France 11, Sep 14 Pla-d'Adet

This, the 3rd day of our tour, is a "rest" day. Only about 4-5,000 feet of climbing, depending on which option you take. Susan opted to stay in town and rest, while Jim and I wanted to climb to the ski resort Pla-d'Adet, because it was the finish of the only stage the American, George Hincapie, ever won (so far) in the TDF. We skipped the other climb which is not as famous, so we only got about 4,500 ft of climbing in 30 or so miles.

The town we are staying at for two days, Arreau, is at the confluence of two small rivers. The rivers create quite a beautiful sight when they combine in the middle of town, with the streets and houses on either side.

This is the approach to the climb to Pla-d'Adet. Looks pretty benign until you spot the road going up the side of the mountain in the upper right of the picture. Right on up to the clouds.

Up we go. 2,500 ft of climbing in 6.5 miles. This baby is up, up, and away.

Pla-d'Adet. All ski resorts look terrible in the summer. Lots of construction going on. We ate in the small cafe with several of the workers. Everyone had a beer with lunch except us. Several tables had a carafe of wine at the table but we didn't see anyone drink any.

Jim S. at the top. He is still tough as ever and loves riding hard.

This is where we came from. The views are wonderful, but don't show too well in photographs. Left click on the photos to blow them up to full screen size.

A look down at the village from the road on the way down. You can just see the road below on the bottom left of the pic, and the rock wall on the road I am standing on at the bottom right.