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Published: March 26th 2018
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(really in Issor)
It rained today. Yes, it has rained every day since we arrived, but I mean it rained all day, save for about 15 minutes. And 10km into it my cyclocomputer decided it had had enough and stopped working, hence the estimate for today's mileage (and also the lack of photos of the no doubt magnificent vistas we might have otherwise seen had we not been in - or even above, at times - the clouds). You know it's not going to be a good day when I swap out the normal lenses in my glasses for the pink ones.
With so much moisture in the air it was foggy, and not only did I have to contend with droplets on both my lenses and prescription insert, but any time I exerted myself (and you can imagine how often that was, given grades up to 16%) the latter would fog up as well. As it turned out, as soon as we made it to the base of today's climb (which started with a couple of kms at 11% to warm up with) I pulled ahead of the group I was with and didn't see anyone else (curiously,
even those who had left before me) until well after I arrived at our hotel.
Under such conditions I couldn't even enjoy the descents because visibility (unlike speed, which relies solely on gravity) was so impaired. In fact conditions were so bad that I breezed (if that's the right word) past the marker for the Col de Burdincurucheta without stopping for the customary photo, then proceeded to freeze on the descent prior to the climb to the subsequent (and higher) Col Barargui. It was on the approach to the latter that I finally stopped and put on the rain jacket I had been carrying (another indicator conditions are bad), and this time actually paused at the top despite it being colder and much windier than at the previous col. Then a curious thing happened: it stopped raining, and I got to 'enjoy' the steep descent over quite rough pavement for a bit ("enjoy" being relative, since mindful of the still-wet pavement - and brakes - I dared not descend too quickly). My computer even resuscitated itself (albeit quite briefly) before the heavens once again opened in earnest, as if to compensate for what had just been held back.
One sort-of saving grace was the fact that I was part of the group staying in Issor instead of the originally planned Lurbe-Saint-Christau, where our reservations have been cancelled due to ill health of the hotel's proprietor. So tonight 5 of our 18 are staying here, some are 7 km down the road in Lurbe-Saint-Christau, and others still are in yet another town. While it was good to get out of the rain that much earlier, it also means an extra 7km tacked onto tomorrow's ride. And even though we had to leave the highway to descend and then climb steep hills to get to our hotel, it is a true gem - a converted old farmhouse complete with fireplace, and with guests from Switzerland, England and Germany. We are eagerly awaiting our dinner here (if not the climb out tomorrow morning).
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