100 cols - Jura et Vosges

Riding the grand passes of Route des Grandes Alpes may be good for your ego and it will certainly stay like a tattoo inerasable in my memory, but I was not alone to appreciate it, and so, after 4 days I had enough of cars and in particular motorcycles buzzing around me. I was looking forward to the peaceful little cols and roads through the woods. The last part of the journey - Jura and Vosges - provided just that.

Lac d'Annecy.

Stage of Tour d'Ain to Grand Colombier.

This is not to say that the last part of the trip was easier, no, there were as many cols as ever and some of them quite difficult. The first day of the last stage saw two of such kind: Clergeon and Grand Colombier. I started the climb to Grand Colombier just half an hour before a stage of Tour d'Ain passed, with the finish at the top. There was a big crowd at the side of the road, cheering me, and some may have even mistook me for a leading escapee. I had two punctures that day and after the descent from the pass I took an hour to fix the flat and patch up the tubes. That slowed me down and the evening caught me without a possibility to find a hotel. I used my bivy bag for the second time, this time in a particularly scenic place: it's called Pain de Sucre and is a open-air stalactite.

Pain de Sucre.

Rainforrest.

Misty morning.

And rainy afternoon.

Much better the next day.

And improving.

Homage to the dead French.

And dead Germans.

The following days passed in tranquil atmosphere and already routine but enjoyable cycling up and down cols and côtes, peppered with a longer, more challenging climbs (like Grand Ballon) here and there. On the last day to Saverne, I tried to delay the finish, I was a bit sad that this beautiful story is coming to an end.

At the Grand Ballon.

Rrefreshing morning climb over one of the last passes.

Soon it will be the end of a beautifull story.



At the end of the tour, finding a moment of peace in the church in Saverne.



Days 25 to 29: 631 km (min 52, max 177, average 126). Total: 4028 km.
21 cols: Clergeon, Grand Colombier, Berentin, Croix de la Serra, Ferriere, Ballon d'Alsace, Bussang, Amic, Grand Ballon, Platzerwaser, Linge, Wettstein, Calvarie, Louchpach, Bonhomme, Pres des Raves, Bagenelles, Ste.Marie, Urbeis, Charbonniere, Kreutzweg.