Cinglés du Mont Ventoux

Photo: The classic view approaching the summit

“My stash is behind the Ladies toilets”

Geoff , Sault, 30th May 2026.

This was the quote of the weekend. It needs some explaining. I will a little later.

The weekend in question had been plannned between me and Andy for nearly two years. Finally we had arrived. Arrived in Bédoin, Provence, France. The foot of Mont Ventoux, an iconic mountain in the cycling world.

Our group had grown to include Andy, Flint, Geoff, Jerry, Justin and me. We were there to try and join a club. The “Club des Cinglés du Mont Ventoux“. The Club of the madmen of Mont Ventoux.

The climb to the summit of Ventoux is tough enough but to be a member of the club we had to climb it three times using the three different routes. 137 km wasn’t the problem. The problem was the 4,400 metres (half the height of Mount Everest) of climbing to be completed in one day.

The forecast for the day was perfect. Warm, not too hot and little wind.

Bédoin – Ventoux – Malaucène

06:03 Saturday 30th May 2026. L-R Me, Geoff and Andy.

Six in the group, only three in the photo? Flint, Jerry and Justin were stronger riders than us so they were still having breakfast.

As the only one with a reflective gilet I volunteered to stay at the back for safety reasons. A service to the other two you understand. I wasn’t going to overtake either of them any time soon.

We had followed advice to start with the hardest climb for the first ascent.

In the often said words of Sean Kelly when commentating on a Grand Tour “As you can see” the climb started gently enough then soon became challenging.

Four years ago I’d climbed over 4,000 metres for 5 consecutive days on the Alpi4000 and I’d managed some mountain climbing training in Italy specifically for this attempt. Nonetheless I was surprisingly nervous. I knew I was the slowest climber in the group. I didn’t want to hold the rest up. I was more than happy to keep going into the night if necessary.

Balancing my desire to keep up with Andy and Geoff but keep my heart rate in zone 3 I drove my legs harder than my natural pace. Photos don’t really show the steepness of a climb. Trust me it was steep. And hard.

During the climb we were expecting the other half of the group to over take us. That gave me an incentive. How far could I go before being hauled in by the others?

Grinding my way up, Chalet Reynard came into view. A café with a few metres of flat was a huge relief as I knew the longest steep section of climbing would soon be behind us. My instinct was to keep going, not to break my rhythm, especially as the café wasn’t open yet so not even a chance for some caffeine.

The previous day Geoff drove up and left some supplies hidden in the bushes near the café so Andy and I stopped for just a few minutes with him before heading for the final 6 km to the summit.

A few hundred metres later the road turns right to reveal the summit for the first time since entering the forest section. It was quite a moment. There was still a long way to go but it was the moment my nerves left me and I began to think I could finish the challenge.

The vegetation soon ends leaving the lunar landscape to keep you company.

I managed to keep sight of Andy, but only just.

With 1 km to go we stopped to pay our respects at the Tom Simpson memorial. It marks the spot where the British World Champion and Olympic medalist died during stage 13 of the 1967 Tour de France.

One km left and our little break away group had still not been caught.

08:43 I remember the relief of taking the last bend before the final short ramp to the summit. I remember the legs beginning to sieze up as we got our brevet card stamped and posed for photos. I remember the happiness masking the exhaustion.

Flint and Jerry appeared so our breakaway was over. Justin was not far behind.

As we flew down the mountain to Malaucène I felt two conflicting emotions. “Wow, this is fun” vs “Bollocks, we’ve got to climb back up this”.

09:39 At the bakery in Malaucène we refulled and re-grouped. After Justin explained he’d been unceremoniously spat out of the back of the Flint/Jerry group he decided to ride with us. They formed a breakaway of two, we were the peleton of four.

Malaucène – Ventoux – Sault

“As you can see” the second ascent is only slightly easier than the first. For me it was much worse. Maybe I’d ridden just a little bit too hard on the first climb. By the time we entered the black sections I was struggling. I could keep going but I slowed, keeping my heart rate under control.

I sustained myself with the knowledge that if I just kept pedalling then I will get to the top, eventually. I’ve not yet had to get off and walk any climb and I wasn’t about to start now.

At the Station du Mont Serein a welcome very short flat section and a Coke zero. From then on I fell behind the rest but I knew that if I could manage the final 5 km of this climb then only the easier climb remained.

Tantalisingly close to the summit Andy, Geoff and Justin waited for me so that we could all summit together. Thank you guys.

The last few bends were painful but were overtaken by the feeling that I was going to make the challenge. Fatigue up, confidence up.

13:06 The two hardest climbs were over.

The descent to Sault for lunch was glorious. Encouraged by the fact that we had to pedal quite a bit meant that the climb back up wouldn’t be as steep. The previous descent to Malaucène was on the brakes a lot, no pedalling required.

We lost Geoff on the way down. He’s a fast descender so was way ahead of us. We hadn’t realised he’d stopped at Chalet Reynard to access his hidden bag. We spent the rest of the descent trying to catch him, unaware he was behind us.

A leg sapping short climb up to the town of Sault added a little spice.

13:59 Flint and Jerry had already had their lunch and stayed long enough to see us before heading off for the final climb. They were clearly going to make it in good time. One enormous Caesar salad later we were ready to follow them.

It was over lunch that Geoff revealed that he’d realised “My stash is behind the ladies toilets“. As you can imagine the banter flowed, especially from Flint and Jerry as hey didn’t know abou the hidden bag so just heard it out of context.

Sault – Ventoux – BéDOIN

“As you can see” the summit was visible in the distance, with the emphasis on the word distance. It looked a very long way away.

“As you can see” it really was the easiest ascent, although the final 6 km from Chalet Reynard were a bit tougher than the first time we climbed them many hours before.

I really enjoyed the first 20 km. I could keep up and even managed to chat along the way. Passing Chalet Reynard for the third time just left the 6km to the final summit. I couldn’t keep up but that was fine by me, I knew we were all going to make it.

Andy, Geoff and Justin waited for me at the Tom Simpson Memorial so that we could all ride the final km together. A wonderful thing to do. Thank you.

That was a really tough km. Not so much physically but mentally. I could feel the emotion building up inside me. My chest tightened. My eyes watered behind my sunglasses. I kept thinking of our friend Gino. I had a spinal accident and walked away. He didn’t.

17:41 As we approached the summit for the third time we rode the last few metres four abreast. Then it all came out. I sobbed like a baby in front of dozens of riders who’d made it to the top. Some just the once, others joining the Cinglés. I’ve learnt over the years just to let it all out. Which I did. In public.

Then the triumphal photos.

On our WhatsApp group a friend back in Islington wrote:

“I love the gradual deterioration of Colin on the 3 photos 😀”.

Exhausted but proud, just one last descent back to where we’d started. It was a glorious downhill all the way ride knowing we’d made it. Aching legs and big smiles the whole way.

18:41 Just two things left to do back in Bédoin.

The final stamp in our cards:

and

The following day we rode through the stunning Gorges de la Nesque to have lunch once again in Sault, followed by an excellent celebratory dinner back in Bédoin.