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December 28th, 2009
After a very cold couple of weeks we have returned to warmer weather, we had 8 days in which the temperature never rose above -2°c. This afternoon it rose to 12°c so I’m back on the road, it was damp today and there was only a handful of cyclists out and about. Lots of tourists in the valley now for the Skiing, it will get quiet again next week until February which is the busiest month.
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 Voie Vert, between Lourdes & Argeles-Gazost.
As you can see from this photo the snow has retreated back up the mountains to about 1600m altitude, personally I hope it will stay there for the remainder of the winter but I doubt it. Each day now gets a little bit longer and a little bit brighter, spring will be along in 6 to 8 weeks. Hopefuly we won’t have any more weather like that illistrated below from last week. With the wind chill it would have been -37°c up there, it was -8°c in Saint Savin that afternoon and -12°c that night.
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 Pic-du-Midi-Temperature
December 24th, 2009
We wish all our customers and website visitors a happy Christmas and prosperous new year.
 Joyeux Noël-Saint-Savin
December 17th, 2009
We are experiencing a cold snap at the moment, today is the 5th day temperatures have not risen above 0°c. It is -2°c in Saint Savin this afternoon but a rather chilly -13°c on Pic du Midi. Night time temperatures up there are down to -20°c, while here in Saint Savin we have had -8°c.
Check out the webcam on Pic du Midi.
This screen grab from Pic du Midi shows the clear blue sky over the Hautes Pyrenees. On the horizon you can see clouds coming up from Spain which are bringing heavy snow for tonight and slightly warmer temperatures for the weekend, to be followed by more snow next week.
December 9th, 2009
Cycled up to the Col du Berbérust today in beautiful warm sunshine, it is a 7km climb from Lugagnan to the summit from the east, with the real fun starting after the right turn at the village of Juncalas. There are sections of impossible steep gradients including one at 27%. The climb can be ridden from 2 sides and unusually both start from the same place just outside lourdes near the cafe on the Voie Vert (bike path).
27% gradient on the east side of the climb about 200m from the summit.
It eases off after that, this section is only 14%
Be very careful if descending this direction, the road has open gullies.
Here is a gallery of photos taken on the western slope of Berbérust in early August.
Below you can see the metrics of the ride from the Garmin as seen in ridewithgps.com. The 108 kph max speed is incorrect, the Garmin had a bit of a fit, it was only 65kph. Ride With GPS is new so there are still a few bugs in it, but I really like it.
http://ridewithgps.com/trips/8456
 - Berberust- Map
 - Berberust- Metrics
You can visit my page on Ride With GPS and see many more rides in the area.
Or if you prefer Garmin Connect. http://connect.garmin.com/activity/20286501
December 8th, 2009
The interpretation of the name is most often given as “Bad trip” or “Bad detour”; this would be fair enough if the name came from the French language. Tour being the same in English, a trip or circuit, and “mal” being the French word for “bad” which derives from the Latin word “malum”. It is believed that this interpretation arose in the 19th century when the early tourists in the mountains where getting lost and hence it was living up to its name, “bad trip”.
However the name derives from the Gascon language and not French. 100 years ago 80 – 90% of the population of Hautes Pyrenees spoke Gascon and not French, it was only after the First World War that French became the dominant language although it had been the official language of government administration since the revolution. The clue is in the name with the use of “du” rather than “de”, examples being Col du Tourmalet, Col du Soulor, Col du Spandelles and further east in the Pyrenees where Gascon was not spoken, Col de Peyresourde, Col de Mente, col de Ares, etc, and to the west names in the Basque Language.
View from the summit of Col du Tourmalet. “The Long Mountain”.
The Gascon language like French is a derivate of Latin and there are many similarities but it is also strongly influenced by Basque, both languages continue to be spoken in the mountains nearby, it is thought that there are 250,000 speakers of Gascon.
In Gascon the word for bad is “Mau” again from the Latin ”malum”, whereas “mal” is the Gascon word for mountain and we hear it in names such as Vignemale and Maladeta. The Gascon word for distance is “tur” pronounced tour and the word for “the” is “et”. Therefore the name “Tour-mal-et” is ” The Distance Mountain” or perhaps a better translation of the use of distance is long, so more probably “The Long Mountain”. The French word for mountain pass is “col”, its literal translation would be “Collar”, the collar of the mountain. The full translation is then “Pass of the Distance Mountain” or “Pass of the Long Mountain”, if you have cycled up it you will fully understand why!
December 8th, 2009
The Col d’Aubisque has been ridden by Le tour 70 times, 2010 will be the 71st. It is the second most used climb in Le Tour.
Tour de France, 2007, George Hincappi on Col d’Aubisque.
This is the list of the first rider up the climb on each stage.
2007 – Michael Rasmussen – Denmark – Stage finish. Rasmussen sacked by team after stage. Second rider Levi Leiphimer – USA
2005 – Cadel Evans – Australia
2002 – Laurent Jalabert – France
2000 – Javier Ochoa -Spain
1999 – Alberto Elli – Italy
1998 – Cedric Vasseur – France
1996 – Neil Stephens – Australia
1995 – Stage nutralised after death of Fabio Casartelli on previous day.
1993 – Claudio Chiappucci – Italy
1991 – Guido Winterberg – Switzerland
1990 – Oscar Vargas- Colombia
1989 – Miguel Indurain- Spain
1987 – Thierry Claveyrolat- France
1985 (2) – Reynel Montoya – Colombia
1985 (1) – Stephen Roche – Ireland – Stage finish
1983 – Lucien Van Impe – Belgium
1982 – Beat Breu – Switzerland
1980 – Maurice Le Guilloux – France
1977 – Hennie Kuiper – Netherlands
1976 – Wladimiro Panizza – Italy
1972 – Wilfried David – Belgium
1971 – Bernard Labourdette – France
1970 – Raymond Delisle – France
1969 – Eddy Merckx – Belgium
1968 – Julio Jimenez – Spain
1967 – Jean-Claude Theillière – France
1966 – Tommaso de Pra – Italy
1965 – Julio Jimenez – Spain
1964 – Federico Bahamontes – Spain
1963 – Federico Bahamontes – Spain
1961 – Eddy Pauwels – Belgium
1960 – Graziano Battistini – Italy
1958 – Federico Bahamontes – Spain
1957 – Jean Dotto – France
1956 – Valentin Huot – France
1955 – Charly Gaul – Luxembourg
1954 – Federico Bahamontes – Spain
1953 – Jesus Loroño – Spain
1952 – Fausto Coppi – Belgium
1951 – Raphael Géminiani – France
1950 – Jean Robic – France
1949 – Fausto Coppi – Italy
1948 – Bernard Gauthier – France
1947 – Jean Robic – France
1939 – Edward Vissers – Belgium
1938 – Gino Bartali- Italy
1937 – Mario Vicini – Italy
1936 – Maes Sylvère – Belgium
1935 – Ambrogio Morelli -Italy
1934 – Rene Vietto – France
1933 – Vicente Trueba -Spain
1932 – Vicente Trueba -Spain
1931 – Alfons Schepers – Belgium
1930 – Benoit Faure – France
1929 – Lucien Buysse – Belgium
1928 – Camille Van de Casteele – Belgium
1927 – Michele Gordini – Italy
1926 – Lucien Buysse – Belgium
1925 – Ottavio Bottecchia – Italy
1924 – Ottavio Bottecchia – Italy
1923 – Jean Alavoine – France
1921 – Leon Scieur – Belgium
1920 – Firmin Lambot – Belgium
1919 – Luigi Lucotti – Italy
1914 – Oscar Egg – Switzerland & Henri Pelissier – France
1913 – Eugène Christophe – France
1912 – Louis Mottiat – Belgium
1912 – Eugène Christophe – France
1911 – Maurice Brocco – France
1910 – François Lafourcade – France
Col d’Aubisque summit.
December 8th, 2009
In 2010 Le Tour will make its 80th journey to the Tourmalet and 1 or 2 more names will be added to the list of legends. The Tourmalet is the most used climb by Le Tour over the last 100 years. The second most used climb is Col d’Aubisque.
Summit of Col du Tourmalet, Le Tour de France 2009.
This list is of the first rider on each stage since 1910.
2010 – ? Ireland?, GB?, USA?, France?, Nederlands?, Australia?, Italy?
2010 – ? Ireland?, GB?, USA?, France?, Nederlands?, Australia?, Italy?
2009 – Franco Pelizzotti – Italy
2008 – Rémy Di Gregorio – France
2006 – David de la Fuente – Spain
2003 – Sylvain Chavanel – France
2002 – Lance Armstrong – U.S.A. (La Mongie)
2001 – Sven Montgomery – Switzerland
1999 – Alberto Elli – Italy
1998 – Alberto Elli – Italy
1997 – Javier Pascual-Rodriguez – Spain
1995 – Richard Virenque – France
1994 – Richard Virenque – France
1993 – Tony Rominger – Switzerland
1991 – Claudio Chiappucci – Italy
1990 – Miguel Martinez-Torres – Spain
1989 – Robert Millar – Scotland
1988 – Laudelino Cubino – Spain
1986 – Dominique Arnaud – France
1985 – Pello Ruiz-Cabestany – Spain
1983 – Patrocinio Jimenez – Columbia
1980 – Raymond Martin – France
1978 – Michel Pollentier – Belgium
1977 – Lucien Van Impe – Belgium
1976 – Francisco Galdos – Spain
1975 – Lucien Van Impe – Belgium
1974-2 – Gonzalo Aja – Spain
1974-1 – Jean-Pierre Danguillaume (Stage Finish)
1973 – Bernard Thévénet – France
1972 – Roger Swerts – Belgium
1971 – Lucien Van Impe – Belgium
1970-2 – Andres Gandarias – Spain
1970-1 – Bernard Thévenet – France (La Mongie)
1969 – Eddy Merckx – Belgium
1968 – Jean-Pierre Ducasse – France
1967 – Julio Jimenez – Spain
1965 – Julio Jimenez – Spain
1964 – Julio Jimenez – Spain
1964 – F Bahamontes – Spain
1963 – F Bahamontes – Spain
1963 – Raymond Poulidor – France
1962 – Federico Bahamontes – Spain
1961 – Marcel Queheille – France
1960 – Kurt Gimmi – Switzerland
1959 – Armand Desmet – Belgium
1957 – José Da Silva – Portugal
1955 – Miguel Poblet – Spain
1954 – Federico Bahamontes – Spain
1953 – Jean Robic – France
1952 – Fausto Coppi – Italy
1951 – Bim Diederich – Luxembourg
1950 – Kléber Piot – France
1949 – Fausto Coppi – Italy
1948 – Jean Robic – France
1947 – Jean Robic – France
1939 – Edward Vissers – Belgium
1938 – Gino Bartali – Italy
1937 – Julian Berrendero – Spain
1936 – Sylvère Maes – Belgium
1935 – Sylvère Maes – Belgium
1934 – René Vietto – France
1933 – Vicente Trueba – Spain
1932 – Benoit Faure – Belgium
1931 – Joseph Demuysere – Belgium
1930 – Benoit Faure – France
1929 – Victor Fontan – France
1928 – Camille Van de Casteele – Belgium
1927 – Nicolas Frantz – Luxembourg
1926 – Odiel Taillieu – Belgium
1925 – Omer Huyse – Belgium
1924 – Ottavio Bottecchia – Italy
1923 – Robert Jacquinot – France
1921 – Hector Heusghem – Belgium
1920 – Firmin Lambot – Belgium
1919 – Honoré Barthélémy – France
1914 – Firmin Lambot – Belgium
1913 – Philippe Thys – Belgium
1912 – Odiel Defraye – Belgium
1911 – Paul Duboc – France
1910 – Octave Lapize – France
December 5th, 2009
Looking through some old photos I found this one. It is me on my first bike in 1971.
 1971, Paddy's first bike.
December 5th, 2009
Ski stations are officially opening today, there is good snow reported for Cauterets, Luz Ardiden and Col du Tourmalet. Upper sections have up to 2meters is places and with clear sunny weather for the weekend lots of Spanish tourists are expected. The 8th December is the feast of the Immaculate Conception which is a public holiday in Spain. Looking out the window here with binoculars, I can snowboarding lessons taking place at the station at Hautacam.
Visit our page on skiing in the Hautes Pyrenees.
December 5th, 2009
Olive couldn’t resist any more, Christmas is officially on.
 La Lanterne Rouge Christmas tree.
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