Road Climber: N2A - day 6: Gordes to Sault

Today's ride is all about the climb up to the to the summit of Mont Ventoux, the Giant of Provence. Rising to an altitude of 1,909m from the Rhone valley below, this is a legendary mountain that has had an infamous history in the Tour de France.

I have been advised that it is one of the hardest, hottest, and windest mountains that one can climb on a bike. Apparently winds of 320km/h have been recorded at he summit and is the windiest place on earth.

The mistral had not stopped blowing since before we arrived at the camp site and this morning Clare, the organiser, advised winds of 100km/h had been forecast at the top of Mont Ventoux by a reliable forecast group. If this proved correct, we would not be able to ride to the summit which would be a huge disappointment.

Before getting onto the ride one final comment on Gordes. While it is indeed a beautiful village, I wouldn't want to live there based on the wind that has blown since before we arrived. I have been advised the winds do abate.

We did a little bit of climbing after leaving our camp site before descending to the perched city of Venasque. This is another of the "most beautiful" villages in France. We didn't stay long as we were keen to get to Bedoin where the climb would start. We had great views of Mont Ventoux from Venasque and as we rode along the valley. The mountain rises out of the valley and totally dominates it with its desert like top.

When we arrived in Bedoin after 33km. The wind had eased and everything looked good for the ascent. It was in Bedoin that we had our first experience with "squat toilets". One of the ladies on the tour was not impressed!

We refuelled in Bedoin before starting the climb. There are three ways of riding up Mont Ventoux: South from Bedoin, Northwest from Malaucene and East from Sault. Bedoin is the classic way up and reputedly the hardest although there is a view that Malaucene is equally as hard.

The climb to the summit is 22km in length. There is a gradual rise over the initial 4km of the climb followed by 10km through beautiful pine forest, averaging nearly 10%. This section was fairly demanding and it was a relief when it dropped to 8%. At the 15km mark we reached Le Chalet Reynard, where there is a restaurant and bar.

The group I was riding with all decided to push on to the top rather than stopping at Chalet Reynard for something to eat. The final 6km to the summit is totally exposed and desert like. We were fortunate the winds had dropped, allowing a pretty straight forward climb to the top. We passed the memorial to the British cyclist, Tommy Simpson, a few kilometres from the top. I stopped at the memorial on the way down. Tommy Simpson died from a heart attack on Mont Ventoux during a stage of the Tour de France during a blisteringly hot day in July 1967. See the internet for more details.

We all felt a real sense of achievement on reaching the top. The 360 degree views are spectacular. We were told by one of the lolly vendors on the summit the winds had been blowing at 100km/h in the morning, so were fortunate they had dropped as we were making our way from the camp site.

After taking pictures, buying fruit, lollies and looking at cycling wear we made our way back to Chalet Reynard for a well deserved lunch. At the start of the descent Luke and I started down the descent to Malaucene but quickly realised we were going in the wrong direction.

After a having an excellent omelette for lunch, descended to Sault where we were staying in the Hotel Le Signoret for the night.

Distance ridden today: 85.1kms. Cumulative total: 472.6kms.

Vertical metres climbed today: 2,263. Cumulative total: 10,560m.