The ideal starting point for this challenging 1300-metre tour is the small village of Murbach, located northwest of Guebwiller in a side valley of the Florival (Blumenthal).
Only 90 inhabitants live there, but they have a huge sandstone abbey church and plenty of church history. Founded as a Benedictine monastery by a saint named Pirmin in 727, the mighty abbey is said to have been the repository of the Holy Grail. But we don't want to get to the bottom of this as we hurriedly unload our bikes from the car in the abbey's parking lot - 1300 meters of ascent lie ahead of us.
Through the gate of the old monastery, we ride past the sunlit abbey, which seems a little oversized in the narrow valley, and crank up the tarred road towards Langmatt. There is still a morning haze in the air, but the autumnal forest above us is already glowing in all shades of color. Smoke curls out of crooked chimneys, dogs bark and residents greet us in a friendly manner from open windows. Idyll à la Vosgienne. The recent inversion weather has kept fog and moisture in the valley, and it gets warmer with every meter of altitude. At the Domaine Langmatt leisure center, the tarred road ends and becomes a leaf-padded path with lots of stones and roots, which circles up a little further on as a barely rideable serpentine path to the "Judenhut". The name supposedly comes from the shape of the wooded summit. About 300 meters below the summit, we reach a wonderful resting place at the Col du Judenhut. Here is one of the Vosges Club's mountain huts, where you can spend the night free of charge, albeit in rather uncomfortable conditions. But we certainly don't want to sleep, we are tempted by the "Olympus of Alsace", as the Grand Ballon is called. Until then, however, we still have 500 meters to climb on challenging trails. For the next few kilometers, we ride through hollow paths lined with windswept beeches and oaks, whose leaves seem to burn in the sun above us. The studded tires rustle in the deep autumn-brown foliage that covers all the bumps. Every now and then the forest thins out and allows distant, clear views over bare meadow heads and the Grand Ballon in the west as well as over the mountain ranges of the Vosges Mountains, which fade into the haze to the south, towards the Burgundian gate. To the east, the highest Black Forest mountains rise out of the sea of clouds and the snow-covered peaks of the Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau glisten in the distance. Apart from a few hikers, there are no people out and about - the season is already over in mid-October, except for the weekends, and only starts again with the winter season. A little later, we reach a ski lift rusting away in the dense forest - the summit can't be far away. From here, we continue along the winding path through the sparse beech forest, the fairytale Belchen forest. The idyll ends unprepared: we reach the Route de Cretes pass road - and find ourselves in the parking lot that is often unavoidable in the Vosges. The contrast between fairytale forest and mass tourism with plenty of horsepower could hardly be greater, but the unique panoramic view is the same for everyone.
Biking in the Vosges should by no means be limited to sporting activities. The culinary offerings will turn even marathon aces into gourmets. You can limit your provisions when biking in the Vosges to an emergency bar - the culinary offerings are simply too good. And since we have to do some research, we only start the ascent to the summit of the Grand Ballon after a sumptuous meal: Alsatian tarte flambée, a variety of Munster cheeses and smoked ham in the traditional mountain hotel of the Vosges Club are not to be missed, even if the last few meters up to the summit are pretty tough afterwards.
Strong wind blows over exposed plateaus, the antennas of the radar station whistle in the storm. The temperature feels just above freezing as we tackle the rocky trail below the "Diables Bleus" soldiers' memorial as the start of the magnificent descent. We follow the rough, difficult path that zigzags down the open southern slope of the summit. Flame-red patches of autumnal blueberry bushes alternate with gray scree fields on which individual, wind-bent stunted trees defy the weather. The strong wind and fast-moving bands of cloud are harbingers of the impending winter?
We rush through a small beech forest and after a fast meadow path, we cross the Route de Cretes for the last time. From here, a wonderful path winds its way down to Lac du Ballon, the glacial lake of the Grand Ballon, in many tight bends. We pass the dreamy mountain lake, cruise over the small dam wall and continue our downhill towards Ferme-Auberge Gustiberg. Unfortunately - or fortunately - this mountain inn is already closed, otherwise we would probably have stopped off again. And so this time we continue without any additional ballast. The forest path now becomes a small hiking trail, which becomes increasingly steep and washed out and demands a lot of riding skills and technique. We can already see the twin towers of Murbach Abbey, our starting point, between the trees deep in the valley. But according to the (hiking) guide, we still have a real highlight ahead of us: from the Col de Wolfsgrube, a crossroads in the forest, we take the narrow path to the Hohrupf summit. After an ascent of just under a hundred meters through oak forest, we reach the remains of an old castle perched on the small summit - and finally the start of the final descent. A serpentine downhill winds its way 400 meters down the southern slope and is the crowning glory of this day's tour. Rustling leaves, fountains of foliage, curve after curve, beautiful - and beautifully steep! We quickly get into an intoxicating rhythm. It could go on forever. Finally, we pass the small baroque chapel "Notre-Dame-de-Lorette", which forms the final point a few meters above the mighty abbey.
Our next tour begins a few kilometers further south. The starting point is the dreamy village of Rimbach. From there, a forest path climbs moderately steep and moderately exciting to the Ferme-Auberge Riesenwald. If you want, you can stop here for refreshments, but we continue on our tired legs to the beautiful Sternsee lake. The large circular lake is now a paradise for anglers. The Sternsee, whose dark waters reflect the stars at night, is framed by an impressive rocky panorama. Despite the autumnal chill, we dangle our legs in the water here for a short while, as the path promises to be steep according to the map. However, steep is not quite the right description: mostly just rideable, we repeatedly have to get off our bikes and push, even carry at the end. Although the whole circular route is just 12 km long, this climb demands everything from us. Exhausted, we finally reach the high pastures (Chaumes du Rouge Gazon), cycle past some rusty ski lifts and reach the Seehorn (Tête des Perches) at an altitude of 1222 meters. We almost get dizzy, but not because of the magnificent view of the Sternsee, but mainly because of the overwhelming, clear autumnal views over the Vosges, the Upper Rhine Valley, the highest Black Forest mountains and even the Alpine chain.
The route continues over brown-bristly high pastures and then through bizarre deciduous forests, finally descending towards Moyenne Bers. Enjoy the fantastic panorama once again and then off you go: wild, jagged and steep with lots of deep views, the very alpine path leads down to the Grand Neuweiher. If you're not confident on the saddle here, it's better to push some of the bends. But after just 300 meters in altitude, you reach the lake, which is considered one of the most beautiful bathing lakes, which is of course officially forbidden. It's worth making a detour to the Auberge Neuweiher here, as it's already too cold to swim. The beer is just cold enough for that. The place is so dreamily beautiful that it's hard to tear ourselves away. But we still have a few kilometers of downhill ahead of us, which we now take under our tires with a slight sense of exhilaration. Past the Petit Neuweiher pond, the path leads along steep rocks through wild mountain forest. Highly satisfied with this half-day tour, we reach the small village of Ermensbach. At the chapel, on the left above the houses, the beautiful but poorly marked, yet easy to find meadow path leads back to Rimbach, the starting point.
The Vosges low mountain range has nothing to hide from the big bike areas. An impressive 16,500 km of (hiking) trails are maintained and signposted by the Vosges Club! From extreme, technically demanding single trails to panoramic high-altitude trails and gentle meadow paths, everything is covered. We couldn't believe that there are trails in the Vosges that you can't get down on a freeride bike, we had to turn around several times - and that in the low mountain range! If the hiking guide or signs warn of a very challenging rocky hike (Passages difficiles), you should leave your bike at the bottom or choose an alternative route.
In addition to the perfectly signposted trails, the magnificent landscape is a big part of the attraction. The legendary "blue hazy ridges", the Alpine views, the nearby Black Forest and the lakes?
Accommodation and above all the food?
make the journey worthwhile! Alsace is considered a gourmet paradise and the Alsatian Rieslings will win over even non-wine drinkers. The many Ferme-Auberges are a special feature. These traditional mountain pastures offer a tasty range of basic gastronomic delights, mainly made from home-produced food. Many of them also offer (simple) overnight accommodation. And in the home of the legendary Munster cheese, the strong raw milk cheese is of course a must. What's special: from the simplest to pure luxury: the food here is (almost) always very good!
There are countless accommodation options: From cabins run by the Vosges Club, to beautifully situated Ferme-Auberges and dream hotels in the most beautiful style. Special tip for the Grand Ballon Tour, which is well worth it! The Schäferhof in Murbach. At 130 ? for a double room, it's not cheap, but once you've spent a night in one of the few four-poster beds, you'll never want to leave.
> www.schaeferhof.fr
Photos: Stefan Hunziker > www.sportsphotography.ch
Text: Tobias Kurzeder, Jan Sallawitz
