It was only ten days or so ago when France started entering lock-down, but it feels like a lifetime ago. It suddenly became clear to me that just leaving my house would be severely restricted or even completely forbidden. I had lots of questions, including 'what would I do for exercise?'.
I hate stationary cycling (compared with the real thing it's just so boring), but that seemed the most obvious choice. So I went online and ordered a 'home trainer' so I could continue to ride my bike at home and maintain some level of fitness and sanity. It duly arrived just as France entered full confinement. Now I choose a different part of the garden each day (gotta reduce boredom) and set up my old road bike on the home trainer and cycle for 40 minutes or so.
It's nothing like as pleasant as real cycling, of course, but it helps maintain fitness and fills my days. The confinement is a bit strange but it's not unpleasant for my wife and me. But spare a thought for families with small children stuck in small apartments without a garden. Or for the medical professionals that are likely to be overwhelmed by critical cases in the weeks to come. And all of this is likely to last at least a few months.
Sunday, March 22, 2020
Wednesday, September 4, 2019
La Cirque de Gavarnie and la Breche de Roland
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La Grande Cascade |
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Climbing up the French side of the Breche |
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Spanish side of the Breche |
Some pics.
Tuesday, August 13, 2019
Cathay Paciic Moment on the Col du Pourtalet
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Spot the error? |
Today I cycled the Col du Pourtalet - a long lovely climb up the Ossau valley to the Spanish border. As usual on the popular cycling climbs, there were signposts every kilometer to tell you the distance to go, your current altitude, the gradient of the next kilometer and the altitude at the top of the col. Believe me, when you're struggling on a climb you study all this information very carefully.
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View of the Pic du Midi d' Ossau from the top of the col |
But it didn't spoil my day out...
Tuesday, July 16, 2019
Le Palas

The refuge is a small, rather primitive one and lots of people were bivvying around it so I moved some distance away and found a nice spot at a small lake. The next morning I set off early and worked my way through boulders to the start of the (somewhat) technical climbing. A sharp exposed ridge on wonderful rock lead to the summit, with great views in all directions. The descent back to the car in the heat of the day seemed very long, but - a benefit of climbing with bivvy gear - I was able to stop at midday and cook myself lunch!
Some pics
Tuesday, July 2, 2019
Le Tour du Pic du Midi d'Ossau
The Pic du Midi d'Ossau is probably the most famous mountain in this part of the Pyrénées. I climbed it last year but there's an interesting long hike around it I've been meaning to do. There are a number of tempting extensions to this tour but the hike then gets a bit long for a day. But, as I've got some new bivy gear I wanted to try out, an overnight hike made a lot of sense.
The weather around Pau has been cool and overcast but with an inversion, so it looked likely the mountains would be above the clouds. And so it proved; after hiking up through the forest in the clouds I popped out to clear skies. Some gentle hiking took me to my bivouac for the night, at around 2200 meters, just below the Col de Suzon. During the night there was lightning on the plains to the north and it made for interesting viewing.
There was a lot of hiking the next day, much of it spectacular with the Pic du Midi always in view. The best scenery was out the west of the peak around the Lac Bersau and the Refuge d'Ayous. I finished the day with a climb up the Pic d'Ayous and then a long descent back to the car.
Some pics.


Some pics.
Wednesday, October 24, 2018
Le Pic d'Anie
Le Pic d'Anie is a nice sharp mountain at just over 2500 meters. It's further west than the highest peaks and dominates the mountains around it; from other peaks, you often recognize it in the view. Given that, it seemed like a good mountain to climb...
The climb started from a deserted ski-resort, Pierre Saint Martin. I'd been hiking for about 20 minutes when a figure appeared walking towards me. As it got nearer, things got stranger; he definitely seemed dressed as a cowboy. He passed without a word, avoiding eye contact. Strange... A few minutes later I crested a rise and found a film set; they weren't filming at that precise moment. A woman was sitting down beside a stage coach, drinking coffee, dressed as a rancher's wife but wearing trainers - presumably the authentic footwear wasn't very comfortable.
I headed on. As I got higher I found myself in a maze of limestone, crossing crevasses, climbing up little outcrops, and generally spending very little time walking in a straight line towards my mountain. It was exactly like walking on a glacier, zigzagging between crevasses and seracs. Eventually I crossed all of this and got to the base of my peak when things became more straightforward. At the summit I stopped for a late lunch before fighting my way back across the limestone glacier; this time I found a different route, but it seemed even more time-wasting than the one I used on the way up. I was glad to get back to the car before dark!
A few pics.
To climb the peak, first cross the limestone glacier! |
A few pics.
Saturday, October 13, 2018
Le Moulle de Jaüt
Nearing the summit |
The fall colors were spectacular and the weather ideal. I passed a couple of cow and horse herds still up in the mountains - they'll be going down soon - with bells clanking away. The climb up went well and I was soon climbing along a narrow ridge to the summit at 2050 meters. Great views in all directions with clouds on the Spanish side of the mountains just spilling over some of the higher hills.
Clouds on the Pic du Midi d'Ossau |
Some pics.
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