The Lost Boys Tour d'Alsace: Part 3

Strasbourg sweets...

Thursday, July 5

Well, yet another miserable day. The dark clouds still rolled overhead but taking our place in the S-Max, and Chill following in his ‘Onda, as the French call it, we bravely headed out to one of the great goals of the trip: the Ballon d’Alsace.

The Ballon d’Alsace, although not on par with some of the other climbs in the region, let alone the Alps or Pyrenees, was immortalized on July 10, 1905 when it became the site of the first official mountain climb in the Tour de France, the first edition of which had taken place two years earlier. I have done a translation of a German story about that first ride. The Tour de France, nothing if not with a sense of its own history, did the same stretch on the same day in 2005. The climb is interesting not only for its history but because you can approach it from three different directions. Our plan was to start in St-Maurice-sur-Moselle, ride up to the top and then head east downhill to Serwen before turning around and going back up. The idea was to descend again and then circle around and ride another big climb, the Col du Ballon de Servance. Lots of climbing and descending in a very contained area. Or so the plan went...

The drive was pretty miserable, and further than we had expected. It was pouring rain as we drove, and we stopped at a roadside bar on the N-66 for some coffee and with the hope that the rain would relent. As we pushed on, it was clear that this was not going to happen. We parked at the local tourism office in St-Maurice, which was directly across from where the road up the Ballon began and it was here, O My Brothers, that I decided to pack it in and wait in the car.

Basically, it had not stopped raining, it was bitterly cold and I had only brought gear suitable for normal July weather to Europe with me. I loaned my armcovers and windvest to Steve Z. and everyone packed on their raingear. The group bravely headed out on the 13 km climb and I contented myself with figuring out the S-Max’s navigation system.

Ready to attack the Ballon d'Alsace

Just over an hour later the Lost Boys returned. It was an epic trip but they had only gone up to the top and turned around once photos were taken. The summit, which is only around ll78 m, was 6C, so I could not blame them for the dash up and back. I got cold just listening to the tale of woe, and was disappointed to here that once they reached the top, of course, they could not see anything due to the fog and clouds. So much for our historical ride...







To cheer ourselves up, we piled into the car again and headed off to visit Strasbourg, birthplace of Marcel Marceau, for a few hours. At this point the weather had become quite glorious and we walked around the main square and admired the huge gothic sandstone Cathedral of Our Lady. Of course, at that moment the authorities threw everyone out of the place so that they could give the daily noon lecture on the famous astronomical clock. We passed by an amazing store selling a vast array of cookies and soon wandered off for some food ourselves, enjoying mammoth sandwiches in an ice cream place.

Bergheim

After we did the long drive back to the gite, the weather actually improved enough that I decided to go out by myself and just ride north along the main road through the vineyards. I passed Ribeauvillé, of course, but in Bergheim I turned off the road to take some photos of the town showing the fortified walls. I noticed a sign on a sideroad pointing to a German World War II cemetery and decided to look, riding upwards through the vineyards until the road ended. I had an excellent view of Bergheim and the surrounding Rhine Valley, and rolled back down to the main road, turning right and passing through Rorschwihr and coming to St-Hippolyte, which was about to celebrate its Beer Festival on the coming weekend. I photographed the banner to prove to the others that there actually was beer in Alsace, and turned around. At this point the rain returned but I got back to the gite without getting very wet but with only 21 kms on the bike computer.

Friday, July 6

Of course, now that people were starting to leave the weather improved. The Thin Man had departed the evening before, taking the night train back to Berlin. Chill was drove out, heading back in the direction of Geneva while Anti-Gravity Jon packed up his bike. Dr. Chef, Steve Z. and I were under less time pressure and we agreed to head off to the north for some nice climbs near the town of Villé, which meant retracing my ride of Thursday to St-Hippolyte and then continuing.





The weather was quite good and we reached the first major junction at Chatenois quite rapidly. The next stretch of road, a short piece of the N-59 and then a long stretch of the D424, had the most traffic of any part of our rides and we were relieved to get to Villé. However, the roads were poorly marked here and we departed with some confusion and much consultation of the maps, eventually finding our way to an excellent climb, which took us along the D23 to Urbeis and the Col d’Urbeis (602 m). We turned right on the D214 and were rewarded with excellent views as we climbed further to the village of Le Climont.

Steve Z. had asked me about some creaking noises his bike was making and I had a sense of foreboding. Sure enough, in Le Climont his cassette body failed, exactly as mine had in Maryland a month earlier, and his Tour d’Alsace was at an end. Dr. Chef and I continued on the most direct route back to the gite, passing the Col de Steige (534m) and riding at time trials speeds through Maisonsgoutte and Ville and then back all the way home, with only a moment or two of rain along the way. We did stop to take pictures of us at the Col sign, of course. Once back at the gite, Dr. Chef took the S-Max and went back to collect Steve Z., and that was the end our week in Alsace. At least we had managed to put in 85 km in one day, with a reasonable gain of 720 m.

Saturday, July 7

Mario on his Gios at Haut-Koenigsbourg

Well, things were not quite over. My friend Mario and his wife Birgit arrived on Saturday morning. They were camping a few miles down the road and he was picking me up in preparation for the next stage of my trip, a week in the Black Forest, just across the Rhine. Steve Z. and Dr. Chef were preparing to head off to the Frankfurt Airport with the rental car and we said our goodbyes.




Stork on the prowl

I went with Mario to the campsite--where storks were wandering around, cadging handouts-- and we put on our cycling gear and took our bikes out for a ride, going back up to Chateau du Haut Koenigsbourg and enjoying the descent to Ste-Marie-aux-Mines, the climb back up to Ribeauvillé and then returning to Hunawihr and the campsite in Zellenberg.

There were showers to be had and we got changed. Mario and Birgit packed up the VW Westfalia van and we drove up the street for lunch in Riquewihr, including a wine tasting, before going east and crossing the Rhine into Germany. A short while later we were in Biengen at a very comfortable guest house, and met up with Frank, from the Harz Mountains, and Brett (a fellow Squadra Coppi rider) and his girlfriend Lex, the others in our party. We walked down the street and over an uproarious dinner on a restaurant terrace planned our upcoming German cycling adventures.

Birgit samples the flammkuchen in Riquewihr

The Lost Boys Tour d'Alsace: the Complete Story

Saturday, June 30, 2007

After experiencing crappy weather in Berlin for a week, I joined the Thin Man on the train on Saturday, June 30th and crossed Germany by train, making our way to Offenburg, where we transferred, then again at Strasbourg and finally arriving in Colmar around 4 pm. Hauling bike cases is never easy at the best of times but working in tandem we were able to get them up and down elevators and to the right platforms without losing any time and missing any connections. The fast trains in Germany, the ICE (InterCityExpress!), do not allow bicycles but we were technically travelling with cases so none of the train crews made any difficulty for us. There are certain spots on the ICE between cars where you can nicely set up a Performance bike case so that it is not in anyone’s way and does not tip over.

Arriving in Colmar we went to the taxi stand in front of the station and found the only taxi there, a huge Renault Espace minivan (not so mini, really). The cabdriver was pretty grumpy and was worried our plastic cases might somehow damage his vehicle but we soon had both bike cases, our suitcases and ourselves ensconced in the Renault and headed out of town. We soon found ourselves on a narrow road passing through the gorgeous villages of the Alsatian wine region–vineyards absolutely everywhere!-- as we headed towards Hunawihr, 15 km or so away. The towns were so picturesque, with flowers in all the windows. In one town the traffic was backed up a little as a wedding was taking place at City Hall, with a group of firemen seeing one of their own off into marital bliss.

Hunawihr, with its fortified church

I had selected Hunawihr, a very small town, as it was directly in the heart of the region where we wanted to go cycling, and because our gite, or holiday accommodation, was there. At the Meyer-Rooms we had booked the largest space. We were the first of the group to arrive and the lady managing the place let us in. We left the bike cases outside with the idea that we would build up the bikes later. The rooms were very nice and there was more than enough space for the five of us. There was a fully-equipped kitchen, two bathrooms and even a washing machine, something that every cyclist on holiday can appreciate.

The vineyards across the street from our gite

Soon after, Dr. Chef arrived with the rental minivan, a Ford S-Max. He brought Anti-Gravity Jon with him from the Strasbourg Airport but told us that Steve Z., who was also supposed to arrive in Strasbourg, had missed his connecting flight in Paris. It was a long day as both Anti-Gravity Jon and Steve Z. were coming in from Seattle. Dr. Chef had flown from Washington, DC to Frankfurt and picked up the van there, whereas the Thin Man and I were not going to be suffering much from jet lag.

Dr. Chef prepares his front tire for special treatment

We all claimed our spaces and then went outside and started to work on the bicycles. I was delighted that in fifteen minutes I had mine back together again and Jon and the Thin Man were not far behind. Dr. Chef was hard at work when an explosion occurred as the front tire he had just inflated blew up. The first flat of the trip and nobody had even gone for a ride yet! This was soon fixed, and we made a quick trip in the van to the neighbouring town of Ribeauvillé to find a supermarket but the directions given to us did not quite work so in the end Dr. Chef dropped us off at the gite and he drove off to Strasbourg to pick up Steve Z.


Anti-Gravity Jon and his Anti-Gravity Trek

Anti-Gravity Jon, the Thin Man and I went for a ride into the village of Hunawihr itself to test our bikes. It was very charming but pretty sleepy. We rode through the town, noticing the first of many, many wine-tasting (dégustation) places, and then rode up out of the town, following a sign that was supposed to indicate Alsation vineyard cyclepath. Jon and I charged up the hill, which hit grades of 15 percent, and the Thin Man started off strongly then faded. He realized then that he had assembled the inner chainring on his bicycle backwards and could not shift into the lower gears. He still rode very strongly in spite of this, and we soon turned back to do a little more tuning at the gite.

One of our storks

Dr. Chef and Steve Z. returned a short time later and we trooped into the restaurant that was conveniently located next to the gite for a typical Alsatian meal. Flammkuchen is the regional speciality and is like a very thin-crusted pizza. There was lots of beer to wash everything down and everyone was feeling relaxed. The weather forecast looked good for Sunday and everyone walked back to the gite, admiring the nesting storks on the roof, and we disassembled the bicycles for the next day, trying to avoid getting grease all over the van. It was a major accomplishment to get four bikes in the luggage area but we knew it would save us time when we did the early start the next day.

Sunday, July 1, 2007

Dr. Chef and I roused everyone out of bed at a ridiculously early time in the morning, and with surprisingly little complaining we got everyone into the van and headed out to Mulhouse to ride a French club ride. My account of this is already on the blog. We were now up to three flat tires for the trip as the Thin Man enjoyed two.

Monday, July 2, 2007

The Lost Boys in Ribeauvillé

I thought that I would have been a bit stiff and sore from the 173 km we rode the day before but in fact I felt quite good. I felt even better when I rolled out of bed and discovered that Dr. Chef and Anti-Gravity Jon had gone to Ribeauvillé and bought fresh croissants and pain au chocolat for breakfast. They had also purchased a few things in the little village store in Hunawihr so we were set to begin the day in fine form.

Welcome to Bergheim

Chill was staying in Ribeauvillé and we rode the 1.5 km over there to meet up with him, posing for a group photo outside of the old town and then heading northwards Bergheim, another gorgeously picturesque village. Chill, who had been in the area before, had suggested we ride up to the Chateau de Haut-Koenigsbourg and go via the less heavily-travelled route on the D42. We climbed gently, first through impressive vineyards and then through the forest on an excellent road, making our way upwards to the charming village of Thannenkirch. The road was wet but we were enjoying sunshine.

On the road to Haut-Koenigsbourg from left: Chill, Dr. Chef and the Sprocketboy

The road turned from northwest to northeast and steepened a bit. Ahead of us, high on its mountain, we could see the castle. We stopped to take some photos and were joined by a family from Yorkshire who were driving by, and they took pictures of us together. Then it was back on the bikes and uphill as Chill, Dr. Chef and I chased down the others.

There was a brief descent and a sudden left turn and we were climbing the approach to the castle. Chill had warned us that the road was very steep but his memory had played tricks on him or, more likely, his cycling had improved so much since his last visit that what had seemed particularly difficult was no longer so. We soon found ourselves cruising up the loop road that took us to the castle and we enjoyed a superb view of the Vosges Mountains and, to the east, the Rhine Valley.

The castle, one impressive pile of masonry, was built in the 12th Century and had been in possession of the Hohenstaufen family. It went to the Dukes of Lorraine and then changed hands several times and was burned in 1462 during civil disturbances. It was rebuilt and then the Swedes burned it during the Thirty Years War. Left as a ruin for several centuries, it was given to Kaiser Wilhelm II in 1899. He determined to rebuild it to its appearance before the Swedes got at it and his architect made a good effort to capture the period. It was hoped that the castle would be a romantic reminder, bonding Alsace closer to the German Empire. Construction went from 1900 to 1908. After World War I the French confiscated the castle as they obtained Alsace again and today this fairy-tale-like building is a major regional tourist attraction.

We looked at the tourists, had some energy bars and then continued on the loop road, returning down the hill all the way back to Bergheim. We rode in through the main gate of this wonderful, completely fortified town and headed for the central square to find coffee. This we accomplished, and enjoyed not only coffee but apple cake as well. Dr. Chef and I walked around and took photos of the beautiful square in front of City Hall. Little did we know that Bergheim had suffered so badly from the effects of war and the plague that by the 1700s it had become completely depopulated. Foreigners were invited in to the empty town and it was filled with Austrians, Germans, Swiss, Hungarians and Romanians. Times are a lot better now.

From Bergheim we decided to ride back up the hill towards the castle since we had enjoyed cycling the D42 so much but instead of continuing on to the Chateau itself, we turned left and took the road to Lièpvre, enjoying a superb fast descent of some 7 kms. We found the busy N59 waiting for us, but were able to quickly get off this Route National onto the much quiet D48, taking us along the Liepvrette River to Ste-Marie-aux-Mines. The region, known as the Val d’Argent, was once famous for its mines, and was noted for antimony and silver.

We rode along the river, and Steve Z. practiced some sprinting, before we turned east on the D416 and began the long climb up to the Col du Haut de Ribeauvillé. It was a steady 6-7 percent grade and took us up to 742 m. Chill, who is obsessed with having his picture taken in front of summit signs, got his picture taken here, and the whole group joined in before we enjoyed another hair-raising descent, including a few sections of cobblestones. We were getting some splotches of rain now, and set the pace a bit higher. Anti-Gravity Jon and I took turns time-trialling at the front, passing some huge wineries as we went back into Ribeauvillé, where we rode in past the ruins of the Chateau de St. Ulrich. In town we found the only place still open for a late lunch of, yes, flammkuchen and Gewürztraminer. If you don’t eat at the right time in France, your possibilities for lunch become quite limited. In fact, the only thing on the menu was flammkuchen...

Soon we found ourselves back in Hunawihr and Dr. Chef, Steve Z. and I went off in the van to do some serious shopping as Dr. Chef was planning to cook dinner for us that evening.

We enjoyed wandering through the large supermarket, looking at all the unfamiliar foods and searching for things on our extensive list–how do you say “oatmeal” in French? We got pasta, and eggs and chocolate and bananas and pastry shells and what seemed like seven different kinds of cheese and milk and tea and coffee and vegetables and raisins, eventually, the oatmeal. And laundry detergent and paper towels.

Dr. Chef at work

Back at the gite everyone went to work as Larry created an excellent meal: mushrooms in pastry shells, a green salad (made by Steve Z.) and pasta with freshly grated Parmesan (we took a blackmail photo of Chill doing the grating so that he could never point out to his wife again how useless he is in the kitchen), followed by caramel ice cream and cassis sorbet. The only downside was the Alsatian Riesling I had selected for 3 Euros, which was terrible beyond belief, but luckily Chill had brought some nice wine from Switzerland and we had selected a local red that was pretty good as well. After dinner the cleanup crew went to work and another superb day en vacances had passed. More to follow...

Chill is grating. Well, not all of the time...