Tuesday was our greatest challenge yet – Mont Ventoux, “The Giant of Provence.”  What makes it tough are 2 things:  It is long, and it is steep.  The best way to describe it is relentless.  The Tour de France riders have claimed it is the toughest ride in the Tour.

To add to the fun, Monday night Jonathan and I were up all night with stomach aches.  We got up at  5:45 as we wanted to ride early to escape the heat.  Instead we  were greeted with rain.  After checking the forecast we decided to wait a few hours to see if the showers would clear, as the forecast indicated.  We weren’t able to eat our usual breakfast, so instead we had a low carb protein bar, some KetoCaNa and coffee at 5:45 am, and we did not eat again until we were on the bike, and even then I couldn’t eat because my stomach was still doing flip flops!

The ride itself was as described – relentless.  To add to it, we were greeted with thunderstorms near the top and rode the last few miles in pouring rain.  My husband had done this ride several times before but I hadn’t, and come rain or shine, I was going to finish it!  I did, and below is a picture from the summit, and an “after” picture when we were back down in the town of Borg d’Oisans.

For the day we climbed about 6000 feet in just under 40 miles.  Doing it under such adverse conditions really made the sense of accomplishment seem much deeper!  I believe we truly are going to have an easy ride today, 20 miles of mostly flat rode, and I hear talk of another “epic” ride tomorrow.  Yikes.