The mindfulness of bicycle touring across a mountain range

Last year I undertook a bicycle tour across the Pyrenees from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea. 800kms, 23 mountain passes and around just over 17000m of vertical gain. The idea to take that tour came after interviewing one of my Seek Travel Ride podcast guests – Max Schnell – and hearing him talk about the enjoyment of cycling up climbs with a bike all loaded up.

I live in the Pyrenees in France and the idea of putting extra weight on my bicycle to pedal up and over them hadn’t felt all that appealing to me before. But on hearing Max speak, I started getting that feeling of an itch that needed scratching so with that thought in mind I got to planning and set off three weeks later.

That trip wasn’t long by many people’s standards, but it was a pretty transformational one for me. Appreciating the beauty of being totally in the moment. When all efforts go towards pedalling slowly up steep inclines, you get the benefit of noticing a lot more. The sound of the wheels on the road, the birds, wind rustling through the trees and being mesmerised with the way the light is touching the landscape. There’s also an appreciation of seeing changes in the landscape with elevation gain, and also just how different things look from one side of the climb to the next valley along.

I’m sure many here can relate as well. I was recently asked to write about this experience and you can read a much lengthier write up about it here – [https://jackgreenwood.substack.com/p/spoke-8-traversee-des-pyrenees-a](https://jackgreenwood.substack.com/p/spoke-8-traversee-des-pyrenees-a)

I’m definitely hooked on riding slowly up mountains with a loaded bike that is for sure, and I can’t wait for my next trip.

[Basque Country rollers. ](https://preview.redd.it/ix8zp75ciahc1.jpg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9c52920a38016c96a49fa09db439dfe262cae77b)

[Col du Tourmalet summit](https://preview.redd.it/ckcja75ciahc1.jpg?width=3818&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=51d946299cb18ddf20177f42373c371e30c22027)

[Dropping into the thick fog on the Tourmalet descent. ](https://preview.redd.it/1vw8u65ciahc1.jpg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6cb15f6e8c82c7024e5f9cbccbc0fd23cdb46688)

[Col de Pailheres – enshrouded in fog](https://preview.redd.it/dq2a775ciahc1.jpg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9d1e903557b8f76b75bb243717b123c4c1e38ab4)

[Visibility of just a few metres. An eery experience](https://preview.redd.it/ko3du65ciahc1.jpg?width=3850&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8a81c3863fa5d3ca00687745fd0fa5bda013d727)

[Descending through the fog was a theme we had on more than one mountain pass](https://preview.redd.it/8n8fu65ciahc1.jpg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=09d46f440d6fd661b0b35e26ec67c5bcb4df6007)

[This is quintessential pyrenees, green fields and peaks with spaghetti roads snaking their way up the mountains. ](https://preview.redd.it/hmxuy65ciahc1.jpg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=932969391c112c4ba457cc2ce08072bdc1e0731c)

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by elbearo_BM