The Road to Ventoux - Part 36

D-Day: ……but you have to get back down again as well!

The Ventoux3 challenge is raising money for the Out of the Blues charity at https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/outoftheblues.

It was only after I had dragged myself to the top and had some photos taken that Richard reminded me that to complete the Cingles de Mont Ventoux challenge you have to descend back to your starting point! Plus there was no room in the support car for me and my bike!

This was a bit of a blow since I was worried I would not be able to get back on my bike. However, after some leg stretching, I managed it. At least I would not have to do much peddling!

Following Sasha down the mountain to Bedoin (i.e. down the steepest route), I struggled to maintain concentration. Then all of a sudden, my right hamstring cramped again. I managed to rip my foot off the peddle and let it dangle. But then there was the issue of what to do next. I was still quite a few km from Bedoin. So, with brakes gripped very firmly, I slowly free wheedled with my right leg dangling while I tried to shake it out. After a couple of km, I tentatively managed to clip my right foot onto the peddle and allowed myself to speed up a bit. With advise from Sasha, I very gently turned my legs over to try to keep my hamstrings loose enough to get me to the bottom.

It was a blessed relieve to get back to the start. However, I did not hang around there long, but made my way to a bar for a beer and to get the final stamp on my card to prove I had completed the challenge.

Job done!

Further information about the challenge, and my blogs about my training, can be found at http://outoftheblues.org/news/cat/the-road-to-ventoux.

Hamish McAllister-Williams