Just back from 40 mile ride that took in ascent and descent of Mt Ventoux and used up 2 batteries. Mainly on Tour mode (Bosch 2nd out of 4 modes) with a bit of Sport on the really bad bits. Going uphill for 14 miles or so is clearly hard on the battery :-(. Max 39 mph coming down as it was very windy and also busy. The best thing I saw was a man riding a unicycle all the way up !! Don't know how he would have got down though..... Casualty - 1 rear spoke a mile from home. Lucky it didn't go on the descent.
Cream - crackered :-)
- Thread starter Hugh
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It looks like the guy on the Chopper only did a few hundred meters. He's going noticeably slower at the end of the vid, and it looks like he's about to be overtaken.
It was a pretty tall unicycle with maybe 24 inch wheel, hydraulic rim brake and a kind of extended saddle nose that allowed the rider to hold on with one hand while pedalling. I'm still incredulous though !
The clip I saw was longer.
Although I didn't watch it to the end, he passed a quite a few roadies in the bit I did watch.
The OP can tell us, but presumably Ventoux is one of those continental climbs which is not desperately steep, but goes on forever.
One or two people have had a go at the climb, quite sure I could do it in under 57 minutes, with a battery change along the way.
http://app.strava.com/segments/4635133
http://app.strava.com/segments/4635133
I think you might struggle Artstu. Here's a fit cyclist doing it in 1:06:50 on a BH, with a battery change. He had a couple of attempts to get that. Knocking 10 minutes off that time would be quite an ask - but if you do it I'd definitely watch it!
Ventoux has a strange mystique. It's not the highest climb in the Tour de France list, nor the steepest, although for sustained gradient it is mighty big. It is very windy, and there's something about its lunar landscape and lack of vegetation of any sort at alititude which gives it a certain aura.
Just looking on our favourite Wiki site and the fastest (normal) ascent was 55 mins 51 seconds in a climbing time trial in 2004. A crazy individual by the name of Jean-Pascal Roux managed to climb it 11 times in 24 hours ...
Michael
Ventoux has a strange mystique. It's not the highest climb in the Tour de France list, nor the steepest, although for sustained gradient it is mighty big. It is very windy, and there's something about its lunar landscape and lack of vegetation of any sort at alititude which gives it a certain aura.
Just looking on our favourite Wiki site and the fastest (normal) ascent was 55 mins 51 seconds in a climbing time trial in 2004. A crazy individual by the name of Jean-Pascal Roux managed to climb it 11 times in 24 hours ...
Michael
It's a long way from home, that's for sure. If you could teleport me there on a day with favourable conditions I believe I could do it.
On some of the climbs in Yorkshire that the Tour riders rode, I can beat their times quite easily. Of course I realise they're not a 12 mile 5,000 feet climb.
A huge number of fit and healthy riders could smash those times on an e-bike, I know a few locally who could easily do the climb in under 50 minutes on my bike.
On some of the climbs in Yorkshire that the Tour riders rode, I can beat their times quite easily. Of course I realise they're not a 12 mile 5,000 feet climb.
A huge number of fit and healthy riders could smash those times on an e-bike, I know a few locally who could easily do the climb in under 50 minutes on my bike.
And it claimed the life of Tommy Simpson in 1967. That's my immediate association when I hear the name of Mont Ventoux.
Really? I didn't see the climb this year but they certainly panned to it last year. It does further the mystique of the climb though - it is so serious it has killed.
If I recall correctly, his drug of choice was 'only' amphetamines. Hardly the cocktail of steroids and other nasties that the wrong'uns consume today. But I take your point. I admired Simpson for his gutsy riding, and I feel that on that day he just overplayed it, with tragic consequences.
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