For a couple of years my friends and I go on an annual cycling weekend together. Since we're from the Netherlands which is a very flat country, we always search for an area hilly landscape.
After a few years in the Ardennes, Germany and Luxembourg, we now really wanted some serious climbs. So the destination for this year became Les Vosges, France.
We booked a chalet on top of the mountain Ballon D'Alsace. The Ballon d'Alsace was the first official mountain climb in the Tour de France on 11 July 1905 (source Wikipedia.nl).
From the terrace of the chalet we had a wonderful view over the mountains and valley.
Day 1
On the day of arrival we made a smaller tour of almost 60 kilimeters. We descended from the Ballon D'Alsace, drove around a few kilometers and cycled back up the Ballon from Giromagny to the chalet.
Day 2
The day 2 started with sun, some clouds and a nice temperature. The perfect day for the biggest tour; more than 80 ķilomters and 2000 meters of elevation in total.
We started with the descent of the Ballon D'Alsace. A nice road through the woods. After that we started the nice climb of the Ballon de Servance; with 13,8 kilometer quite a long, but rather easy climb. Only the end of the climb is a bit more steep.
We haven't seen any cars during the climb and the views were beautiful. The Vosges is very green.
After the descent from the Servance the we reached the biggest and toughest climb of the day; Le Planche des Belles Filles.
Fans of the Tour de France probably know this climb. It's only 7 kilometers long, but the average percentage is almost 9%.
The last part of the climb is partly gravel and last part is extremely steep with a percentage upto 24%!
With these percentages it's hard to keep your front wheel on the road and because of the gravel my back wheel started spinning too. But I did manage to make it to the top on my bike.
And the view from the top is truely amazing!
After returning to the chalet we were rewarded with a beautiful sunset.
On the third day of our trip it was rainy and misty. This was the view from our window.
Not the perfect conditions to go for a ride in the mountains, so we made other plans.
We went for a small walk in the hills, but returned soon after leaving becaue it started raining.
In the afternoon the rain stopped, so we could go for a last ride. We decided to descendet the Ballon and drive back up again from the side of Saint Maurice sur Moselle.
The road is nice an curvy and the climb has a steady percentage of about 7%.
Below is a photo of my bike at the sign on top of the Col du Ballon d'Alsace.
On top of the Col du Ballon d'Alsace I spotted a memorial stone. It's a homage for the first winner on this mountain in the Tour de France; René Pottier.
He reached the top first in 1905 and 1906. These were the first years mountains were included in the Tour de France. In 1905 he had to give up a few days later because of an injury, but in 1906 he managed to win the Tour de France.
The story ends tragically because René Pottier hung himself in 1907 because his wife had cheated on him.
A bit of a sad end of the blog like this, but I can really recommend anyone to visit the Vosges.
The nature is very beautiful and if you like walking and cycling you can indulge yourself.
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