You have already heard of the ascent of Mont Ventoux, this legendary mountain for cyclists. But you’ve never heard of climbing Mont Ventoux with a time trial bike in the middle of a heat wave? Well, that’s the amazing story I’m going to tell you today! You will discover how I took up this crazy challenge, the difficult times, the unexpected encounters and above all, how I managed to keep smiling despite everything, well almost!
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A mythical ascent, an unforgettable experience
The ascent of Mont Ventoux is done on an average gradient of 7.5% over 21 km, for a total elevation gain of 1590 m. It’s long, difficult, exhausting, but it makes the challenge all the more exciting!
Because coming by car would be cheating, I start the ride from where I live: Orange. So I set off at 6 a.m. with 115 km on the program.
The ascent begins. The heat is heavy. I visualized the event as being very difficult. Therefore, my body is ready to suffer, it expects to have to go into the red zone. This mental preparation masks the fatigue, and I find myself “quickly” at the top, much more easily than I had imagined.
The view is nice, but nothing exceptional, so next step: the descent! I would dream of doing it without cars, but even with it, it’s still fantastic. I even beat my speed record by going 82 km/h.
The time trial bike, a dubious but inevitable choice
If there’s one thing I loved about the climb, it’s the amount of cyclists there. There are lots of people! I find it beautiful and particularly motivating to ride among so many enthusiasts, determined to push their limits.
However, among these many cyclists, I did not see a single time trial bike! Why ? Well, it’s very simple: because it’s a bike specifically designed for aerodynamics. Excellent on the flat and at high speed. In short, it has nothing to do on such a course!
But then, what pushed me to take this bike? Passion for challenges, obviously! The desire to do a little more, to add the little icing on the cake.
Well, to tell the truth, it’s mostly because it’s my last purchase and I can’t part with it anymore.
Dehydration, enemy number 1
Adept of wobbly preparations, I set off for this 115 km with only 2 water bottles of 500 ml. Of course, without checking if there were any water points on Mont Ventoux. Spoiler alert: There are none. We will also remember that it is a really hot day.
For information, I left weighing 78.4 kg. I finished my course with a weight of 74.4 kg, or 4 kg less! That’s how much I suffered from thirst!
Fortunately, during the climb, I met two women who were about to give up. They helped me greatly by filling my water bottles. And second good news: I even managed to motivate them to go all the way! However, they have no longer have water, whoops. But strength to them!
After a not easy comeback, during which I felt like I was riding on a griddle, I’m coming to the end of this great challenge! With more than 3,500 kcal burned, all I have to do is enjoy a good meal and drink continuously until the end of the day.
PS: It is possible to climb Mont Ventoux by three different paths. Next time, we’ll come back to do the triplet!
