For our first ride in France, we went big. We climbed the Col du Tourmalet, which is 12 miles long and approximately 5000 feet of climbing. I was prepared for hot weather. I nearly froze to death today.

Here’s what it looks like on a sunny day:

A cute little town we passed through on the way up. My blog is not cooperating with me and pictures, so I’m sorry if you have to turn your head to look at some of these!!

It was a cloudy day and we got drizzled on the whole way up. I had no complaints with that type of weather for climbing, but we weren’t able to fully appreciate the beauty of this Col.

Descending, however, was a miserable experience. It was soooo cold! But we made it back in one piece, and had an amazing cafe au lait at the bottom.