Pau to Ainsa
I had created two route options for Monday of various length. One about 150 miles should take us high in to the mountains on the D918 over the Col d'Aubisque before heading on to the famous Col du Tourmalet and across the border into Ainsa via the Bielsa tunnel. The shorter option about 131 miles would ride over the Col d'Aubisque before cutting south on the D934 over the Col du Pourtalet to cross the border into Spain finishing along the N260 south east to Ainsa. After consulting the maps the night before and over breakfast we agreed to load the longer route to ride the Col du Tourmalet.
Our introduction to the mountains started with a fast twisty ride up to the pretty town of Les Eux-Bonnes accompanied by several other bikers following the balcony road passing under a few cliff tunnels before stopping briefly to take a few pictures. On the outskirts of the town Rob came over the intercom to say he needed to stop because his visor had come loose on the one side. I found a large layby in the shade under trees and we soon discovered his visor had actually broken and the plastic nib that locks it in had sheared off. Thankfully good old electrical tape came to the rescue to effect a temporary repair and we were soon underway again with an amazing ride up to the top of the Col d'Aubisque. Rob was caught out by the gravel on the bends and had a 'brown trouser' moment as the back wheel slid out slightly. Annoyingly for some reason French road maintenance crews often leave loose gravel across the full width of the road. On the top of the pass we met up with some Welsh lads and a Spanish couple as well as a nice couple from New Zealand who owned Open Road NZ Motorcyle Tours. Having been in New Zealand myself back in March with Helen and seeing that amazing scenery and roads first hand I couldn't resist taking their details and hearing how they run tours between the North and South Islands. One for the future maybe?
While looking out across the views from the Aubisque the Spanish couple pointed to the road that climbs up further across the valley and in broken English said it might be closed due to road works. This was now strangely reminiscent of last year with Mark as we tried to pass over the closed Cormet de Roselend in the French Alps, in the end forcing us to take a huge detour. Rob and I decided to ride on and see if the pass was shut and yes after a few miles the road was blocked off completely yet we found it quite amusing as Rob followed a cyclist up a lane in the hope he found a detour only to find out the cyclist was taking a pee!
In the end I loaded the alternative route into the Navigator and killed a few waypoints to put us on the alternative route riding over the Col du Pourtalet instead. We stopped off for a shady lunch back in Les Eux-Bonnes at a small restaurant in one of the road bridge arches and both went for the steak and fries a wise choice given the detour and double back would add to the ride time now. Not the best cut of meat there really but the fries (and flies) with cold drink went down well.
The road over the Pourtalet was superb with wonderful scenery heading south across the border in to Spain and on to Formigal. While having fun in the valley twisties I lost Rob somewhere on the N-260a just after Biescas behind me but we soon joined up again somewhere near Fiscal and in 30 degree heat took a welcome stop for a cool drink and ice-cream at the very nice Hostal Restaurante Río Ara at the junction of the main N-260 that runs straight into Ainsa. We arrived at Hotel Mesa in good time the first of our 3 nights at this popular biker stay with covered parking bays and 6 other bikes already parked up and enough room left for our bikes. We got chatting to a Belgian guy while topping up oil on his old but smart R1150R. He'd ridden two up across the Pyrenees over 14 days and would be starting his return home tomorrow. Nice chap! The riding today being more technical in hotter weather meant we stayed local with only a short walk along the river before returning to the hotel for beers and a meal while trying to stay out of the late evening sun. Another great days ride although a shame we didn't make the Tourmalet, riding the alternative Pourtalet and on to the legendary N-260 more than made up for it though.
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