Cycling buddy Anne, being in training for her first Etape du Tour this July, wanted to do a ride with some climbing this fine Sunday. She accomplished this by choosing a route that had exactly zero kilometers of flat surface. Seriously. Right from our start in the village of Lasalle our first climb began. Here is a shortlist of the passes we made it up today. I’m missing at least one or two, I’m sure.
Col du Mercou, Col de l’Asclier, Col du Pas, Col de l’Asclier (again!), Col de Pierre levée.
Our day started early, as you can see from the shadow below. I picked Stephen up at a groggy 6:45.
Stephen, atop our first col of the day.
And something you see a lot of in the mountains of Le Sud – memorials to local Resistance fighters who were killed during WWII. The area has a long history of rebellion and contrariness. 
I never get tired of the views in these mountains.
A paved-over goat track – what most of your climbs will look like in the Cévennes.
Our 2nd ascent of of l’Asclier. Here’s Stephen, thinking this was the last climb of the day.
Anne, showing that she is more than ready for her Etape.
Just a pretty fountain.
Stephen again, definitely positive that this was his last col (it wasn’t as it turns out, but it was close).
Just a pretty church.
Attached to a pretty village.
And finally, proof that the rebellious contrarians of the Cévennes also have a good sense of humor.
Thanks Anne, for the excellent route planning and Stephen for the excellent lunch!
Strava, for those interested in awesome-looking profiles: http://app.strava.com/activities/62280148
The Vicious Cycle 
Over 5000m of climbing – very impressed! I was out in damp chilly Scotland this morning and feel very under prepared for the Etape with those stats for comparison.
I should have warned about my Strava numbers. They are all wrong. 2450m according to Polar, which is always correct. I hope you feel better now!
You really should get a Garmin! 😉 BTW, still awesome profile, totally jealous!
I know, so everyone keeps telling me!
Ah! Thank you – that’s something of a relief. I did a Sportive last weekend with 2200m so feel I’m playing in the same game.
Beautiful pictures of what seems like a beautiful if strenuous ride.
It was tough, but we were all feeling good. The views helped, I think.
hey..are we done yet? are we there yet? 🙂
Just one more ‘2 km’ col to go, Stephen.
You’ll notice that I skipped town the moment that Anne unveiled that route.
Your absence was noted, Erik. As was your lame excuse 😉
Kudos to Anne I will follow her progress on the Etape as best I can, if she blogs, will you link? If not, now I suppose the burden is on you:-):-)… thanks again for these posts and photos, they are perfect!
No blog…yet, I’m afraid, but I will be sure to record her triumphs. It’s nice to get out and be able to take photos of new places again. Glad you liked them!
Given the size of the hill, I thought it is ironic that the picture of the church is from the graveyard side?
It was after the last climb, too. A fitting place for a long pause.
Clearly a good resting place…..
Brilliant stuff! No wind on Sunday for you all as a nice little extra resistance bonus?
Wind!