You’ll feel this day in your legs early on. Your breathing needs to find a rhythm, and your head has to keep up. The hardest part is a climb of well over 400 metres in one go, steep and with little chance to rest. Find your own pace and don’t fight it. A short stop to look around you costs nothing.
After that, it’s up and down all the way. The descents ask as much of your knees as the climbs do of your lungs. Include your breaks and you’ll be on the go for well over 7 hours. The woods give you shade, while the open stretches give you views and little shelter. At the end, you walk into Saint-Jean-de-la-Blaquière. Rucksack off, boots off, and then sit down for a moment with something cold in your hand.