Col du Tourmalet 2115m alt 1350m ascent over 17km .. It was a tough ride up mostly because of the length! Views at the top were spectacular and then we descended the oppositely east side all the way down to Bagneres De Bigorres and then took this very pretty D26 all the way to Lourdes and then back to AG on the bike route (100km loop). After peaking Tourmalet at noon it seemed that the rest of the day was down! We are glad we did this climb (so much Tour De France significance!), but we would not be in a hurry to repeat it! It was really interesting to come down the east side and see all the development and imagine the tour charging up this steeper side! It was also neat seeing the turn off to col d' Aspin which we had done a number of years ago with J&R! All for now .. Maybe tomorrow a rest day! PS: got the jersey!

file: 2014-09-11_19990558