The Climb

May 24, 2011

The day started with a quick visit to a boulangerie where I grabbed a quick breakfast and a sandwich for lunch. For 20 km after that point I rode only up towards Col de Schlucht. The road wasn't necessarily steep but it definitely gets draining after a while. The road was lined with a dense forest at the bottom which slowly got thinned out to the almost bare col at just under 1200 meters... I started at 220 meters in Munster. After taking in the views I continued on and and joined the Route de Crêtes which was built during WW1 to supply the French troops who were fighting on the front. This road rolled on and provided spectacular panoramas of small alpine towns and lakes. I also rode past 3 or so ski areas which were not overly impressive. 
After another 20 km I arrived in Le Markstein and took a break with a bottle of coke that was sure to give me a little extra kick in order to summit the Grand Ballon that was looming in the distance. It was 7 kilometers to get there but I didn't find it too bad until I got 1 km away. At that point the road rose sharply and I found myself in granny gear working to keep my legs spinning up the incline. The road was covered in places with names of riders who have rode in the Tour de France in the past when the route has come this direction. After a couple more minutes of work I summited the Grand Ballon (fittingly named for it's round shape) which was at 1424 meters. I enjoyed my time at the top and snapped a couple pictures but I was excited about my descent. I put on my jacket for the initial descent and shoved off. The ride down started off great but was quickly interrupted by some small goats who decided to hang out on the road. I weaved my way through them and while most of them scattered a few of the bolder ones lowered their heads at me. I'm glad they decided not to charge. 
The rest of the descent was carefree and a lot of fun. I reached a maximum of 60 km/HR and enjoyed leaning in and out of the turns as they came. I unfortunately found myself close to the bottom in Willer-Sur-Thur faster than I would have liked. I found a bike path close to the river and rode that to the nearby town of Thann which is where I had planned to camp for the night. After stopping at the tourist office I was informed like before that the campground was not open yet and that a town a couple kilometers away had one. So I hopped on my bike and headed to Cernay and set up camp. The rest of the night was uneventful.