Kelly’s Mont Ventoux Permanent
Most folks prepare for a 1200K by riding a brevet series and a bunch of centuries. Kelly Smith decided that was not quite enough. He flew to France to bag a permanent on the Monster of Provence, the eerie Mont Ventoux. Kelly gives us the randonneur view of the infamous Tour de France climb via his story Here.
Kelly Atop Mont VentouxAn excerpt:
Nearing the top we stopped to fix a flat. When we started up again I almost missed the famous monument to Tom Simpson, who collapsed and died in the ’67 Tour de France (a fact just as well left out when telling non-riding spouses about the mountain). His last words should be every cyclist’s motto: put me back on the damn bike!
Tags: brevet, DC Randonneurs, Mt. Ventoux, randonneuring, RUSA
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May 25, 2008 at 11:19 pm
It is a good quote but those weren’t Simpson’s last words. They were created by a journalist.