Tuesday

Late Tuesday night here now.  We had a full day.

The preliminary portion of the ride to the Col d'Aspin turned into a little more work than we actually needed, so I made the command decision to save the last three miles constituting the true meat of the climb for tomorrow.  It wasn't brutal this AM, but it was mostly all "up" for 13-15 miles, and you really understood that when you mostly coasted all the way back to the hotel.  It was a good preparatory ride.  A bit like the first 6-8 miles up Mt. Rose from the gas station start in Reno.

We'll do the summit to d'Aspin first thing in the AM and then a more forgiving route for the balance of the Wednesday ride.  We need to save our energy for Thursday's ride up the Tourmalet, the beast of the area.  Then we will be done with the riding portion of the trip, and be getting ready for our return to reality.

So we made the pilgrimage to Lourdes today, and I was not prepared for the overt commercialism that now defines the town.  Our travel books had warned us that the religious aspects of the town were absolutely still there, but the economics had taken over Main Street.  I was stunned at the tourist-trap character of the streets.  Think Wall Drug stores side-by-side for several city blocks.

The main cathedral was impressive.  We didn't go inside, but we did walk along the side of the church where The Grotto is located, and we lit a candle in honor of the extended clan.  I'm sure that Margaret felt the ripple in the force.  I told 4 that I felt a little closer to the Blessed Virgin at The Grotto version 1.1 located on campus at ND.

4 and I also did our domestic work today and visited the local laundormat and ran a load of clothes through the wash.  Our self-portrait is included here.  We had found a supermarket on the edge of town and re-stocked consumables as well. Our deluxe room here does not have a mini-fridge so we are thusly limited on the stuff we might keep in the room.

Lots of cyclists out on the road today.  Dozens at least.  No teams, but numerous groups of three and four.  The roads are narrow, and riders need to be careful, but the drivers really need to give space.  It seems like they do.  I'll get some pics up tomorrow of biking in this area.

Dinner tonight was another open-air cafe here in town.  We each had beef (that was no where near as good as that served off the grill on Maplecrest).  A nice bottle of regional vino.  Good times.

Sounds like the only viable option to get our bikes home is as carry-on with Delta.  What could go wrong with that?  UPS and FedEx are priced to say "no".  Now I need to coordinate with the airline.  Friday could be interesting with that challenge.

Off to bed.  Thanks for reading.

BCOT