Mont Ventoux 2011

Roadside photographer took this, ran after me to shove his card in my hand. He didn't need to run very fast. My steel bike not exactly stripped down. Think leaving the campsite at 7.30am for a 29km approach helped, rather than Le Tour doing four hours at midday first. Gels, energy drinks beforehand and every thirty minutes, rest the previous day, and adrenaline. Weekend cyclists passed me comfortably, and I didn't dare pause at the Simpson memorial, and for the first time I used the full 21 gears, but it worked itself out.

It's a good memory.‏