PROBABLY THE LONGEST DAY OF MY LIFE!
By Dominic Rose

I get out of bed at 3 o’clock in the middle of the night. Willy gets up too. After a breakfast of two bananas and some rolls I find myself at 3:45 with trembling knees at the slate grey starting point at Olivier’s Gate in Bedoin.

Our cameraman has probably forgotten us. Seconds pass. Suddenly a large Mercedes with French plates stops behind me. My heart beats even faster. My first reaction is that it’s the police and that they’ll want to know what a sandwich man is doing here in the middle of the night.
It’s incredible, but Marcel Lemmens, the nicest Belgian in Bedoin, has come to encourage me. My eyes tear up a little. Our cameraman and his driver arrive right on time.

At exactly 4 AM Marcel gives me a push start in the light of the Belgian television cameras. The village bell tower rings out the time. Accompanied by the whole team, I head out into the night in the direction of St. Estève.

The nighttime silence works for me. There’s nothing to see…except for some small mice crossing the road right in front of my wheel. All I hear is the sound of the broom wagon’s motor.
From time to time I hear sounds from the woods. Some does and even a wild boar disappear into the trees under the headlights.
These were our first supporters.

Thanks to the ease in smooth movement I reach the Reynard Chalet in an hour. Everyone is still asleep there.

Down below, I see the little lights of Provençal villages completely at peace. In the car’s headlights I can see my shadow, dancing to my cadence on the white rocks. The night-time scenery is fantastic. It works for me once again. All I have to do is to stay calm and, above all, to keep my speed down. This is not always obvious.

After an hour and 45 minutes I reach the summit where Michel and Nans, my supporters, have spent the night in their motor home to make sure that they will be able to take a photo of this moment.

The descent to Malauccene is fantastic since it was repaved last June. It’s like a freeway without a toll!
I descend at 70 kilometers per hour between two cars. I have to use the brakes occasionally so as not to pass the car. Fortunately, there is no upward-bound traffic at this early hour.

It took me 35 minutes to reach the bottom, where other supporters were waiting for me along with Tom Kenis who had become a true Ventoux madman the day before (with three ascents). It was great to see him.

Malaucene is still completely quiet, except for a few shopkeepers. I eat a banana and in the lightening darkness I leave for the summit and the sunrise. I get there in an hour and 40 minutes, a little too late to share the sunrise with my supporters, who thoroughly enjoyed it. The wind came up along with the sun. I will have to use my strength wisely.
Michel quickly takes a photo of my second summit.

Warmly dressed, I descend towards Bédoin for my breakfast. I have a small amount of French bread and I change to less warm clothes in Florans, our vacation center.

After a short half hour at 19 kilometers per hour, at 8 kilometers I take the forest road through the trees. My friend Steven rides with me. The road is markedly better for riding, with fewer holes than in June, when I did my five climbs. I keep to 10 kilometers per hour.
I pass a Dutchman with a very red face and he is trying to stand on his pedals using the smallest cog on his triple chain ring.

He shouts out : " Are you Dominic? what kind of a party do we have here " ?
Ah, I didn’t know that I was already so well known here!

During the final kilometers the photographer from La Provence comes to take some photos for his Sunday paper.
After two and a half hours I surprise my support team with my third summit.

As usual, I add a few layers of clothing, eat a banana, and head down to Bédoin at speed.
I stop at Jan’s restaurant, the Gate of Olivier, for a good helping of spaghetti. Jan makes sure that I don’t waste any time at lunch. Thanks, Jan. It tasted great too.

Encouraged by some supporters, including Willem, the author of a book about Mount Chauve, I leave for the forest road and Mount Serein. Steven rides with me through the trees.

Things start getting more and more difficult, especially on the climb to Mount Serein after the Grand Pines.
On the way up for the completion of my fourth summit, I pass a line of touring cyclists from Limbourg.

They stay with me as I head for Malaucene and during the first kilometers of the climb.

I’m grinding my teeth … I ask Willy to get my mountain bike ready at 11%. After the Lliotard Chalet, I ride into the woods, heading through the tall pines in the direction of the Reynaud Chalet.
The whole team is waiting for me at the Hermitage plain. I stay on my mountain bike for the last five kilometers past the Simpson monument for my fifth summit. In June I was already the Devil by this time. My wife Christine is waiting for me at the summit, dressed up like a devil … thanks Christine.

I go back down as far as the Hermitage plain.

Nans, my supporter, had prepared some pastries. Although I was tired, I ate well.
Others on the team opened a bottle of Muscat from Beaumes of Venice.

I tell Willy that this will be the longest night of my life. Willy understood well that I will keep going right to the end and that I believe in doing so.

I decide to take refuge for a short half hour, to rest in the motor home. I forget the time and the fact that I will have to ride through the woods in the dark. I trust Willy to solve this problem.

My bicycle light is no longer working and neither is it feasible to continue accompanied by a motor bike.
As I’m descending towards Bédoin, there’s a shepherd also going down with hundreds of sheep. This reassures Willy that the Chamois road to Grand Pines is passable in a small truck.

From Bédoin I start climbing again towards Chalet Reynard. The sun has set behind the horizon.

Followed by Willy, I enter the woods in the headlights of the car. This was a spectacular route on small roads full of stones and dangerous curves. Along the way I point out the dangerous points for Willy. We come within centimeters of a ditch.
When I finished my sixth summit at midnight, I was met by some supporters who had gathered there to offer me a bottle of excellent wine.
Thank you Chris and Johan. These were two fellow madmen who were full of admiration for my accomplishment. They also believed in it.

During the television interview in the middle of the night I confided to them that I had to go all the way to the bottom of my resources, and perhaps even further. I also confess that I’m never returning to the Giant…
Willy is surprised by my reaction … it is as if he has lost his heart in Provence.

Then I make my final descent towards Sault. And my team made me suffer again climbing to the center of Sault. And they were right.
I had the impression that it would never end !

Steven rode with me through the very cold night for my final climb. Although this climb can be easy, in these circumstances it is a true Calvary. Still a long way from the summit, I see little lights in the night. There’s no going back.

It hurts to move forward. The car has a hard time keeping to my speed.

At 3 AM I reach the summit for the seventh time.

Some tourists who are sleeping at the summit wake up and wonder what’s happening …

I also wonder why I did it. I really didn’t deserve such inhuman suffering …
My friends opened a bottle of champagne … all I could think of was my bed …

That was the least that I deserved …

Joepie, I did it, becoming the first Gold Devil (7 climbs).

I want to thank my entire team: above all my wife Christine, who probably suffered even more than I did, my son Louis, the man in the shadows who was present everywhere, Willy, the Limbourg cyclists, the TV team, supporters Michel, Nans, Kris, Johnan, Tom and Co, Koti bicycles, Marcel, Willem, and Jacqui.


The Golden Devil: Dominic Rose
Date: Saturday 6 September 2003

Leave Bédoin: 4:00
Summit: 5:45
Time of 1st climb:1:45

Leave Malaucene: 6:15
Summit: 8:00
Time of 2nd climb: 1:45

Rest in Bédoin: breakfast: 8:35 – 9:25

Leave Bédoin : 9:25
Forest road (7K): 9:55 (MTB)
Chalet Reynard (5K from the summit) 11:10
Summit: 11:42
Time of 3rd.climb: 2:17

Rest in Bédoin : spaghetti lunch :12:15 – 13:05

Leave Bédoin : 13:05
Forest road to Mount Serein (7K):13:40 (MTB)
Summit: 15:20
Time of 4th climb: 2:15

Leave Malaucene: 16:05
Forest road, Mount Serein:17:40 (MTB)
Leave by the Chalet Reynard road:18:15
Summit: 18:53
Time of 5th climb: 2:48

Spaghetti and rest :19:05 – 20:00

Leave Bédoin : 20:45
Forest road from Chalet Reynard to Mount Serein
Summit: 23:30
Time of 6th climb : 2:45

Leave Sault : 00:40
Summit : 03:05
Time of 7th climb : 2:25

Total length of the climbs: 18:00 – 315K
Overall change of elevation: 11,250m

To access Dominic Roses, Topographical Guide:

www.velo-concept.com/index.html?pg=articles&rub=3&cat=60&id=510&lang=

Willy Reuvis for JDC. Rights reserved.
Photo WR. Rights reserved.