go in May. Last time I went was in June and most of the closures then were for roadworks, rather than snow, so with any luck we'll hit the sweet spot in between. We'll definitely have contingencies, though, and if it's looking really ropy, then we'll play on the Spanish side a bit more :)

Ha! I just realised that my profile photo was taken at the top of Col du Tourmalet three years ago, and my thumbnail photo was from one of the Spanish passes on the way to Biescas, blocked by a rockfall. We waited for 20 minutes while the digger hurled massive boulders off the side of the mountain, and then he waved us on our way. (The alternative was a 3 hour detour).

The road from Rocamador to Castres is indeed epic and that was from the seat of a Mazda 5

Would love to do in the bike

Ah, what a great trip that was...

Oh, no, wait. We didn't go. I reallocated my leave to help home school my 5-year-old.

*sigh*

Oh, and I also caught Covid-19, so that was nice...

Zitat von Scorch im Beitrag #7

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Ah, what a great trip that was...

Oh, no, wait. We didn't go. I reallocated my leave to help home school my 5-year-old.

*sigh*

Oh, and I also caught Covid-19, so that was nice...

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My heart bleeds for you poor UK residents. I moved way south of you so no problems going out for a quick trip down to the Pyrenees. Sun is shining and it is 21c here in the Dordogne today.

I did have to return to the UK last week. I flew into Stansted from Bergerac, on the Monday morning, collected the new bike from London, tax free, and caught the ferry back on Monday night. By 14:00 hrs on the Tuesday, I was sitting on the balcony back here.

26 here in Marbella , Dordogne sounds a bit chilly 😂

Lived not far from Alicante for a while, far too hot in the summer for biking though.

Yep agree with that. Forget July and August.