Ventoux advice

Essex Man
Essex Man Posts: 283
edited August 2013 in Tour & expedition
Will be going up Ventoux next week, via Bedoin. Can anyone give advice on where to park ~10 miles from the start of the climb for a steady warm up?
Cheers.

Comments

  • poweredbyidris
    poweredbyidris Posts: 848
    Not 10 miles, but if you park in Maulacene, you have the nice spin over the Col de la Madeleine to Bedoin. Added bonus is that your car is then at the bottom of the descent when you finish
  • durhamwasp
    durhamwasp Posts: 1,247
    Could park in Carpentras? Or just park in Bedoin and do a loop of the town, the first 5km are pretty steady and a good warm up for the final 16km!

    PoweredByldris idea of starting in Malaucene is a good one, nice little road that to Bedoin, with a descent little climb to warm the legs up!
    http://www.snookcycling.wordpress.com - Reports on Cingles du Mont Ventoux, Alpe D'Huez, Galibier, Izoard, Tourmalet, Paris-Roubaix Sportive & Tour of Flanders Sportive, Amstel Gold Xperience, Vosges, C2C, WOTR routes....
  • Essex Man
    Essex Man Posts: 283
    Another climb before the Ventoux climb?! Wikipedia presented me with Col de la Madeleine that is at 2000 M, but I see it's not that one! Will check these suggestions out, cheers.
  • durhamwasp
    durhamwasp Posts: 1,247
    Have a look on google maps, and zoom in on the road between the two towns. Its quite a pretty road, past a couple of wine caves, bit of a climb (not much) with a view over Bedoin and then a drop down to the 'start' point of the Ventoux climb.

    Bedoin is a beautiful village, and I just love spending time there. Maybes its the whole legend of the Ventoux, Tom Simpson and being with the ghosts of cycling greats, but I really recommend a night there if you can! Some nice eateries too!
    http://www.snookcycling.wordpress.com - Reports on Cingles du Mont Ventoux, Alpe D'Huez, Galibier, Izoard, Tourmalet, Paris-Roubaix Sportive & Tour of Flanders Sportive, Amstel Gold Xperience, Vosges, C2C, WOTR routes....
  • Essex Man
    Essex Man Posts: 283
    Yeah, the climb looks fairly gentle.

    Would love to stay longer but I'm doing a dawn raid on Ventoux whilst the family hang round the pool for the morning. Hoping not to ruin the family holiday with a cardiac arrest!
  • durhamwasp
    durhamwasp Posts: 1,247
    Had a few good nights at Camping La Garenne!
    http://www.snookcycling.wordpress.com - Reports on Cingles du Mont Ventoux, Alpe D'Huez, Galibier, Izoard, Tourmalet, Paris-Roubaix Sportive & Tour of Flanders Sportive, Amstel Gold Xperience, Vosges, C2C, WOTR routes....
  • Essex Man
    Essex Man Posts: 283
    Parked about 4 miles outside Bedoin in the end. Loads of places to park on the road from Carpentras to Bedoin, near or in Bedoin. Personally, I thought it was nice to ride the very gentle climb into Bedoin before getting swept up in the long stream of cyclists heading up Ventoux.

    It's a great climb - there are so many other cyclists doing it, on all sorts of bikes and of all sorts of abilities. I was surprised that I enjoyed it so much. My advice to anyone doing it - stuff one of those lightweight packable jackets in your jersey pocket. I was so cold on the beginning of the descent (summit in cloud) the bike was wobbling due to shivering!

    Anyway, having never done a climb of more than ~400 ft before, I was really pleased to do it in under 2 hours without stopping. Cheers all for the advice.

Categories