longer.blue

Day 7 of our trip to the Pyrenees. With outdoor temperatures averaging 35°C, we decided to limit today’s ride to about 150 km and headed for our next hotel in the early afternoon—which is early by our standards. The Pyrenees are stunning, but they can be—and often are—very demanding! Even on standard federal, state, and country roads, there is no shortage of curves. The lower the road classification, the more the curves pile up—S-bends, hairpins, switchbacks, steep ramps, 180-degree turns, and even 220-degree loops follow one another like beads on a string. And the higher you climb, the fewer guardrails, barriers, or safety fences you find; up on the mountain passes, the system seems to rely on common sense and the instinct for self-preservation. "Theoretically," you might be allowed to drive at 70 or 80 km/h, but "practically," a single moment of inattention at that speed would be tantamount to suicide—once you're above the tree line, there is absolutely nothing to catch or slow you down if you fly off the road on a hairpin turn. Consequently, most of the few motorized "tourists" around during the off-season drive very sensibly—especially since you always have to watch out for groups of cyclists (ascending or descending), tractors, construction vehicles, dirt, manure, fallen rocks, loose gravel, bitumen strips, broken-down vehicles around a blind bend, roadworks, and so on—to name just a few of the things we’ve encountered over the past seven days. Back home in the Münsterland region, this rarely poses a problem; the roads (even country lanes) are usually wide and offer good visibility. If circumstances force you to veer off onto the verge—say, because a maneuver didn't quite go to plan—you can usually steer into a field rather than colliding with an oncoming truck or tractor. Along the Pyrenees, however, your choice is often between a rock face and a plunge into the valley... 🤔🫣😉🤣 No scaremongering here—just the plain facts, all experienced firsthand. 😉🏍️🏍️🏍️ Mountain passes: Today, coming from Seix, we rode the Col de la Core (1,395 m)—passing the Cap de Bouirex (1,876 m) near Sentenac-d’Oust—and the Col de Portet-d’Aspet (1,069 m), with a coffee break in Aspet. From there, we continued over the Col de Peyresourde (1,569 m, near Garin) before finally arriving at our hotel for the night in Cadéac. Let’s see how far we get tomorrow... 🤔😉🏍️🏍️🏍️