Same day - Aubisque & Tourmalet

defride

Has anyone done the two Col's on the same day from the Laruns side? If so be interested to hear how long it took and any advice.

ugo.santalucia

I did, day 2 of the Raid Pyreneen.
The ascent of the Aubisque from Laruns was smooth, cloudy, a bit cold, but I was going well, it took me 1 hour 20 minutes to get to the cafe' and warm up...
The descent to the Sulour is stunning, shame the clouds were so low that I saw very little... then down to Argeles Gazost where we had lunch... that part was good.
There is a long slog on a busy road until Luz St. Saveur, which takes away energy unnecessarily... I felt OK until Bareges... after the weather turned nasty, cold and windy with a bit of drizzle which became sleet towards the top. The last 2-3 Km have been a real struggle. The descent was cold, cold as I have never been before on a bike (temperature at the top was 3 degrees, in the middle of June)

I reckon on a better day it would have been a different experience... I guess the lesson is pace yourself up the Aubisque, or you'll pay the toll up the Tourmalet. Neither of them is steep, but you do need small gears if you want to bag both... 34 x 28 is a good start. Pack for any weather, it can be 30+ degrees in the valley, it can be zero at the top, it depends on the weather

defride

Cheers Ugo, just the sort of feeback I was hoping for. Looks like we may be in the area begining of August, fingers crossed we'll get some good weather.

stifflersmom

You can avoid some of the main road off the foot of the Soulor by turning off at Arrens Marsous to go over Col de Borderes. You'll come out at Saint Savin and then Pierrefite to pick up the road to Luz. Stunning place to ride a bike...enjoy!

chrisw12

In a very unfit state, I rode the two them on separate days and definitely think it's possible to do both in a day. In fact you're doing three as you'll be doing the Soulor as well.

Like Ugo, it was wet and misty for me on the Aub' and reading other people's reports, it seems the norm up there. So take a waterproof jacket at least.

Also worth noting, the Tourmalet was only open on the weekends due to the winter flooding. That was in August, it's probably fixed now, but worth checking the status of the local roads.

cookiemonster

+1 to Ugo's post. I had a similar experience on the Raid Pyrenian a couple of years back. The Aubisque was fantastic, a lovely climb in good weather, dropped down into Argeles for lunch and up over the Tourmalet in the afternoon. We had snow and mini-blizzard conditions at the top of the Tourmalet and the descent to Campans was shocking - minimal visibility with snow and fog, so on the brakes all the way and even got a bit lost going through the massive resort car park a few k's down as I couldnt see more than 10 foot ahead.

I also did them both as out-and-back's another time, starting from Argeles. That day was terrific weather all round so straight forward.

Clearly there's a minimum fitness level, you have to capable of several hours sustained effort together with the big descents; on the other hand however when you have all day and can put away a decent lunch in the middle, its always surprising how big a day you can do on the bike while staying within yourself.

I'll third the "pack for any weather" though - it can be blistering in a valley on one side and literally freezing and snow on the summit. Arm warmers, race cape and (IMO) cap & gloves are a must. I also always have a pair of the super-small LED lights on the bike for some piece of mind in case the conditions close in.

jon

proto

I did those climbs as part of Acte 2 of the 2012 Etape du Tour. Weather was horrible, low cloud and then rain on both climbs, temperatures near zero at the top. Plenty of riders quitting from cold after the descent of Aubisque (the first climb). Make sure you take kit suitable for all conditions, it was stinking hot three days later when the tour went through.

As previous post mentions, take some decent gloves. My hands were so cold on the descents that my hands went numb, and I was braking pretty well continuously down - couldn't see anything, thick cloud, freezing cold, raining, potential for disaster enormous - and my hands had to be peeled off the levers when I got to the village at the bottom. Shocker.

Can't remember my time on Aubisque but Tourmalet took me just under two hours (I think). Slow and steady. Nothing too terrible about either of them but they do go on a bit.

defride

chrisw12 wrote:

In fact you're doing three as you'll be doing the Soulor as well.

Hadn't noticed that when looking at the maps, at least it's just a bump coming from Laruns.

Thanks again to those contributing to the thread.

marcusjb

defride wrote:

chrisw12 wrote:

In fact you're doing three as you'll be doing the Soulor as well.

Hadn't noticed that when looking at the maps, at least it's just a bump coming from Laruns.

Thanks again to those contributing to the thread.

It is a tiny pimple from that direction (it is all relative though - still over 100m of ascent, so it would be a fairly big hill in the UK!) - but the Cirque du Litor is one of the most memorable sights of my recent trip into the pyrenees.

I started a ride with Tourmalet and ended it 600km later with Col d'Aubisque - cracking bookends to a ride.

It'll be fabulous - enjoy it.

chrisw12

Just reminded from above.

Think about taking lights! There's a small tunnel from Aub' to Soulor which is pitch black and very greasy inside.

Back light essential, front light, how brave and how much does weight/aesthetics matter?

ugo.santalucia

chrisw12 wrote:

Just reminded from above.

Think about taking lights! There's a small tunnel from Aub' to Soulor which is pitch black and very greasy inside.

Back light essential, front light, how brave and how much does weight/aesthetics matter?

It's 100 metres long or so, would not bother with lights... the only danger there is animals, sheep and goats... especially when it rains, they like to take shelter in the tunnel

www.richtreen.co.uk

I felt like I was using the force through the tunnel one way, I was actually glad to see a car! But as others have said it is only short. Coming back the other the way the the curve of the tunnel seemed to make easier to see.

The Cirque du Litor was probably the highlight of my time in the Pyrenees - Stunning bit of road.

marcusjb

www.richtreen.co.uk wrote:

The Cirque du Litor was probably the highlight of my time in the Pyrenees - Stunning bit of road.

Agreed!

To whet the appetite of the OP (though hopefully less cloud when you're there - though it made it very atmospheric!):



Here's my write up of my time in the Pyrenees recently:

http://marcusjb.wordpress.com/2013/10/30/super-randonnee-pyrenees-2013/

bigpikle

Similar here...day 2 of the Raid.

Started the bottom of the Aubisque in glorious weather and finished in thick freezing fog. Descent was the coldest of my life (now only bettered by the Galibier in 1 deg temps) and visibility was about 30 feet, so made for a tricky ride down with all the big horned animals on the road!

Headed up the Tourmalet and by the time we wee at the top it was glorious warm sunshine - strangest day for weather I can remember on a bike and certainly one of the best. Descent of the Tourmalet at mental speed on the long straight road into the valley still has my highest ever recorded speeds....

defride

Kudos marcusjb, thats some ride and a cracking read.

All booked up, it's a family holiday so planning to hire a bike out there. If anyone has specific knowledge of good bike hire close to Laruns it'd be great to hear, in any case there's a place in Luz that looks good.

Now salivating at the prospect of riding through the terrain pictured here and around the web. Can't wait and thanks again for the advice.

chrisw12

The place in the centre of Luz is run by a British guy, which could be helpful. He had nice range of scott bikes as well as others.

andrew_s

Day 2 of the Raid here too, as part of my PBP training.
I started early to add on the Marie Blanque, and we arrived at the hotel in St Marie soon enough that there was some discussion about adding the Aspin on as an out and back. BEER won out though, as it would probably have meant missing a shower before dinner.
Ideal weather

defride

Thanks to those who commented on the thread, didn't manage the pair as Mrs decided she didn't want to drive in France. However, rode a nice loop from near Laruns over the Aubisque to Solour then left down to Asson, along to Louvie Jouzon and back to Laruns. Was very lucky with the weather, cool start, perfect for the climb and crystal clear. Punctured on the last part of the climb up to Solour and just as I began to attach the pump a nice German fellow pulled up in his car and jumped out with a track pump. Many thanks whoever you were!

Would concur with all the comments, Cirque du Litor is stunning.


9.30am top of the Aubisque 06.08.14

Also rode the Col du Marie Blanque, only had time for a spin up the easy side and back, beautiful also. The pic shows the road as it crosses the plateau half way up (it's not taken from the route up)



Thoroughly recommend a trip out to any that are tempted, not that busy given it was August, cheaper than the Alps and the mountains are more spectacular than I'd expected.

marcusjb

Great stuff and beautiful photos - you look to have had fantastic weather!

Want to go back so badly!