Today we left the gite in Viscos and rode about 10 miles to the base of Hautacam, then climbed this beast of a mountain. It was beautiful, but very steep, and painful! After 40 miles of riding with about 5000 feet of climbing we were treated to a ridiculously steep climb back up to the gite – just over a mile with 800 feet of elevation gain and sustained grades of 13 and 11%. It hurt. But it gave me a lot of time to think  so I spent the time thinking about as many pleasurable memories as possible to help take my mind off of the torture I was inflicting on my legs.

As usual, the scenery helped make up for the brutally steep roads. I was so tired by the time I reached the top of Hautacam that I didn’t take pictures, but you can see from this site what it looks like: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hautacam

I also promised pictures of  the adorable town we are staying in.  A few of the stairs down the gite and the beautiful mountains in the background.

A few of the town with mountains in the background: 

Tomorrow is a rest day for me – I’ll be driving the car for the guys as they do a big day of climbing. I’ve already done 2 of the 3 climbs so I’m happy to take the day off and help them out as we need a vehicle to get everyone back.