I was staying two nights in Pau to allow for exploring mountain roads from Pau to Biariritz and while I had not originally thought about it, this turned out to be a very smart move. The next morning I headed out and started climbing up. Once again, the weather was perfect. My first transition before I started to make real altitude to a mountain road was a sharp turn right at a small village and then up what looked like a steep 45 degree angle and gravelly to boot along a narrow 1-lane passage between old stone buildings that edged the narrow street. I had not been able to see this fully until after I had already made the sharp turn and found myself having to gun the engine to keep the revs high to make it to the top which was at least 200 meters away. There could be no stopping till I made it to the top and I could not see this until I was into the climb. If I had dogged the engine or had stopped, I would have slid back on the gravelly road. All of this was going through my mind as I kept the revs at about 3500 and maneuvered as carefully as I could to the top of the road. Wow, I thought – that was hairy. And I was just getting started.
So, here is why it was smart to spend two days in Pau. This had allowed me remove the top-box and all the weight from cloths and gear and let it stay in the hotel while I made the mountain trip the next day. As I said, this was not planned but I definitely see the wisdom for planning this in the future on such mountain trips. Had I had the fully loaded top box and other gear loaded on the bike it would have provided a much higher balance point and a lot more weight to manage in that first steep climb.
I stopped at the top of the hill to catch my breath. Took a picture of course.
Interestingly, and gladly, that first transition onto the mountain road was the hairiest part of the day’s ride. Well, not entirely if you look at what came a little later. But first a few views of the passage.
The first pass was about 1400 meters and open range so you had to watch for the cows and horses that used the mountainsides as pasture. This was one of the passes and the cows at this point at least were cooperative and stayed off the road.
I challenged this horse for a race but he was not interested.
Another pass was about 2800 meters.
Then I was close to Biarritz and I slid down the mountain into town. I found this to be more trouble than it was worth. Had a hell of a time finding the beach road as the signs would come and go.
When I finally got there I stayed a while to rest and took this picture. Topless girls abound but of course in France being topless is not considered nudity.
It looked nice and had this been the kind of vacation where I was planning to rest in the sun by the sea I could see staying here but for this trip it was fighting the tourist traffic and not very pleasant. I was glad to get on the road again. Of course, I had plotted a mountain trek for the return trip to Pau so I still had some good times to come.
Heading back some low clouds were starting to roll in. You can see them here in this shot as I start heading back into the mountains.
Nice mountain streams were close by and many some small towns with ancient picturesque churches could be seen rising out of the forests in the foothills.
A bridge to nowhere…
Now I am getting into some altitude but I am still on designated D roads.
As you can see on the sign, I am following part of the 2010 Tour de France route. A water fall can be seen to the left on the mountain wall.
So much for the tourist roads. Now I head off for 80 miles of mountain pass roads that my GPS say are not there. These are ‘nearly’ one lane roads and for the most part they are in good condition, however, there is gravel chip from time to time and you never know where those times will be so you stay on your toes.
As you can see from this shot, I am above the clouds and the weather looks great. You can see the edge of the road and see the gravel chip surface. The drop offs are steep in most areas and if you take a tumble you would not stop for 800 or 900 feet. I saw very few cars on these mountain-pass roads which was good for maneuvering.
The next picture shows something interesting. I am looking down at the thick white top of a cloud bank that seems to be standing still filling the valley from side to side. I say ‘seems’ because as I parked there and looked around it became obvious it was not standing still at all.
Each time I looked at the clouds they appeared to be nearer. They seem to be flowing up the mountain like a sloshed bowl of soup.
This drew my attention and as I studied the cloud and considered the possibilities, it was obvious that it was actually rushing like a freight train upward, directly at me.
As the next shot shows, I am quickly deep in the cloud with visibility of about 20 ft. And, I have about 80 miles to go on this mountain pass road made up of gravel chip with steep sides that drop off 900 ft. At this point the beautiful day looks like it has turned into a survival run down the mountain.
Anyway, no more pictures of clouds as I was too busy trying to keep on the road and away from the 900 foot drop offs.
Well, obviously I made it but it was not something I had planned on doing, at least like that. But as Nietzsche says – “what does not kill you makes you stronger”. I felt pretty good I had made it.
The rest of the day’s trip was below the clouds (my feelings are that clouds should stay above you).
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