Riding through the Pyrenees was one of the best bike experiences I’ve had. Beforehand, I was very nervous about how remote the route would get and needed a lot of reassurance from other riders who have done it before embarking. As they say “the first step is the hardest part.”
Andorra
It took a few days to get to Andorra from Girona. I wound up cutting my route a bit short the first day because bit rain storm rushed in with hailing rain. Thankfully I found shelter in Ripoll, about a minute before the hail started. Ripoll was a cute little mountain town full of summer tourists. I started to notice a common theme here where all the towns have a little river running through them. The sound of flowing water all the time is quite relaxing.
On the second day from Girona, I finally got into Andorra and I felt excited to be finally leaving Spain. I was feeling ready for a new country, however entering Andorra, I learned it’s not technically a country, it’s a principality which is slightly different. Andorra’s are leaders are from both France and Spain, but it also has its own sovereignty. It’s weird.
This also happened to mark one month since I had started riding, which felt like a really long time to me. Time seems to have slowed down since I started this tour, which is exactly what I wanted to happen.
I decided to spend a day in Andorra after I found a pretty cheap hostel. It’s surrounded by steep mountains and feels a lot like a ski village, but with a lot of shopping malls as well.
I was very pleased to finally find a Starbucks that served AMERICAN DRIP COFFEE; something that is somehow hard to get in the Iberian Peninsula.
The next day I rode toward France, not knowing that it would be the longest and highest climb of my Transpyrenees experience (16mi long/3600′ up). The view at the top was breathtaking and intimidating. I was now officially doing the Pyrenees!
France
After the above climb, a much welcomed and very long descent began where I crossed into France. I wound up getting my first flat as well after running over a sharp rock.
Eventually I made it into Tarascon-sur-Ariège, where I found a cheap campsite (11 euros) for the night. After securing a place to sleep, I immediately went to find some food. The only place open at this point (~6pm) was a dinky little restaurant about a mile away.
So I rode into downtown Tarascon-sur-Ariège and as I rolled in saw a woman walking across a bridge were both crossing. We made brief eye contact and I continued to the restaurant about 100 feet further along.
As I was trying to communicate with the waiter there, that same woman came up to me and asked if I spoke English. I was a bit startled wondering how she “knew” I was English speaking, but in reality she just didn’t know French and was hoping I’d know English. Anyway, she asked if I was bike touring, which I obviously was due to my dress and loaded up bike. She said “I think I’m doing the same route as you so maybe we’ll see each other later, yeah? I’m going to the grocery store now, but I’ll see you here in a bit.”
I ate dinner and patiently waited for her to return, but the sun was setting and I still needed to pitch my tent at the campsite. So I eventually wrote her a note on a napkin with my email address and left it with the hotel she was staying in (which was next door to the restaurant).
I setup camp, took a shower and then she emailed me wanting to meet up. This is also when I learned her name was Petra from Germany (yay more Germans!). We met up and discussed our routes and it seemed like a good idea to ride together. Petra suggested we roll out the next morning at 7am, which was a few hours earlier than I was used to rolling since I was still on “Spanish time” (read: they do everything later in Spain).
The next morning, we ate breakfast on the river and got rolling.
Petra was immediately pushing the pace and I struggled to keep up with her. She was a very strong rider and I was worried I wouldn’t be able to hang, but eventually we toned it down a bit. She was on a mission to cross the Pyrenees as fast as she could and meet up with her boyfriend in San Sebastian, Spain. So she was on a more aggressive schedule than I was. I was really impressed with her determination and I knew I would have a fun riding with her. The first few days of her tour was rough: apparently some creepy men were acting weird to her, aggressive dogs were chasing her and her first climb was like 50k long. I think she saw me as good company to help her feel less vulnerable on her journey, especially since the first few days were rough.
We climbed up Col d’ Lers, Col d’ Agnes and Col d’ La Core for a total of 62 miles and 8,200 feet of climbing.
That night we rolled into Castillon en Couserans, not knowing what was there and where we’d sleep. After a few minutes of looking in with Google Maps we found a place called La Maison de Natasha and as we walked up to it Natasha leaned out the window and said, “Would you like to stay in my house?” Thankfully she was Canadian and didn’t make us speak English. She had a room with 2 beds for 71 euro, which seemed like a good deal to split for 2 people, so we took it. Soon we realized this was a BnB more suited toward couples, and Natasha didn’t quite understand that we were not a couple, even though we told her otherwise. She quickly made a reservation for us at an excellent restaurant nearby where I had one of the most romantic diners I’ve ever had, even though it wasn’t “like that.” Having the contrast of experiencing a romantic setting without actually having a romantic connection with the person across from you was a very unique feeling to me, and those are what I’m trying to collect on this trip (and in normal life!).
Breakfast the next morning was incredible. Natasha’s dining room felt like something out of a castle that we felt like royalty sitting in. I was smiling ear to ear. The food was quite good too. Natasha really knows what she is doing.
Petra and I both agreed that would be the best place we’d stay at for a very long time. Petra was really interested in having a “crazy day” where she really pushed herself to ride the entire day. I was excited to do that as well, but not so keen on riding in the rain, which was very likely for the upcoming few days.
This day we rode over another 3 passes: Col de Portet d’ Aspet, Col de Mente and Luchon Superbagnères, with 63 miles 8,652 feet of climbing.
That night we stayed in Bagnères-de-Luchon in a pretty cheap hotel room with two beds that was convenient to split the price on. Petra said she was happy with the day but not “proud” of it. She really wanted to get something more intense done, but it didn’t make sense to get another climb in because it was getting dark and rain was expected.
The next day was exciting because we knew we were going to climb Col d’ Tourmalet, the most famous climb of the Pyrenees because it’s often feature in the Tour de France. We climbed Col d’ Peyresourd, Col d’ Aspin and Col d’ Tourmalet for 55 miles and 9971 feet of elevation.
With Tourmalet in mind, we were feeling energetic and ready for anything. Even though there was rain in the forecast, we knew that if we keep stops to a minimum we’d be able to “beat the hard rain” if we got up and over by 6pm. So we went hard and made great time in the morning and quickly got through Col d’ Peyresourd and Col d’ Aspin. It felt so authentic to see Tour de France fans in some of the towns we passed through.
We were on the fence (OK mostly I was) about doing Tourmalet with the clouds brewing rain above it. After a bit of hesitation, Petra was like “Ok Jon, we are going to do it, ready?” I loved being pushed like that because I’m normally the one pushing climbs onto people and this was a role change. I was running low on water though, so we asked some random guy at his house to fill up my water bladder and we had a quick lunch before the big climb.
We made it up, cold, wet and proud. Then we bombed down the other side into Bangeres and by the time I got to the bottom I was shivering cold and in need of refuge. Petra got me to a cafe to warm up. We almost decided to go further but the rain made us stay put, so we got a couple of hostel beds nearby. Petra said she was happy with the challenge of the day, but I think she still wanted to go further.
The next day we got up and rolling early and rode without much of a plan in mind, however I think Petra was starting to feel ready to ride alone for the remainder of her journey. I rode 76 miles with 8,300 feet of climbing this day over Col de Borderes, Col du Soulour, Col de Aubisque and Col de Marie Blanque.
After we got up over Col de Borderes, Petra said she was ready to ride alone from there on out. I was a bit surprised because we were riding well together, but she did initially plan to do the ride alone, and it was important for her to do the challenge for a few more days by herself and get that in. So within about 15 seconds of her saying that, she was off and I was alone for the rest of the trip. We did overlap with each other a bit for the rest of the day. In fact on the last climb I did of the day Col de Marie Blanque, we were riding neck and neck for a while, but in the end she dropped me. I was toast. Petra is one of the strongest riders I had ridden with; definitely the strongest willed!
Col d’ Marie Blanque was very wet and I again got very cold on the descent. I stopped in Escot to check the map to find the nearest cafe or hotel where I could warm up. Petra soon found me there. She was ready for more climbing, I was done and ready to start heading to Biarritz from there, my final destination. We said goodbye once more and I headed north. Eventually I got to Orolon Saint-Marie where I had planned to stay for the night. As I was rolling in, I got doored (someone opened their car door right as I was passing by) and the impact broke my right gear shifter. While it could have been a much worse accident, it left me in a shitty situation where I couldn’t really downshift and the replacement part is hard to get. After a brief unpleasant interaction with the person who doored me I rolled on to my hotel where I warmed up in a nice room with a big pizza.
At this point I was feeling a little said to have parted ways from Petra. It was hard not to think I did something wrong to offend her, or if I was just holding her back, or if it was truly just about her personal journey. That’s something I always struggle with though – taking on too much blame for things that aren’t about me. At the very least, I felt lonely for the first time in years, which is another feeling I was seeking on this bike tour, so that’s good!
The next day was going be much flatter and I was only 100k away from seeing my friend Mika, so I was excited for a much easier ride. However, I didn’t quite make it all the way there. About 50k into the ride my rear hub started making funny noises and soon after it began to slip when I pushed forward on the cranks. All that wet descending really did a number on the rear hub. I was in trouble now, in the middle of farmlands in southwestern France without much help. I looked on YouTube for how to service my rear hub and found a helpful video, but after attempting to do the fix on the side of the road a few times, it still didn’t work.
I got in contact with Mika and he suggested I get to the nearest train station, in Orthez which was about 16k away from me. So I rode my barely functional bike on the downs and flats, and walked up the hills to Orthez and caught a train to Biarritz.
It was such a relief to finally see Mika waiting for me at the train station. We had some pizza and a beer immediately after to celebrate.
But my bike was completely broken. I needed a lot of work before I could ride further. Thankfully, I was with a friend to help me through that mess, but I’ll write about it more later.