Originally Posted by
MichaelW
As long as you have low gears, the Pyrenees are OK. The roads are well graded with few really steep sections so you just spin up. In the Pyrenees I only had to bust a gut over one 50m section. I met riders who said that smaller ranges to the North had far steeper sections.
Were you on a fully loaded touring bike? Are you a super fit young guy?
I did the Col du Tourmalet when I was 56 on a fully loaded (camping gear) bike. Took me four hours and had to stop about 10 times on last km. I'd hate to do it even without camping gear on a tandem.
You definitely need low gears but that doesn't mean it'll be easy.