Creatures of habit
FOR THE LOVE OF A MOUNTAIN.
The Col de la Bonette has a pull on all of us. We've ridden it too many times to count, traditionally as soon as it's open, we've driven it in a 2CV - scientific purposes you understand - and last year we were in such a rush we followed in the tracks of the snow ploughs as they went about their work. And we're not alone.
Writer Max Leonard knows the climb as well as anyone - it's one of the main characters in his latest book. Joe Dombrowski is the other. He knows what it feels like to go over the top of 'Europe's Highest Road' in a breakaway on the last mountain stage of a Grand Tour.
AN OBSESSION
Different people, different experiences, the same old mountain.
As Max states himself, in Higher Calling, there are more obvious climbs, more iconic ones, steeped in Tour history and hunted by col collecting cyclo-tourists the world round. But the Bonette has all the elements that he broke down to try and find some answers to the big question.
THE QUESTION
What exactly is road cycling’s obsession with the mountains?
THE ROAD
Allegedly, if not technically, Europe’s highest. It's just twenty four simple kilometres of tarmac. But why build it in the first place?
The answer is found among the forts which litter the route and act as architectural landmarks of the rich policital and military history of the region.
If you’re one of the thousands who've ridden Bonette, you’ll remember the passage through the Camp des Fourches, which acts like a gateway between the open pastures above the tree-line and the lunar landscape heights above.
As cyclists, the road is a playground but for the residents of Saint-Etienne-de-Tinée it is an economic lifeline. Both for tourism and agriculture.
AROUND THE ROAD
Are the distractions mere mortals need to reach the top. The details of the mountains, the patchwork of nature, culture and history.
Marmottes, bunkers, herds of sheep, the construction of the road, the waterways, deer, the shepherds, the rock formations towering above everything .
THE RACE
The mountains are where we emulate the legends of cycling. René Vietto, Frederico Bahamontes, perhaps one day Joe Dombrowski.
Climbers. GCs are won almost exclusively by climbers. Queen stages are held in the mountains. The mountain is the other competitor in a race that the riders face and where the most memorable stories play out.
On such a road how is it possible. To achieve such speeds, to get the upper hand on your competitors. Simple, Joe tells Max - it's a matter of control.
If the other guy has it, you don't, and guess what - you'll probably get dropped.
Unlike the professionals, we are not committed the racing line. We are here to enjoy and explore. So let’s see how far we can get up the Cime.
Today, two hundred metres is the limit. Next time.
A HIGHER CALLING
Joe and Max met in the café this time not out on our, and their, mountain. But it's not going anywhere and we'll all be back.
Footnotes:
Photography : Antton Miettinen
