Grand Fondo Mont Ventoux

Well today I had the best bike ride I've ever had in my lifetime. 206 out of 579, 5 hours and 39 minutes. I was obviously not the strogest rider out there, but I was there for the experience, and what an experience it was.

The ride started at 7:30. I arrived at 6:30 to get a good spot and was probably still 200 people from the front. This is the way it looked in front of me when I got there. 

My promise to Sue in exchange for letting me do this race was that I would be very cautious at the start and on the descents. That worked out fine as I was able to really experience the ride and all of the beautiful scenery I saw along the way. Gorgeous lavender fields just beginning to bloom, mountains of course, a a gorge that we road around for like 15 miles that was awesome. Then, when we got to Ventoux I saw a sign someone painted on the road for Vincenzo Nibali and realized I was riding a Tour de France climb, an perhaps the most iconic one at that. 1 hour and 45 minutes later I was at the top, passing a rider or two that had nothing left and were walking their bike up those last few meters. There is no way I would give in to any such desire. I can say I road to the top of Mont Ventoux without stopping and can be very proud of that fact. Here's me at the summit.

It goes without saying that I owe Sue big time for giving me this day. Looks like I'm going to have to figure out how to get Wimbleton tickets to repay her. Well that's an adventure for another day.

One last picture of Mont Ventoux, from just below the summit.