Raid Pyrénéen

Has anyone done this before?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raid_Pyr%C3%A9n%C3%A9en

Due to a combination of alcohol and bravado, I'm attempting the randonneurs route in September.

Any advice from people who have done it before (on training and/or anything else) would be very welcome!

That looks excellent - are you doing this as an arranged event? or DIY?

i've always fancied doing this unsupported.. barcelona to san sebastian via the pyrenees.. flight out, ferry home..

That looks excellent - are you doing this as an arranged event? or DIY?

It's supported (I'm doing it through my cycling club - G.S Gazzetta) so there's nine of us doing it.

I did the LEL last time but with the sudden upsurge in everyone wanting to cycle, didn't manage to get onto it this time so this is my fall back plan!

I want to do it now, let me know how you get on.

I've got my sights on a few difficult Audax's this year, so may well attempt this next year!

I've done both versions, the Touriste and Randonneur.

The latter is tough, as the 100 hour limit means you have to put in some long days in tough terrain. Have you thought about where you're staying each night, because that is key to completing it on time?

From memory, I did it in 1996, we stayed just shy of the Marie Blanc, in St Marie de Campan, in Massat then Prades before the last push to the coast.

I and my dad will be doing it in 2014 as per his 60th, I'm pretty much putting him under a tough training regime, until he no longer walk the Surrey Hills.

It gonna be awesome.

Do it like a randonneur, sleep under the bus shelter!

We crossed the Aubisque in the pissing rain and encountered fresh snow at the top of the Tourmalet - sleeping in bus shelters would've been beyond the pale.

Is this a fixed route or does it get updated each year or whatever?

Found this route and thought I'd add it to the todo list. Seems like you can "do it properly" and get a medal or something.

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/5475902

Is this a fixed route or does it get updated each year or whatever?

It's organised by a club in Pau or Tarbes, if I recall. There are two official versions, the one you've got above, which gives you 100 hours to do the 500k or so, and the Touristique version, which is a fair bit longer, and goes over many of the lesser known Pyreneen cols. I think you have ten days to do it, but we did it in eight when we rode it (in 1999).

Cyclo Club Béarnais apparently... Pau, right in the kisser!
http://www.ccb-cyclo.fr/en/raid-pyreneen.html#anchor-top

Rando

Tourist

I've already done Transpyrenees, which was something like 950k, 15000m, 30 cols and looks pretty different to the RAID route above although it shares the middle around Aspin and Tourmalet.

Can you ride it the other way around and still get their awards?

This looks like the Touriste version, 800k / 20,000m
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/28973200

Can you ride it the other way around and still get their awards?

Yes, you can claim it either way as far as I understand.

Did you camp, wildcamp, or credit card/hotel it when you did it?

Hotels. I did it the first time with Graham Baxter, then organised it for a group of friends the second time and booked all the hotels in advance.

I might see if I can convince the other half that bivvying is fun but I do like the idea of hotels and nothing much on the bike for a change. Then again, I've also found there's some MTB routes over the Pyrenees... ie. https://bikingthroughspain.com/route/pyrenees-on-mtb/

Trying to work out if the TPR section that includes that is the tourist or the randonneur version.

Did you do the Lost Dot one or the other one?

I found hotels and accom was always somewhere I didn't need it / super expensive, so I ended up bivvying the whole stretch. I did pass some nice-looking campsites though.

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/44420242

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/28815007

I think I did one night in a hotel when it was pissing down off the back of the Tourmalet. IIRC it was pretty cheap and did food so I was pretty happy to be there. I got rained on in the bivvy on first night too so didn't get my 8hrs (I wasn't racing this as TCR was in a couple of weeks, just wanted to fast tour it)

Looks very close to the same, to my untrained eye apart from what looks like an out-and-back climb up a dead end from Bagneres-de-Louchon?

I found that every time I thought I'd book a hotel I realised it was 2 mountains away and I was either going to rock up there at 2am or at 6 in the evening, or they were off-route up another mountain enough to make me decide not to bother.

I'd also twigged by this point that public toilets in this bit of the mountains I came across were often clean / almost unused, often with a plug socket...

out-and-back climb up a dead end from Bagneres-de-Louchon

Superbagneres

I'm curious about the campsites. I think I ate dinner in one but then climbed another mountain and camped half way up or something. I like the tent but it's big and heavy and bivvy can be way more stealth.

I'm almost 100% certain I bivvyed near a bear or bears on the Col de Mente. Whatever it was was enough to have me back on the bike within 10 mins at 3am (probably just a boar tbh, noisy bastards)

I'm more worried about humans than animals in Europe. Maybe I'll be more on edge in Canada or Africa but in the Pyrenees not so much :)

I think if we do this as a tour, a lot of fun is had in the bars, hotels, etc. but the bivvy/tent is a nice backup option when only expensive hotels are around or you're just not going to make your planned arrival. Frenchies are shit when it comes to staying open for late checkins.

I've not been for 20 years, but there were no expensive hotels in the Pyrenees then. In one place, which I'd not recommend as the accommodation was very basic, we paid €20 per person for board + dinner + breakfast.