After a great dinner at the Stage 4 Finish Hotel, which happened to be in an old converted monastery, I decided, at the last minute to keep my initial plan of doing the extreme version of Stage 5. The Queen Stage was hard enough in and of itself, but the extreme version tacked on some more kilometers and more vertical feet, pushing the total to over 7,000 vertical meters on the day. It also meant an earlier start, 5:30 am roll out right into a climb. This meant our first climb of the day, roughly on hour, was all with lights.
The short story is, Stage 5 was the hardest day on the bike I have ever had. It was physically punishing but visually rewarding at many times in the 14 hours or so I was out there.
My legs were already tired from Stage 4, so the early start of 5 was even harder. The first climb was generally ridden together by the 6 of us that did the extreme version. It is hard to say what the grade was on that first climb since it was all dark, but it was steep in places for extended periods. The descent that followed, again in the dark, was a road with potholes everywhere, making for an interesting descent. Eventually though, the sun did rise - yes, we did get some sun today. We did get an extra feed stop due to our early start and the coffee was just right. From there it was into the rest of the day to join the main route.
Many climbs followed and they did get steeper and steeper all building to L’Angrilu, the penultimate climb of the day. Heeding Phil’s advice helped today - focus on scenery and not on stats. Prolonged 12-14% stretches made this key. The real wake up call for the day came on the second climb after lunch, it had a ramp that seemed to go on for a kilometer at 18-20% until you crested that rise which was not the top. The entire time I was thinking of that looming last climb. Just before it though, my left leg seemed to be cramping. Not happy about that with what was coming.
I felt like I limped into Feed Stop #3 and Aimar once again lightened my spirits. After fueling up, it was time to head out and up. Clouds now covered the top of L’Angrilu, so it was hard to say what we’d find at the top. The climb itself lived up to its reputation. It was insane and cruel. It had ramps of 20% that went on for more than a kilometer, that was after the 14% sections that kicked things off. All in all it was a 12K climb. Once arriving at the top, there was not much to see. It was engulfed in a mist. So really hard to see where it ended, which it did. I suffered on that climb, like I have never suffered before. Trying to nurse my calf cramp made me ride seated a lot and at those grades, my knees were screaming. I was satisfied to get to the top, just wish there had been more to see.
A cool descent followed and there was still one more climb left in the day but when I hit that climb, my legs refused to work, so I struggled to get to the top, it was not a hard climb, but nearing 7,000 vertical meters now, my legs were shot. I did get to the top, but not pretty way.
Then on to the hotel, 5 kilometers more or so, I felt like I was crawling by this point, but I made it. Extreme version done - I was toasted at the end. I got to our room and just laid there for what seemed like an hour.
Next up, recovery Stage 6....
Rewarding view at sunrise after a 5:30 am start and climb in the dark
Just one of today's many Col views
Top of L'Angrilu...hard to argue that it is a climb from hell
Stopping to take picture of the switchback on L'Angrilu which starts nearly a 1km 20% average gradient stretch, took it on the way down as there would be nearly no way to start again after stopping
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