Day Six

Elevation Col de Vars 2108m/6916ft

Day 6 La Sauze to La Sauze Loop
150km

I didn’t know what today held in store but I woke up absolutely knackered. I felt pretty wrecked but had to get my head together and out the door. We filmed our start, exciting a garage and cycling down the 4 km hill to our hotel. I cycled with Tess, Claire and Phil. Tess had finished the night before in flood of tears and agony from back pain. She is a brave soldier. Claire and I pushed on on Vars and climbed well. We the same speed ad are in sync so luckily have established a good rhythm. The climb was incredible with views that blew us away. We waited for Tess atop the mountain and pushed on in the sunshine with Phil. It was a beautiful day with beaming sunshine and it was the first real heat we had felt since we started. Descending the Vars was even more sensational. We had felt anxious and irritated that we would be going back over ground that we had already covered but it was just magical. This was definitely the way to do the Vars route. South to North and as we came out of the top of the col and could see into the distance, past the trees, the grand Alps revealed themselves. I can’t really describe it but the feeling was very fulfilling. I recognized where we had come from and soaked in the environment. This is were we were and there is nowhere else I’d rather be!

In the town below Vars we stopped for an early, lazy lunch and spoilt ourselves with steak frites and banana splits in the sunshine. From there we cycled along the valley floor in heavy winds in a peloton. We protected Tess by cycling head of her so she could travel in our slip stream. We cycled to a lake and followed it around and into higher ground. My legs felt strong and when we met some other flies, I pushed ahead, testing my strength; it has increased and I feel quite fresh. This is something that tends to happen on the second part of the ride, the body starts coping and responding to the physical challenge to functions optimally meaning you improve and get faster. We pedaled hard and wanted to get the day out of the way so we could relax and have some time before dinner. The warmth from the sun was glorious and it felt so good to have a warm breeze and light envelop you. It took longer than expected and once we were back nearby we started to dream of ice-creams so decided to stop at Barcelonette. As we got closer so did the dark clouds and we could see the bad weather front hanging over the distant mountains. We continued home, no ice-creams, famished and exhausted. This day with less mountains was equally as tiring.