It was still dark when I left st. Joan. I started in a winter jacket but when the climb to Col de la Chau and Col de Rousset kicked in, I got warm again pretty fast, and I changed my layers for spring again.
These two climbs were nice. The higher I was, the felt better and better. For some part of the first climb, another ride caught up with me. Sorry that I forgot the name, but he was doing o 1100 km route, and it was clear by his speed, that he was way faster and physically stronger than myself. We spoke for a moment and when I asked him how is he doing he said that his head is not right. I’ve asked why, and he answered that he is worrying that he will not make it to Mont Ventoux before the dark. I was in the same position really but being honest I was comfortable that we will make it. Don’t worry and don’t stress too much about it I said. Even if we will not make it, we can always make it the other day or if you want to push, so doing it during the night can also be a super nice experience.
Once I was saying all that, I confirmed also to myself, that I don’t have to worry at all about what will happen. The only thing I could do was just move forward and with my achilles still in moderate pain, I could only do it with a moderate effort. It is always interesting for me how the head works with your body. It can help you be much faster and more efficient, but it can also slow you down or even stop you. Body strength is definitely important, but it will not do much without the right mindset. Anyway, the rest of the climb went super well. My little courage talk probably energized me more than the other rider, because I managed to speed up and moved ahead.
It started raining again just before the top, so my rain jacket went on again. I was ready for the unbelievable and wonderful downhill that I was expecting after the Tunnel de Rousset. It really was like that. The road was wet from the rain, so I couldn’t give myself a full gas, but still, it was amazing.
At the bottom, in Die, I had a fantastic French-style late breakfast. The plan was that from here, the next stop will be the bottom of Mont Ventoux, only 130 kilometers away and once again the wind was on our side. I was heaving 35-40 km/h on my Garmin and wasn’t feeling much of an effort.
Everything looked good to make very good progres, but the weather had different plans, and it changed fast. I didn’t ride 20 kilometers from my last stop and a huge storm came out of nowhere. I only saw a flash of massive lightning, striking probably 500 meters in a front of me and the decision was made. The first buildings I saw on my right were my shelter. It was a proper French shop with wine and cheese. The owners were super nice and let me in with the bike. Once I got in the storm started to get stronger, and lightning was striking hard everywhere around. Even cars were stopping because the wind got so strong that it was probably too dangerous to drive. After a few minutes, the other rider came in, totally wet and super happy to find this shelter.
It took about 45 minutes for the storm to quiet down a bit. It was still raining hard, but the most worrying thing, the lightning, moved south and we could continue. I’ve put all the rainproof gear I had with me and started riding again. The speed was there again, and even with heavy rain, I was feeling good and pretty strong, and I actually enjoyed the challenge.
The rain stopped after about 50 kilometers and half an hour later I changed my layers back onto the summer mode. It got warm again and it was really nice to get some sun on my skin.
After few small but reallynice climbs, I was in Malaucène, what I considered the bottom of Mont Ventoux. Even if it was after the closed kitchen, I managed to get spaghetti carbonara, fries, and a huge ice cream bowl. Shout out here to the cook of Cafe La Casino, who agreed to make food for me, and to the waiter who convinced him after seeing me and my determination to eat.
I started the climb somehow about 4:30 PM and I couldn’t wait to get up there. The climb, that was on my bucket list for some time now, was something. I would not call it a super hard one, but with all the kilometers in my legs already it was truly epic. The 11-12% section felt much harder and the length of the whole thing, about 20 kilometers, was also a nice challenge.
Just before 7 PM, I started descending, and once more it was fast and a thrilling one. I was super motivated to make it to Mazan laying 30 kilometers away from the summit as fast as I could because the shop there was closing at 8 PM. I did that, made my final resupply shopping, and rode to the CP5, which was only 30 minutes away.
Bed and Bike in Venasque was a nice control point, but I didn’t want to stay too long there. I only chatted for a moment with a few riders, including Regis, who arrived a short while after me, had a quick coffee, ate my „Grenoble pizza” leftovers, and continue. After this 2345 kilometers in my legs, the last 300 laying in a front of me seemed to be a piece of cake. I couldn’t be more wrong about that, but when I look at it now, I’m still happy from the attitude I had anyway.
Photos©: @widenprod, @assosswitzerland
Pawel Pulawski /// @pikopulawski 
Another great episode! Once I was on vacation in France with my wife and my son who was like 2 years old back then. I cycled on my mtb 26″ hardtile with a cougar carrier. Accidentally we found ourselves on TdF track, what I realized afterwards, one of the beautiful steep climbs, somewhere in Mont Ventoux area, unable to locate now after many years. Great experience and what a cycling paradise it is. One of the days we rode up Mont Ventoux but by car, it was inspiring to do it and to realize how challanging it is. Back then I promised myself that I will return there one day and do it on a bike, this box is still unchecked. But your story is very inspiring, reminds me of this beutiful area and my own cycling goals. Moving on to the next chapter. Cheers!