Mont Ventoux - part deux

After my first encounter with 'The Giant of Provence' last week, I was naturally keen to return to have a go from Bedoin, which is widely acknowledged to be the most difficult ascent.

The climb started off fairly easily as I cycled past the bike shop that records your official time, at a fairly leisurely 3 or 4%. After a few km however, a sharp left hand hairpin at Les Bruns signalled the start of a long and arduous section that wound its way through a forest, with virtually no hairpin bends or switchbacks on which to recover.

The signposts dotted at every km told me that this section went on for approximately 8 or 9km at an average gradient of 9%+. Alone with nothing but the sound of my own breathing for company, I settled into a rhythm that I could sustain and pedalled steadily up the seemingly interminable road ahead. Fortunately, I must have been having a good day. The km markers slipped by more quickly than I expected as I occasionally knocked it down a couple of gears to stretch my back, before settling back into the 34x28.

Before long, the forest abated and the familiar sight of Chalet Reynard popped into view but I opted to keep on pedalling as I'd now decided this was to be a non-stop attempt. Miraculously, I seemed to get a fleeting second wind after Chalet Reynard, and managed to knock it down a couple of cogs as the gradient eased to 7% for a while. After a couple of km however, Le Mistral brought me down to earth as it pelted me full in the face, and stayed that way for the last 3 of 4 km, hiding the summit behind a grey veil of cloud and rain. The top therefore came as a surprise and I only hung around long enough to exchange e-mail addresses with a Belgian who would be visiting Wales soon (I told him to be sure he does the Bwlch Y Groes from Dinas Mawddwy). The descent passed in a heartbeat, the loud flapping of my jacket and whoops of joy drowning out the puffs and pants of the hundreds of other climbers still making their way up the Giant.

So now the question, which side is hardest? I personally didn't find this more difficult than the ascent from Maulacene. On paper they should be similar climbs as both are around 21-22km in length and both average around 7.5%. Today however was a little cooler and I was also fresher, having driven the 25 or so miles from Cairanne to Bedoin. There were also few other climbers on the road as I set off from Bedoin at 9am, so I wasn't inadvertently drawn into any little contests which would waste precious energy. Unlike on the Maulecene climb however, no-one passed me on my ascent from Bedoin and I did have two little stops on the Maulacene ascent. I can't honestly say that one side is more difficult than the other, they're just different. I've been with the Crapiwheelers long enough to know that some days you have 'it' and some days you don't. Today it seems that I might have just had 'it'.





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