A tricky one for me this year. It has to be one of the rides completed whilst I was in France. Normally ascending Ventoux via the Gorges de la Nesque would be my highlight however I've been lucky enough to do that ride a few times now , so the most memorial was the circuit of Le Ballon d'Alsace , la Planche de Super Belles Filles returning via the Col de Cheveres. This was my 1st cycle in the Vosges and everything was just about perfect, smooth roads, not too busy ( in fact very quiet most of the time), a very friendly cafe stop and a long downhill at the end of the day, when my legs were totally shot! It finished up 88kms with 2160m ascent, about my limit these days.
We stayed here, a very nicely equipped ski chalet in the town of St Maurice sur Moselle. The location was fantastic, only 2kms from the start of the climb to the Ballon d'Alsace and 1km from the town, supermarket , cafes and an entry point to a 60km traffic free cycle route around the valleys.
The climb to the summit of the Ballon d'Alsace was very quiet ( we had set off at 08:00hrs as it was forecast to be very hot, around 35c) . The gradient averaged 7% so wasn't too taxing . We arrived at the summit before the cafe had opened with still very few people about.
The area is very cycle friendly, we passed this homage on the lower slopes!
Ironworks at the summit of the Ballon d'Alsace
After a very rapid descent to Giromagny ( passing lots of cyclists ascending ) it was a quick coffee before a section of rolling road ahead of the start of the climb to La Planche de Belles Filles. This is a much harder climb, not helped by the kms already in the legs plus by now it was over 30c. We were very happy to arrive at the summit of La Planche de Belles Filles. Motor vehicles are barred from ascending further but cyclists can take on the 'Super Planche de Belles Filles' , a gravel section with 20% parts. It was very difficult to maintain traction on the final section and certainly far too steep to descend on the loose surface. I chickened out and walked my bike back to the tarmac!
Unfortunately the cafe at the summit of the tarmac road had ran out of food - there was a major MTB event on that day. So it was straight back down before turning onto the Col de Cheveres. This col was super quiet, very narrow enclosed tree lined roads - swelteringly hot with lots of flies to discourage stopping! Unfortunately no refreshments available until after the col was completed and we had reached the col de Severance. From there it was another fast descent to join the cycle path that took us back to St Maurice. On the descent we passed a large group of vintage mopeds! Unfortunately no photos as by now my phone battery was out.
and crossing 2 sets of dodgy lock gates - highly recommended to get the childhood fun smile going
