A dodgey back and another mountain

The morning started with a trip to see Paul. As well as taking us out on some guided tours he’s a trained osteopath and offered to give us some pre Etape massages. Whilst having mine I asked him to take a look at my back as I often get pain when looking over my right shoulder. He found that I had a couple of vertebrae that were locked together. He managed to release these, with an almighty crack, and showed me some exercises to do.

Leaving Paul’s we picked up the bikes and headed to the mountains south of Arette. Our aim was to cycle into Spain but not put ourselves through too tough a day of cycling. We decided to drive up the main pass to 5k short of St Pier Martin. From there we cycled to the summit and over into Spain. The descent into Spain was fast and fun. We opted to descend only a few miles as we thought a big climb before tomorrows ride would be too much.

Pictured: The view into Spain and our turning point.

As you can see from the pictures the turning point way was still high up. Thinking about it I reckon that the climb up to Pier St Martin is as much, if not more than the Tourmalet. Mark descended a little further whilst Alex and I turned back for a steady climb back to the summit. It was a hot climb back but the views made it worth while. Near one ridge we saw a huge vulture soaring level with us, it was a stunning sight.