Six Days in the Pyrenees

In anticipation of the wildcard entry of Black Fly in Le Tour for 2011 (they can't snub us again), I recently took the Black Fly jersey to do some scouting of the decisive climbs in the Pyrenees.

It was amazing and incredibly difficult, on every climb I used a 30/25 or 30/23 ratio, and still needed to stop and take breaks. Clearly I will not be protecting our captain on the mountain stages, good luck Marty.

I rationalized my breaks as "scenic breaks" as the old french men grinded past me, but the breaks also allowed lots of pictures and I included some below.

Most climbs were about 13-18 km long and often averaged 7-8%, taking about 2 hours to climb. Descents were scary and fun, but also freezing, my toes would go numb and it was never a nice surprise to see a tour bus or RV making its way up switchbacks. Most daily rides were about 75-100 km in total, with half of the trip coasting (sometimes up to 45min chunks without pedaling).

If anyone has any questions about visiting the Pyrenees for cycling feel free to give me shout, otherwise I am hoping to make it back there next summer.

The key climbs in the trip included:

Col du Tourmalet (2115 m)
Station Luz Arididen (1725 m)
Hautacam (1700 m or about that)
Port de Boucharo (about 2200 m)

plus lots of other ones!

I will try and post the rest of the pictures on the facebook page sometime

Jody

on the the way to Port de Boucharo, the final kilometer was snowed in still (May 30! and snow!)

Switchbacks up to Station Luz Arididen
cooked on top of Hautacam
View from Hautacam

The crowds cheering on Black Fly were out in force on the Hautacam
Black Fly in small village at 1300 meters!
Just above the clouds and almost at the top of the Tourmalet

Black Fly Racing in Vegas!

Bootleg Canyon, Boulder City, Nevada.


Basically there was a gravel road up the middle of these 2 gigantic hills with singletrack carved into their sides. Very "flow-ee" but also very technical with extremely loose dirt and numerous boulders and rocks to pick through. Also, because there were over 4,000 people out riding you had to be alert to other riders coming up behind you and at you.


On the Norco Team Carbon. Brand new SRAM XX group. I think this bike was under 20lbs.


On our road ride testing out the new Dura Ace electric shifters on Orbea Orca full carbon roadies.

Yeah Mon - Black Fly in Jamaica

Well, it seems as though Black Fly's have gone international this summer! Sandy and I just returned from a beautiful trip to Jamaica where "everyting was irie, mon". No singletrack, but there was a bit of doubletrack. No wait, those were the roads!! Anyway, I thought this would be a fun way to include a little piece of our team while on holiday.