May 10, 2023 to May 12, 2023
Rochejean - Saint Maurice-sur-Moselle
Stage 15
Riding out of Les Rousses was the first time I'd worn all my rain gear in 6 weeks of riding. The rain was steady for about 2 hours and then was replaced by overcast with occasional sunshine. The temperature started at 5, and remained below 10 all day.
I had planned to pick up the Grand Jura Traverse trail in Les Rousses, but due to the rain, decided to avoid slippery and muddy, and opted to ride along the valley past Lac de Joux and on to Pontarlier.
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The Jura is famous for its cheese, and there were plenty of Montbeliarde cows (red and white) along the route working on the raw material. At Le Pont I decided to stop for cheese tasting, but sadly, couldn't find the venue, so had to be content with a view up the lake, and my last Swiss village before returning to France.
Somewhere along this stretch one of my Alexandra jandles bailed out, leaving me with just 1.5 pairs of shoes. (I'd bought this pair in Alexandra during our Sounds2Sounds ride in February, after I'd lost the first pair in one of the 35 river crossings after Omarama Saddle) So all photos of Wally will now feature the orange Pontarlier "thongs" (I bought ugly, hoping that makes them harder to lose).
Our hostel in Pontarlier turned into a fun evening when Dorian also checked in and we met a long distance hiker (Ben) and another touring cyclist (Teatske) both from Belgium. We spent a happy few hours comparing trail experiences (near death experiences at roundabouts; managing with no food when it's a national holiday and no shops are open for 2 days; the demise of small village shops due to big supermarkets; the ageing farmer population) before fare welling Dorian the next morning, on his way to the train at Basel and back to Vienna.
Pontarlier to Gilley was a voie Verde through farmland (more red and white cows) and forest. There were some fun wee art installations along the way that made me smile, and a great patisserie and coffee when I reached Gilley.
The route was through farmland and forest and the road sections had very light traffic.
Riding toward Saint Hippolyte it started to rain and by the end of the 10km downhill I was soaked and very cold. There was some lovely riding along the valley through pretty villages beside the Le Doubs and the sunshine made it all rather pleasant.
The rest of the ride to Montbeliard was unremarkable except for the airforce fighter jet display (I think it was a rehearsal) as I rode into town, and the hour I spent try to interpret G.maps instructions to get to my hotel. One was fun to watch, the other was deeply frustrating!
I let G. maps recommend the route from Montbeliade to Saint Maurice sur Moselle, and this turned out to be a poor choice for the final 30km. The first few hours was along canals and parks and was beautiful riding.
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After Giromagny things took a less enjoyable turn. The first G. maps /recommended road looked good on the screen but soon became a trail, then looked a lot like an Andy Cox selected path ie steep, unrideable and rarely used, so I returned to the bottom of the hill. (this is clear on the map, before the 2 zig-zaggy bits)
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My second choice (D 465) had a nice 6% gradient over 12KM and climbed to the Ballon d' Alsace summit. All the way up G. maps kept suggesting I turn off this nice road and take an unsealed forest road. Well, we know how that would end, so I ignored all electronic advice and enjoyed the ride up to 1173m.
By the time I reached the top it was raining, so photos were taken and I headed down, without adding another layer of clothing. The rain got heavier and I got a refreshing facial "massage". At the bottom I was so cold I could barely speak, but did manage to order 2 x hot chocolates, a cheese quiche and a strawberry tart at the first patisserie I came to.
Accomodation for the night was a B & B where I had a pleasant evening chatting with the host family and a cyclist from Belgium who had come down for a cycle race on Sunday out of La Bresse (more on that later)
Stage 15 was, on paper, 191km and 2760m of climbing, but I think my stats are quite different as I'd taken a very different route.
Pontarlier to Saint Maurice sur Moselle was 184km and 1800m of up.
Today's ride: 184 km (114 miles)
Total: 3,228 km (2,005 miles)
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