A hard, hard day out today, but well worth it, 7 Cols!
I woke early this morning to rain, oh no. I thought about
catching up on the diary as it was so early but next thing I knew the alarm
woke me for breakfast. So at 8:30 I went down for brekky. I decided to get
brekky with the room as it is Monday today and you know how France can be (and
I was soooo right).
It was a huge spread, a demi-baguette all for me (couples
had to share one), 3 jams, cheese, raw ham, a farm fresh egg, apple juice and
tea. Soooo much, how was I going to finish off all of that? Easily of course.
Fully bloated, and with the rain having stopped, I got the
bike, packed, refilled the water bottles from the town spring, said hello to
the enormous dog next door (maybe a Pyrenean Mountain dog, he has a very deep
woof) and then off at the crack of dawn, well 9:55 anyway J
The first Col was a doodle, only 2,5Ks away; although I did
need the granny as my muscles were cold and it is actually quite chilly. I put
the jacket on and had to take it off as soon as the road flattened out again
(as I did for the rest of the morning). Then on to the next town where I had to
go all the way to the highest point in the town for the Col. It was very steep
and I had to stop a couple of times to ease my breathing, and my back. 10:30
and two Cols down. WooHoo!
Now for the challenging bit… I could either go 8Ks around
the side of hill and then do a potentially (it was) paved ride up to Le Petite
Wineckerthal where there are 4 Cols. Or I could use the forest trails where the
climb is only 3.5ks. It was early, I was feeling ok, so why not give it a go?
Well, the reason not to is that it rained last night and the road might be
soft. But of course I gave it a go.
How did it go? Tres, tres, difficile! The first 1 to 1.5 Ks
was fine, hard packed fire trail and on the steep bits sealed road (always a
bad sign in a forest). But that just went swimmingly. Then I came to a fork in
the junction, all dirt. Hmmmm. It took me a couple of goes to find the right
path (an extra few hundred metres of slogging) but I eventually found the path
that would take me to the Col I wanted. I really don’t think anyone (ANYONE)
has been down here this year. It was a very nice track, very peaceful, the
birds chirping and it wasn’t raining. So onwards. In the end I had to alternate
between cycling some bits and pushing the rest. Eventually you get sick of one
and have to try the other. 90 minutes later I was at the top, so I make that
less than 2Ks per hour for that section.
Once up there I quickly grabbed the 4 cols; very satisfying!
I saw a couple of red squirrels but they were quicker than I was with the
camera. I also had a brief stop at a woodsman hut for a drink and then set off
down the very steep road back to civilization. I had to stop a couple of times
to stop the rims overheating and one of the longer stretches I scared half to
death a deer that was grazing in deep grass next to the road. It gave me a huge
shock too.
Then back on to the main road, and almost immediately on to
a parallel back road (thanks Google Maps) into the major town of Philippsbourg.
Of course being a major town, and it being Monday… nothing was open L Fortunately breakfast
was huge so I continued on to the next tiny town of Baerenthal where I got the
3 course Plat du Jour.
It was a quaint restaurant with linen, drapery, lots of
serving dishes, pictures, fake stalactites and the like. The Chef had a huge
over hanging pot belly, so obviously hearty country food. The entrée was a
selection of tasty meats with some salads and bread, the main was a chicken
schnitzel with mushies and potato and finished off with an apple tarte. While I
was sitting there it started to rain L
So I had a cup of tea for a while, and it stopped raining!
After the warming cup of tea it was back on the road and in
search of a Col I went down a road that initially ran beside a nice canal. The
Col did not emerge and I later discovered it was a Google Col, not one of the
ones in my guide. But I’ll check when I get back to Oz. From here there
was a bit of a twisty course to avoid
major roads which of course meant that there was a lot of climbing. Out of the
blue came a surprise Col, ‘Pierre des 12 Apotres’, again I’ll need to check on
line to see if it is a real one. Interestingly there was a huge monolith there
(think Menhir from Obelisk and Asterisk).
From there I detoured through the town of Rosteig to avoid
cars and had a pleasant descent, so you know what’s coming… a long climb up to
the town on Puberg. Fortunately I knew there was a Col here, Col de Puberg, and
that makes 7 confirmed for today!
From there it was thankfully rolling hills and also thankfully
not as far as I thought to the town of La Petite-Pierre. I’m planning to have a
rest day in a couple of days so no clothes washing, just a shower and then a walk
around town. Also no Tour today as they are having a rest day.
I’ve been here before, in 2008, and the town is not laid
out the way I remember, especially the Zimmer Frei I stayed in last time, it
looks completely different to what I recall. I’ll have to look at the photo’s
when I get back. The main attraction is the castle which is closed for
restoration until 2019! Good thing I’ve already seen it.
I worked on the diary till dinner at 7:15 and then went down
to the dining room. I have such special memories of this place from the last
time I was here and it didn’t quite live up to the recollection. The chicken
main, which is a regional speciality, was a bit overdone and there wasn’t as
much of it as last time; unlike last time I finished it all! I had a half
bottle of local Riesling, Grand Cru Classe, which was nice.
After that I wandered back to the room, had a read and rang Ken before bed around 11.
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