I climbed it once. I didn't walk up, and my bike had loaded panniers and a handlebar bag on it.
To be fair, the road was probably better than it was in 1926. And my bike was probably better than the one that guy was riding.
Tourmalet is in the Pyrenees. Some Alpine climbs are higher, but Tourmalet and some other Pyreneean climbs are steeper. I think it's because the Alps are more centrally located in Europe, so more modern roads were built there than in the Pyrenees.
That picture says it all. Modern road surface and bikes don't make the Tourmalet any less daunting -- I saw that same 50-mission stare of the 1926 rider on the faces of lots of the lads this July.
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Neil... Is that You?
It's hard to see me in the photo. I'm driving the car.
I climbed it once. I didn't walk up, and my bike had loaded panniers and a handlebar bag on it.
To be fair, the road was probably better than it was in 1926. And my bike was probably better than the one that guy was riding.
Tourmalet is in the Pyrenees. Some Alpine climbs are higher, but Tourmalet and some other Pyreneean climbs are steeper. I think it's because the Alps are more centrally located in Europe, so more modern roads were built there than in the Pyrenees.
The roads weren't paved and the TdF riders rode single-speed or flip-flop bicycles. Apples and oranges.
That said, I could never do it, modern bike or not, and you could.
That picture says it all. Modern road surface and bikes don't make the Tourmalet any less daunting -- I saw that same 50-mission stare of the 1926 rider on the faces of lots of the lads this July.
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