My fascination with Deux Mille cols in one word: – Freedom!
Being in the mountains, especially the small and empty roads, makes me feel very small and humble, but it also gives me a ‘king of the world’ feeling. My overall target is to be as much in the mountains as possible, which is quite hard for people like me, who live in the northern part of The Netherlands. My target until 2019 was to ride the course of Race Across The Alps (RATA); I managed to do that, which still gives me energy and a great feeling.
I would love to make an attempt to do a route I once saw that includes seven 2000m+ cols: Izoard – Agnel – Sampeyre – Fauniera – Lombarde – Bonnette – Vars. I don’t know if I will ever try, but making plans and having dreams are significant. Other (more realistic) targets: I still have not done some of the most beautiful cols yet. I hope to do them in the following years, amongst others Finestre and Nivolet.
It’s hard to pick a favorite col. In the Alps, I like Agnello (Italian side), Iseran (south side), Timmelsjoch (Italian side), Grimsel (both sides) and Manghen (south side.) In the Pyrenees, I love Portet, Pailheres (east side,) and in the Dolomites, you will find the best small roundtrip in the world: Gardena – Sella – Pordoi – Campolongo (Sella Ronda.)
Riding cols is great. I love to do it as much as possible. It can be done as a sport (once in a while, I try to speed up,) but I like it most when I’m not in a hurry. The best days are when things come together, enjoying nature and having great legs simultaneously.
– Wim Strijker
