Monday Aug 6th

Very foggy. It did not rain on the way up, but rained on the way down for BOTH climbs!

First climb, Col de Soleur, was up and down. Roads were typical country roads. I liked the access to this pass. We snaked into a small picturesque town (Aregeles-Gazost?), then climbed up and out, overlooking the town centre. Very nice.

While climbing, my heart rate was 164 - so much for my plan of keeping my HR at 154!

It was so foggy that you could barely see 20 yards.

I came to a valley with a hairpin turn and I saw an 'Alps' style house, the cows with bells ringing and you could see the valley! It was an awesome sight!

The descent was down a 1 lane road. I had the brakes on alot. It was wet, cold and visibility was poor. Not pleasant riding weather.

Second climb, up Col de Spandelles. The road was better, but still foggy. Road was much better on the descent. Coolest part of the ride was seeing the cows and sheep right at the side of the road! No fences... which is odd, because elsewhere in France, there are fences everywhere. Must be to keep people out. Up here, it is so isoltaed, that few people come. Those that do come probably respect the land.

The hills/mountains go on and on. As I don't know the roads and as this is the 1st day of riding, plus I don't know if I am in good enough shape to climb here for 6 days, so I don't push it. I do try a few climbing strategies.
- Looking as far ahead as I can (which is not far in the fog). This does not work well.
- Looking 4 feet in front of my wheel seems to be the best approach, with the occasional look up or off to the side.
- ensuring I pull back at the bottom of my pedal stroke. But not over emphasizing this.
- sitting tall and making sure I do slow deep breaths...

Transfer to new hotel was long. Dinner there was fantastic. Macaroni, an awesome tomatoe sauce and lamb.The lamb was cut like a steak, but thinner. Very nice. Restaurant atmosphere was very pleasant.