Some pointers please - keen mid-life bloke looking to get up Mt. Ventoux.

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roubaixtuesday

self serving virtue signaller
Thank you Berty
We are planning to stay there for 3 days late April. We aim to ride everyday, keep an eye on local forecasts & conditions; and pick the 'best' day to do the climb.

I don't know about Ventoux, but late April is potentially very early to be likely to have decent weather at altitude. Passes at that sort of height are typically only just opening then.

As others have said, there are many wonderful cycling options in the area, so don't be afraid of crying off and instead enjoying lower altitude routes should the weather dictate.
 

bobzmyunkle

Über Member
We are planning to stay there for 3 days late April.
Take plenty of warm clothes especially for the descent and watch out for black ice.

https://epicroadrides.com/cycling-blog/tips-cycling-up-mont-ventoux/
 

berty bassett

Legendary Member
Location
I'boro
We left it late in the day to descend and it was getting dark , even though it was summer I got the serious jitters coming down due to not putting more clothes on - and as others have said , ventoux maybe the iconic climb but the balcony ride is far better view wise imo
 
14th April at 1500m a few years back (Ventoux is 1900m)…

Monkey’s of a certain variety accompanied me all the way back down🥶

IMG_0432.jpeg
 

Jameshow

Veteran
Worth watching how the pros climb and copy...

Sitting on the steadier gradients and then out the saddle for steeper ones and hairpin bends.

Changing position helps prevent back and saddle soreness too.
 

Dogtrousers

Kilometre nibbler
😂
Yeah but why was it difficult for you?

Seriously, one of these things is the best part of 1,500 - 2,000m of ascent, give or take a few hundred depending on what exactly it is that you're doing.

That's going to be difficult. There's no two ways about it. There's no magic solution (other than an electric bike) that will make it not hard. You've got to do the work. It's a ton of climbing. Add to that there are no (or very few) flat or downhill sections, where you can recover but keep your legs moving, makes it even harder. Doing that much climbing - it doesn't matter whether it's up a mountain all in one go or in the UK over a series of smaller climbs - is difficult.. Gaining potential energy is hard.

As that famous philosopher Montgomery Scott put it: "Ye cannae change the laws of physics".

Slightly off topic but on another forum recently there was a discussion where someone said something along the lines that riding 100 miles should not be difficult. Now I speak from fairly extensive experience on this point and I've never ridden a century that was not bloody hard. I've never been anything other than completely knackered at the end. Of course, it's easy to some people. But not to me.
 
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Jameshow

Veteran
Seriously, one of these things is the best part of 1,500 - 2,000m of ascent, give or take a few hundred depending on what exactly it is that you're doing.

That's going to be difficult. There's no two ways about it. There's no magic solution (other than an electric bike) that will make it not hard. You've got to do the work. It's a ton of climbing. Add to that there are no (or very few) flat or downhill sections, where you can recover but keep your legs moving, makes it even harder. Doing that much climbing - it doesn't matter whether it's up a mountain all in one go or in the UK over a series of smaller climbs - is difficult.. Gaining potential energy is hard.

As that famous philosopher Montgomery Scott put it: "Ye cannae change the laws of physics".

Slightly off topic but on another forum recently there was a discussion where someone said something along the lines that riding 100 miles should not be difficult. Now I speak from fairly extensive experience on this point and I've never ridden a century that was not bloody hard. I've never been anything other than completely knackered at the end. Of course, it's easy to some people. But not to me.

Try 260miles / 400km in 24hrs 👍🤕
 

rualexander

Legendary Member
Seriously, one of these things is the best part of 1,500 - 2,000m of ascent, give or take a few hundred depending on what exactly it is that you're doing.

That's going to be difficult. There's no two ways about it. There's no magic solution (other than an electric bike) that will make it not hard.

It's not going to be difficult if you have suitably low gearing though, and are a reasonably fit cyclist accustomed to spending three or four hours in the saddle.
A lot of people make it difficult for themselves by trying to ride fast in gears that are inappropriate for their level of fitness and strength.
And that's fine if they're trying to test themselves or push hard, in which case, sure, it will be difficult.

I'm not a particularly strong cyclist, and I'm not an long distance cyclist, but I rode up Mont Ventoux on a heavy touring bike with full camping gear and didn't find it difficult, but my lowest gear was 15.6",
 

CXRAndy

Guru
Location
Lincs
I've learnt to gear down after my first tour of Tenerife. Absolutely knackered I was, one from being heavy and too not low enough gearing. Over the course of several trips, I lost weight and lowered my gearing. This enabled me to keep a fairly high cadence for many hours. My longest stint was around 4 hours at 85rpm. At the end of the week, several hundred miles and nearing 10,000 metres of climbing. I was tired not shattered -so much so I stayed the following week and did around another 7500 metres of climbs
 

Jameshow

Veteran
I have tried it. It was very hard indeed. Actually 413 km in 25hrs but near enough. Never again.

I did it in a little more - had to rest from the mid day sun on the hottest day in 2022 I think it was got there at 11pm rather than the aimed for 5pm... Had a puncture and broke spoke at 9pm. 10 miles out!
 
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