Mont Ventoux
- Thread starter TheDoctor
- Start date
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simon l& and a half
New Member
- Location
- Streatham Hill
there's a marvellous video link on this very forum - hie thee to the Camera section.
Climbing Ventoux is a thrill - all three road routes are great - go fot it. The Sault Route is scenic and quiet and it still includes the epic last 6 kilometres up top from Chalet Reynard.
I am the little speck on right
I saw someone posted the bedoin grade. Here's the grade from Malaucene - almost the exact same distance and climb as Bedoin
I am the little speck on right
Fab Foodie said:
I saw someone posted the bedoin grade. Here's the grade from Malaucene - almost the exact same distance and climb as Bedoin
Cathryn said:
Cathryn,
A couple of years back I stayed at a great place near Sault.
Hostellerie du Val de Sault - *** (3 stars)
www.valdesault.com
We had a nice patio with a distant view of Ventoux, they have a great hot-tub for the sore legs, and a 1st class restaurant.
Cathryn
Legendary Member
- Location
- Marlborough, Wiltshire
Thank you!!! I shall add it to the spreadsheet
OP
OP
- Location
- The TerrorVortex
Jacomus-rides-Gen said:
What you're asking yourself, punk, is does he have a 24T inner ring? Well, in all the excitement over the 13-26T cassette, I kind of forgot myself.
If a 25"gear won't get me up there's no hope for me. And the climb from Sault is quite shallow - 4.5% average, 10% maximum . Quite long as well.
Getting a bit encouraged by the enthusiasm here. I could do the Bedoin climb as well or instead, but the last 6K looks the worst, and you do that either way. Let's see how I feel in May. Unless I stay on the TGV to Marseilles and join the Foreign Legion instead.
OP
OP
- Location
- The TerrorVortex
will said:
That's the place SWMBO has already started eyeing up. I think after I've gone up the wretched thing I might be less keen on seeing it though.
Actually - the several kms BEFORE Reynard (the Bedoin and Sault routes meet at Chalet reynard) are by far the hardest (funnest?) from Bedoin.
But the bit above - the last 6 kms - is the special bit in terms of volcanic ash, strange environment, WIND, etc.
You'll enjoy regardless of route as lots of motivated but cheerful cyclists on the road of all levels.
I did the climb from bedoin two years ago, and I think everyone should have a go at it. It is a fantastic climb and if the weather is clear you can see across to the Alps in the distance. The decent to malaucine is a real adrenalin rush. I managed 52 mph as my top speed, although beware of overheating your rims as a pair on a tandem who was with us had the front tyre blow and crashed heavily, although with only cuts and bruising, fortunately nothing broken. There is a nice cafe at the bottom opposite a lake. I stayed in a small hotel in Carumb which is only 8 km from bedoin. See my avatar for my crowning moment as I crossed the finish line, taken by my son who got up there 15 mins quicker than me. It was 1hr 50 mins of hard work but was really really worth it.
I did the Bedoin route in 06 and the Malacenne route in 07. I had intended to do the Sault route this summer as well but the weather closed in and we decided to do a low level route instead. IME, the Bedoin route is the harder of the two. But I was a little fitter this year and this could have affected my experience. We stayed with Craig at www.Veloventoux.com
I can thoroughly recommend him. He runs a B&B for cyclists and his rates are pretty reasonable.
I can thoroughly recommend him. He runs a B&B for cyclists and his rates are pretty reasonable.
andy_wrx
Über Member
I did Sault this September on compact, 50/36 x 12-27, midway through a trip through Provence and some of the Southern Alps including Col de Bonnet-Restaufond.
We'd done 45-50 miles that morning from the previous night's hotel to Sault, started the ascent after lunch at about 2pm
I found it a bit daunting initially, down into my bottom gear of 36x27 on the bit past the chapel and thinking to myself it was already a bit tough and it was a long way to go, but then as it gets higher it levels off a lot and becomes a lot easier as it climbs through the trees.
But then past Chalet Reynard it got tougher....
Unlike Fab Foodie's ride up, my day was freezing and windy : very windy indeed - on some of the switchbacks I was crawling, barely able to penetrate into the wind, then I'd go round the bend and practically be blown up at 12-15mph, then round the next bend and crawling again.
Eventually I got to the top, tried to sprint the last 50m out of the saddle and was blown sideways clean off the road.
The top was intermittently in-and-out of cloud and it was 6 degrees C - but with windchill it would be easily below zero.
I got cold looking at the views and taking a few photos, went into the shop for a warm-up, bought a shirt as a souvenir - the woman in the shop was giving-out newspaper to stuff up your shirt as insulation.
Came out, some others in the group had now arrived, few more photos - but now I'm bitterly cold.
I'm wearing a short-sleeve shirt, the new shirt and a waterproof jacket, but just bibshorts and short-finger gloves : my hands are frozen.
I tried to cycle down and it was terrifying, I'd be doing 5mph into the wind but on rounding the corner I'd be blown to 30 and beyond except that gusts were either trying to blow me off the mountain or into the path of cars coming-up, and I was so cold I was shivering and my arms had locked-up so I was swerving about all over the road and my fingers weren't able to brake smoothly.
It took me a white-knuckled 20 minutes to crab down to Chalet Reynard, passing a few people who were even walking their bikes down. Other people going up were turning back. The wind was getting worse and the ones at the back of our group didn't make it up.
After a coffee and a warm-up at Chalet Reynard it was fine going back down to Sault, but I still didn't dare go above 35 or so because the road's a bit rutted and even though now protected by trees there were still gusts every time there was a gap in the treeline.
As others have said, you drop down to the river just before Sault and then have to climb perhaps half a mile or so up into town, which is a bit of a sting in the tail.
So for FF it was brutally hot, for me it was bitterly cold and windy.
On a good day it would be easy enough if you're fit and determined, on a bad day it's tough, if a very bad day when it's a gale and snow at the top I'd not bother.
We'd done 45-50 miles that morning from the previous night's hotel to Sault, started the ascent after lunch at about 2pm
I found it a bit daunting initially, down into my bottom gear of 36x27 on the bit past the chapel and thinking to myself it was already a bit tough and it was a long way to go, but then as it gets higher it levels off a lot and becomes a lot easier as it climbs through the trees.
But then past Chalet Reynard it got tougher....
Unlike Fab Foodie's ride up, my day was freezing and windy : very windy indeed - on some of the switchbacks I was crawling, barely able to penetrate into the wind, then I'd go round the bend and practically be blown up at 12-15mph, then round the next bend and crawling again.
Eventually I got to the top, tried to sprint the last 50m out of the saddle and was blown sideways clean off the road.
The top was intermittently in-and-out of cloud and it was 6 degrees C - but with windchill it would be easily below zero.
I got cold looking at the views and taking a few photos, went into the shop for a warm-up, bought a shirt as a souvenir - the woman in the shop was giving-out newspaper to stuff up your shirt as insulation.
Came out, some others in the group had now arrived, few more photos - but now I'm bitterly cold.
I'm wearing a short-sleeve shirt, the new shirt and a waterproof jacket, but just bibshorts and short-finger gloves : my hands are frozen.
I tried to cycle down and it was terrifying, I'd be doing 5mph into the wind but on rounding the corner I'd be blown to 30 and beyond except that gusts were either trying to blow me off the mountain or into the path of cars coming-up, and I was so cold I was shivering and my arms had locked-up so I was swerving about all over the road and my fingers weren't able to brake smoothly.
It took me a white-knuckled 20 minutes to crab down to Chalet Reynard, passing a few people who were even walking their bikes down. Other people going up were turning back. The wind was getting worse and the ones at the back of our group didn't make it up.
After a coffee and a warm-up at Chalet Reynard it was fine going back down to Sault, but I still didn't dare go above 35 or so because the road's a bit rutted and even though now protected by trees there were still gusts every time there was a gap in the treeline.
As others have said, you drop down to the river just before Sault and then have to climb perhaps half a mile or so up into town, which is a bit of a sting in the tail.
So for FF it was brutally hot, for me it was bitterly cold and windy.
On a good day it would be easy enough if you're fit and determined, on a bad day it's tough, if a very bad day when it's a gale and snow at the top I'd not bother.
andy_wrx
Über Member
Oh yes, this site has some good photos and profiles of all three routes
http://www.grenoblecycling.com/MontVentoux.htm
http://www.grenoblecycling.com/MontVentoux.htm
Cycling Naturalist
Guru
- Location
- Llangollen
Andy makes the good point that a lot depends on the conditions. There are rides in North Wales (the Horseshoe Pass) is an obvious one, that are not difficult in good conditions, but are extremely difficult when it's cold and windy. The worst circumstance is to get very sweaty going up and then very chilled on the other side.
OP
OP
- Location
- The TerrorVortex
A good point well made. It was going up Horseshoe Pass without too much difficulty that made me think of the climb from Sault - after all, it's just Horseshoe Pass 3 times back to back, and then a steeper 6 k or so. Piece of cake... I'm doomed, aren't I?
