Ventoux Trip advice please

Uncle Maff
Uncle Maff Posts: 12
edited November 2009 in Tour & expedition
I am taking 3 friends on a trip to cycle up Ventoux at the end of May 2010.

We are going for a mates stag trip and none of us have done anything like this before.

Having read other threads it is clear that Veloventoux comes highly reccomended but they are full and I need to find an alternative.

My main queries are:

1. Can anyone reccomend a B&B / hotel ?
2. Is it feasable to drive , and how long will it take ??? (this would make the trip much cheaper
3. Ferry or Eurostar ??
4. Any other advice ?????

All advice would be greatly appreciated
Thanks
Matt

Comments

  • graemetherunner
    graemetherunner Posts: 239
    1. Loads of places in and around malaucene
    2. Yes drive, 8 - 10 hours from port / chunnel
    3. chunnel every time
    4. keep your eye on the snow forcasts / over the winter as if like last year it's a bumper snow year you may not get to the top in may. Go to the bike shop at the bottom in bedoin and rent a timing chip.
  • geoff_ss
    geoff_ss Posts: 1,201
    Weather could be a problem at that time of year.

    We rode up on 3rd June last year (2008). We had a good day for it but the day before the whole mountain was invisible and the day after the top was well into low cloud. A guy in a camper next to us in Beaume de Venise rode up the day after us and mentioned how cold it was at the top in the cloud.

    We had several days to choose from and certainly wouldn't have gone up in poor weather because, for us, the views are important drivers for our col bashing exploits. Also, a timing chip would have been pointless for us as we picniced half way up :)

    Well worth the effort, though.

    Geoff
    Old cyclists never die; they just fit smaller chainrings ... and pedal faster
  • ud03944
    ud03944 Posts: 5
    Geoff said it, weather could be a problem. We rode it in late June, 2008. On Sunday we went up from Bedoin and coming back down was as cold as I've ever been on a bike. Four days later we did it again and it was beautiful.

    I'd say you don't even need a tour company. Get a somewhere in the are around Bedoin and a Michelin map (one of the Local versions) and head out. So many beautiful roads and villages in that area, you could ride for weeks without getting bored.

    Also, there a road a bit south of the D1 between Villes-sur-Auzon and Sault. It's an easy ride an absolutely unforgetable.

    Enjoy the trip.

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