During my first ever trip to the Vosges, I got a little more ‘Stuffed Ballons d’Alsace’ than I was able to swallow.
I anticipated ‘friendly’, green and quiet climbs, which is what most descriptions show/promise you.
Don’t get me wrong: the scenery was very nice, although traffic was a little annoying at times.
However, I really chocked on the more than frequent bits of 11, 12% average, with extra spicy chunks of 15, 16% which – as usual – are not visible in those nice profile pictures.
Obviously, I may also have been a little overenthusiastic when I tried to fit in as many of the ‘known’ ballons into my only 3 days of cycling.
I did get on the bike on Monday afternoon too in the end, but I doubt that was a very sound decision after some 10 hours en route…
And to make things worse, the weather was not very cooperative.
I first rode in drizzling rain and near-uncomfortable temperatures of around 10 degrees Celsius on Monday afternoon and all through Tuesday, when all of a sudden the weather changed and Wednesday threw a blistering sun and 36 degrees Celsius at me.
Anyway…
