France: Trans Pyrenees

I  just come back from our wildest, toughest, most challenging but most enjoyable trip in the Pyrenees; the ride from Hendaye on the Atlantic coast to Collioure on the Mediterranean is really one of the most difficult, testing and rewarding experiences for a rider.

Let me briefly describe for you what you will be doing crossing the marvelous Pyrenees from the Atlantic to the Mediterranean:

In 7 days you will cross the entire range of French Pyrenees, briefly touching Spain.

Every day is a battle in its own rate, and each day has 2 or 3 very difficult climbs. Overall, you will ride 840km and climb a total of over 18,500 meters, making sure you make it to all possible summits, including legendary places such as the ” Col de Peyresourde”, “Col d’Aubisque”, “Col du Tourmalet”, “port de Pailheres” and tough “Col de mente”, a total of 18 huge summits, and more inclines and mountain magic.

A significant portion of the ride will follow the route of the Tour de France, which chooses the Pyrenees every year to test the limit of the world’s best bike rider. This year, by the way, will see the Tour ride Col du Tourmalet twice, in both directions…

It should be noted that this is not a trip for inexperienced bike riders. This ride is possible only for those who have hundreds and thousands of kilometres of extreme rides and ascents and are used to continuous rides of 5-6 hours daily for several consecutive days – and are able to say “yes” even though it’s clear that it should be “no” (since this will happen more than once during the trip).

Accommodation in 2-3 star hotels according to the availability along the route

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