Conquering Mont Ventoux: A Journey of Challenge and Team Spirit by Paul Sutton
Last friday a group of 52 Entertainment cycling enthusiasts had a nice day out together. The goal was to climb Mont Ventoux. We had intended to climb it as part of l’Echappée 52 but the weather conditions had made it impossible. At the time we said – well, we’ll have to do it next year.…
….Next year arrived pretty quickly (as it tends to!) and many of the Echappée team started training to get in shape for what is one of the most feared climbs in the world.
Unfortunately a day or two before the climb a few of the summit team succumbed to illness and were in no shape to climb, but there were still 4 of us (Jérôme, frédéric, Vincent and me) who were there to take on the challenge.
I approached Bedoin from Vaison La Romaine to the northwest and was struck by the fearsome mass that loomed ahead. It really is a startling sight, more than enough to put the fear of god into you!
We met up before the climb in Bedoin, to take on the most challenging of the three possible routes. Before the start we were all a bit nervous, but in very good spirits. But as soon as we started the pedals turning any nerves disappeared, but the fear remained! Having nearly made a false start heading up the wrong way we eventually found the right route and started to climb.
The first 5km were relatively easy, but after that things got serious. We’d be looking at 8% plus for the rest of the 21km climb. It was very hard, but the weather conditions were perfect – not too hot, not too cold. There were lots of others making the pilgrimage to the top, and there was a real sense of camaraderie, with lots of words of encouragement being shared.
About 8km from the summit I caught up with a young woman who was in tears. She was really struggling with the unrelenting steepness of the climb. I stopped and gave her some words of encouragement and then carried on up the mountain.
Eventually I made it to the top, and I knew that Vincent would be there already, and it was so nice to get there and be greeted by his big smile and congratulations! Soon after Fred and Jerome made the summit too, having suffered for the best part of 3 hours!
I was pleased to see the young woman who I’d seen 8km down the mountain, make it to the top. She was greeted by her friends, and there were more tears.
It was cold at the top and we stayed up there for a while to soak up the great atmosphere. There was music and lots of people celebrating their climb. Jerome bought some chocolate and we made short work of it before heading back down the mountain. The descent was pretty scary really. We were all shaking because of the cold, and the wind chill – you go pretty fast on the way down. But it didn’t last too long – it’s amazing how effective gravity is!
We were all very grateful to make it back to the campsite in Vaison la Romain where Fred and Lydia had prepared a delicious BBQ. Man, did that taste good.
The climb is something that I will never forget – and to have shared the experience with 3 of my friends at 52 was a real privilege. It’s one of the hardest things I have ever done… but, believe it or not – I really want to do it again now and beat my time!
If any of you get the chance to climb Ventoux in the future, don’t give it a second thought. Yes, its hard, but with some training it’s totally doable, and you’ll have a lot of fun in the process!
English 
French
Comments are closed