Day 2 - Pau to Sauveterre de Comminges

The day started early. We left Pau before 9 o'clock. It was a spectacular day. The sky was crystal clear and the weather was in the low 50s, with little or no wind to start out. We wound our way out of Pau, through the morning commuter traffic (it is a city of about 100,000), and made our way quickly into the countryside. Pretty soon we were by ourselves on the road, with the occasional car or truck passing us.

The scenery was out of this world. The towns were quaint and picturesques and the mountains provided an exquisite backdrop. It was everything we thought it would be - exactly as it was last year (which was the reasonwe came back). The air was just incredibly clean and clear.

We rode through Lourdes, the religious shrine, and saw the hotel we stayed last year. Pau is a far superior place to stay. But coming out of Lourdes was great (aside from riding slowly through the town to avoid the hordes of people wandering through the streets and up to the sanctuary), as we recognized a lot of the places from last year when we took our first ride down to do the Hautacam. We went across the northern part of the Pyrenees, keeping them in our sight, but getting around to a more western side.

There were no cateorized climbs on our ride of 138 km, although that did not mean we didn't see our share of hills. But they were by and large quite manageable. The climb up the Croix Blanche reminded me a lot of riding in California; the climb up to the Chateau Mauvezin was a bit steeper and heart pounding. The sun was quite bright and beat down on us the entire ride, and the headwinds, particularly in the latter part of the ride, were pretty formidable.

I think that there are few places more beautiful to ride, though, then the Pyrenees. The ancient villages, churches, chateaus, etc. are all so other worldly. Imagine what they look like on an early fall day when the sky is clear so and blue.

We arrived at our hotel in Sauveterre de Comminges at about 4:30. The Hostellerie des 7 Molles is nestled in the mountains and really isn't near anything. A local rider with whom we rode for several miles before arriving said that it was the hotel that Lance Armstrong stayed at when he trained in the Pyrenees. We saw no tangible evidence of that, but maybe it was like an Elvis sighting. In any event, it was a wonderful place. The food was superb and our dinner was eggplant pate, sea bream with asparagus and a apple/puff pastry soaked in armagnac. We ate well and we were tired.

The pictures I have posted are from the ride going from Pau to Lourdes and of tGordon coming up the hill in Mauvezin with the Pic du Midi in the background.