Cycle tour phase 4 - the Pyrenees

It's just over a week since the last post - not a lot of Wifi in the Spanish wopwops, but lots of kilometers.

6 August - Castelnau-Magnoac to Bagneres du Luchon - 85 kms

From Castelnau we cycled up the valley of the Louron to Arreau and over the Col de Peyresourde - another classic Tour de France pass, with a few 9pc pitches to test our luggage-carrying fitness. Norm could have used a lower gear or two, but no real problems except the heat. We were sweating buckets and stopping at every water source to fill up the bottles. The downhill glide into Bagneres du Luchon was fab, with memories of Marco Pantani zooming down at 90 kmh+, while we held it below 70.

We stayed at our new favourite - Hotel des 2 Nations - which is just off the main tourist street. Excellent accommodation and food for the money, though without the spectacular view we used to get from Jardin des Cascades. The restaurant was heaving with people and one waitress to very efficiently serve 16 tables with at least 3 courses and a few resets.

7 August - Bagneres du Luchon to Sort, Espagne - 107 kms

This day started cloudy, for a change, and ended in torrential rain.

We climbed Col de Portillon, another frequently used Tour de France pass, into Spain through cloud and mist. We kept expecting rain, but when we descended the switchbacks into the Vallee de Vielha the sun reappeared. Col de Portillon is a lovely winding road through the forest and meadows, but Vallee de Vielha is a major truck route with a long tunnel at the top. Not salubrious cycling, but the shoulders have been much improved in recent years and it was no threat or inconvenience. At Vielha, we turned left to cross the Port de la Bonaigua at 2072m - not much traffic and just a few ski villages dotted along the way. The weather started to deteriorate just after the last ski village and we turned on our lights to be seen in the fog, but it didn't start to rain until we started downhill into the Vall d'Aneu. By the time we reached Escalo, it was pouring with rain and visibility was again a problem, so we stopped for half an hour in a bus shelter and finally retreated to a hotel with the idea of spending the night. Alas the only room left was a 200euro suite! I'd rather freeze, thanks, so we headed down to our original destination - Sort. The hotel Vee used last year for 42euros was in August of this year 75euros. We found a Casa Rural in the village for 40 euros which was comfortable enough. Fortunately we didn't eat there and didn't see the cockroaches in the dining room until the morning. Dinner was at a very popular mini-chain Catalin restaurant with good salads and huge main courses.

8 August - Sort to Serraduy - 107 kms again.

Breakfast from a panateria with coffee at a cafe overlooking the river and the sun was out again. We had two fairly hard climbs today in red-rock country on almost deserted roads. The last climb took us through Bonansas into the Valle de Isabena. We had hoped to stay in the abbey where Vee stayed last year, but that was July, this is August! No rooms available when she phoned ahead, so we stopped a few kms short in Serraduy, where we had the perfect hotel room - spacious, double doors onto the balcony over the river, lots of pillows, small bathtub, lots of hangers. Big storm overnight turned the river to chalky-grey with silt and knocked out the Wifi access. The position, the welcome, the reasonably priced food made it worthy of a return visit. After settling in in the afternoon, we cycled sans-baggage to Roda de Isabena so Vee could show me the hotel and restaurant in the abbey.

9 August - Serraduy to Torla - 96 kms

Copious breakfast and rather a boring climb up the Vallee de Lierp, but a rollicking downhill into Campo for 2nd breakfast, then up a boring 9pc climb on the main road and down into Arro. Thoughts of lunch but no facilities. The tiny road from there to Laspuna via Las Molinas felt very much like the high desert of Southern California - rudimentary vegetation and road surfaces and nobody around. The one side street of Las Molinas was dressed up for a fiesta, with balloons and streamers. Only facility was a much-need fountain.

Lunch finally happened a Laspuna, but we had to wait for a table at a restaurant with a fabulous view over the high valleys up to the rocky outcrops of the Ordesa. We then found, quite by chance, what was the highlight of this part of the trip - a miniscule but paved gorge road through towering cliffs, cut into overhanging galleries and echoing with waterfalls and the rushing river. Fortunately it was one-way - it was hard enough to get past the gawking motorists going our way! It's just compensation for the closing of one of our other favourite roads, the Grand Goulets in the Vercors. After climbing out of the gorge, the tiny road continued trough the village of Fanlo and down another steep twisty downhill to the Vallee de Broto, where we headed up to the road end and Torla. Vee stayed here last year but, again, we were unable to use last year's Chambre d'hotes, so we found a hostal with a cheap room and had an adequate menu del dia for 15euros, wine included.

10 August - Torla to Hecho - 99 kms

Bread and biscuits at the hotel, then climb to Puerto de Cotefablo and rip-roaring downhill into Biescas for tortilla and rellenos, then down the main roads into the dry valleys to Jaca and Puente la Reina de Jaca. You can see why the Spanish explorers like the California valleys - long, hot dry stretches of riverbed and rolling dry hills. The Valle de Hecho was some compensation - shady and cool. An easy 100 kms today to save our energy for tomorrow. Stayed in the same Casa Rural where Vee stayed last year but, alas, the Michelin restaurant was again fully booked, so settled for a mediocre bar menu to fill the hole.

11 August - Hecho to Urroz-Villa - 130 kms

Vee said this would be an easy day! Lots of climbing to Anso and up the valley to Zuriza where we resorted to a campground lunch amid hordes of hikers and climbers, then cross-grain to Isaba, Portillo de Lazar, Alto de Remendia and Garaioa, before pointing the front wheels downhill again heading for the Pamplona area. It wasn't all downhill though, with two hot climbs to and through tunnels on new road created when the lovely old country road was flooded by a giant reservoir. In the town of Agoitz, just below the dam, there was lots of new home construction in quite a remote place. There was a factory or two, but where will all the people come from to fill the housing? Sounds like Arizona! The last 10 kms were hot, dry and headwindy, but once we found the hotel in Urroz, it was worth it. A hot dusty little village, but the hotel was a beautifully renovated ancestral home with hand-painted murals on some walls and the best fittings and fixtures. Dinner was delicious and the welcome charming.

12 August - Urroz Villa to ??? - 140 kms

We had planned on catching the train from Pamplona to Irun to see Erin and visit the Mariscos owned by our friends the Guells, but the with schedule disruptions caused by floods down south and no information on whether they would take our bikes on the trains, we decided to bike it. We thought it would be less than 80kms, but with construction detours and being forced onto side roads to avoid tunnels, it was 100 kms by the time we spotted Erin in the main street. We had a great catch-up and a few snacks and drinks before we headed off to find accommodation. This turned out be no mean feat! All the hotels in Hondarebbia, Hendaye, Ciborne, and St Jean de Luz were full, so after biking 15 kms along the Cornice de Basque in the dark, we caught the train to Dax. NOBODY goes to Dax, so we figured we would have no problems finding a hotel there. Except that Fiesta was on there and the town was heaving! No rooms at any of a dozen hotels. Fortunately we met a local just before midnight who guided us to the refuge for pilgrims on the Chemin de St Jacques who contacted the warden who opened it up for us. Hot shower, bunk beds, then an hours conversation in the morning before catching the train from Dax to Bordeaux to begin phase 5 - our travels with Jo and Rodney. Heaps of bicycles on the train, but there's always room for a couple more - 9 bikes in space designed for 4, no problem once you organise the troops! Tonight we are in a hotel just across the road from the train station and will eat again in the Rue de St Pierre before we collect the rental car tomorrow.

More soon!