Over half of the trees in the park in Argeles-Gazost were destroyed in the storm.
Argeles storm damage
Destroyed cars in Argeles-Gazost
Argeles storm damage.
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Tour de France 2007, The Caravan. |
The Pyrenees were hit by a big storm on Saturday, called Xynthia it brought death and destruction to much of western Europe especially the west coast of France, 50 people are reported dead. In the Pyrenees a number of people died from falling trees and many roads are blocked by trees and rock falls. We were without electricity for most of Saturday evening, our satellite dish was first to go, which was in the middle of the Ireland England rugby game. Later our front door was blown in by a big gust which smashed the lock and brought down some branches of trees in the garden, we had it easy. There are houses without roofs and chimneys and some lucky escapes at the ski stations. All the buildings at Hautacam are wrecked and will not reopen this season, one worker up there told of how he jumped from his car as it was lifted from the car park and hurled over the edge. On the Pic du Midi wind speed was recorded at 234kph. The wind was from the south and carried very warm air which resulted in a big rise in temperatures. This has caused the snow to become unstable and many roads have been blocked by avalanches. In the aftermath of the storm there are very high temperatures, up to 23°c and bright sunshine, we have had the heating turned off for the past 3 days so every cloud has a silver lining. Spring has arrived in the Pyrenées. After 4 months of snow and ice the sun is getting the upper hand, flowers are growing in the garden and I went cycling in shorts for the first time this year, it was 15°c but felt much warmer in the warm sunshine. I went over the Col du Croix Blanche and out towards Tarbes before turning round Lourdes airport and back up the Lavedan valley. The Col du Croix Blanche is an easy 13km climb but kicks up a bit at the end.  Col de Croix Blanche  Col de Croix Blanche Summit  Col de Croix Blanche view of Tarbes  Goats on Cote de Loucroup  Cycling in shorts  Spring flowers in our garden.  Skiing Hautacam Skiing at Hautacam today, photo taken at Col de Tramassel.  Winter in Gavarnie Winter is maintaining its grip on the Pyrenees, Meteo France say it is the coldest February for 47 years. This photo of the Cirque du Gavarnie shows the highest waterfall in Europe, which falls for 422m, it has been frozen solid for the last 3 months and will be for at least another. This cliff face is over 1km high and reaches an altitude of 3100m, The border between France and Spain runs along the ridge. From next week good weather is on the way with forcasts of 15°c and sunshine spring is almost here. It is still 5 months before this years Tour de France, the excitement is slowly building to what will be an amazing week here in the Lavedan Valley with the Etape on Sunday 18th and then Stage 16 on Tuesday 20th and stage 17 on Thursday 22nd all passing through Saint Savin just 1km from our house, La Lanterne Rouge. I’m like a small child waiting for Christmas. On to future years and what might be. The Tour de France will start on the island of Noirmoutier in the Vandée on July 2nd 2011 this is certain, the rumour mill is already at work and if it is true Le Tour will go north to Normandy and Bretagne before an air transfer south, perhaps to Biarritz. This will be the first rest day on Monday 11th July. There will be a stage through the Basque country to Pamplona and then across the Pyrenees to Pau, probably over the Pierre Saint Martin, the same route used by the Duke of Wellington when he invaded France in 1814(more about that in a future post). There will then be a stage from Pau through the Lavedan valley to Saint Lary where there will be a mountain top finish. I have also heard mention of a finish at Cauterets, perhaps at Cambasque. This will probably be on Wednesday 13th or Thursday 14th of July, the tour will then head east and get to the Alps on the 20th July with stages featuring the Galibier and L’Alpe d’Huez. In 2012 the tour will start in the Belgian city of Liege and in 2013 it will start in Corsica. It will be the first time that the tour has visited the Mediterranean island. I will keep you up to date with all the info for the Pyrenees, keep watching this space. The weather has turned cold again and looks set to remain that way for another week so there won’t be much cycling this week; I’ll console myself with the Tour de Qatar on Eurosport and the Tour de Mediterranean next week. After that spring should be along anytime, already I can see signs of it in the garden with shrubs and rose bushes starting to bud and daffodils pushing up their green leaf. I went on a ride to the Col du Lingous yesterday and at the summit decided to go up the road to Lanso, it is a dead-end of 1.3 km. Within 300m I regretted it as the gradient was a steady 16% and near the summit rose to 24% briefly before dropping down in the last 200m to the small hamlet of Lanso, just a few farm houses and a small chapel and graveyard. The views were very nice but I don’t think I will be in a hurry to experience it again, too much for February.  Moon rise over Hautacam. Just about midnight the full moon came up from behind Hautacam, as seen from one of our bedrooms.  Moon over Hautacam-St-Savin  Moon over Hautacam Today was 16°c with warm sunshine so I took the chance to ride my first big col of the year. The Col du Soulor is a 21km climb from Saint Savin with the last 7km the most difficult, all 7 and 8% to the summit with a max of 20%. It is a good road surface most of the way, but I think the last kilometer will need resurfacing before Le Tour gets here. Check out the route on Ride With GPS:  Col du Soulor, 2km from the summit. Two kilometers from the summit.  Col du Soulor, Summit. At the summit.  Col du Soulor, road to Col d'Aubisque. Road to Col d’Aubisque will be closed until June.  Col du Soulor, Cirque du Litor, road to Col d'Aubisque. At the summit of the Col du Soulor the road to Col d’Aubisque is closed from November to June. It is called Cirque du Litor, Litor is the Gascon word for avalanche, a warning to all cyclists in the spring, many of whom ignore the barrier, if it is closed it is for a reason which I think this photo and it’s name make clear.  Pro bear graffiti There is a lot of graffiti on Col du Soulor from the pro bear and anti bear (sheep farmers) lobbies. It is a real hot issue here in the Pyrenees. It is estimated that the population of brown bears is 20 to 30 individuals. There has been some introductions by the government of bears from slovenia, much to the annoyance of the sheep farmers, who would like to see all the bears dead, something they almost achieved in the early 1990’s when the population was down to only 4 or 5. A viable population is at least 50 bears so there may be more introductions in the next few years. This graffiti is pro bear and it sums up how I felt when I reached the summit. In July with the Etape du Tour and 2 stages of Le Tour passing this way, we can expect a frenzy of road painting by both sides.  Profile, St Savin - Col du Soulor. Union Cycliste du Lavedan, our local cycling club are running the following events in 2010. 22th & 23rd May: Tour de 3 Vallées. The following events are cyclosportives mass start time trials and are open to all UCI licence holders, non licence holders must have a doctors cert. 10th July: Montée de Luz Ardiden. 15km |
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Velo Peloton Cycling Holidays, La Lanterne Rouge, 6 Rue de Castillou, 65400, Saint Savin, Hautes Pyrenees, France. |
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