Hadlow Bikers: Day 6 - Spain bike ride

Team meeting held over dinner and a contingency plan for Day 6 was implemented as the climb to Col d'Aubisque was going to be the highlight of the tour and the weather forecast was awful for today (Thursday) - rain predicted all day. We decided to have a rest day in Pau, drive up to Col d'Aubisque to see what we are taking on and then do the big climb day on 9th (Friday) as the weather forecast was much better.

So we had a lie in until 8am, had breakfast and a look round Pau and then drove up to Col d'Aubisque which only reinforced the size of the challenge - when you drive past a ski resort on the way up and at the top the road is still blocked with snow you know you are going high!!

A few pictures from today are below and a summary of Col d'Aubisque:

Chateau de Pau - birthplace of Henry 4th, 16th century king of France and used by Napoleon for his holiday home during his period of power

Pau Grand Prix

Pau held the first race to be called a Grand Prix in 1901. In 1933 the French Grand Prix was held on a Monaco type track inside the city centre. Racing is still run today and they are preparing for a weekend of vintage car racing - hopefully we will see a little of this before we leave Pau.

Col d'Aubisque - is a mountain pass in the Pyrenees. It made it's first appearance in the Tour De France in 1910 and has been included 70 times since. The climb starts in Laruns and from there the climb is 16.6kms and rises 5,500ft at an average gradient of 7.2%. The first few kilometres to Eaux-Bonnes are relatively straightforward but after Cascade de Valentin there is a section at 13%. From there to the top, the climb is 8kms at an average gradient of 8%, passing the ski resort of Gourette at 1,400m.

On the way up