Touring in Alsace / Vosges

I was looking for a trip a bit more off the beaten path and was inspired by bikepacking.com's description of the Traversée du Massif Vosgien (TMV). I was also attracted by the opportunity of travelling without flying and going on my earlier experiences with Normandy, the French know how to look after cyclists (I should probably add I'm not a Francophile normally)

Anyway, did the Eurostar/TGV journey to Strasbourg lugging my bike from Gard du Nord to Gard l'Est (interesting contrasting Kings X/St Pancras with Gare du Nord). You apparently need to bag your bike to take it on the TGV unlike Eurostar although it worked out pretty cheap on the outward journey (more expensive on the return for some reason).

I found someone on Warmshowers who was able to put me up for a night in Strasbourg and also look after my cycle bag for the week i was away. Strasbourg and the Alsace region is an interesting mix of French and German (food, architecture, language) reflecting the boundaries that have shifted back and forward over the last 170 years.

The first day was a train trip to Wissembourg where some local mountain bikers put me in the right direction. The TMV proved something of a mixed bag. I was without a Garmin and wasn't having any joy with using GPS tracking using my mobile so I was reliant on the route's signage. The majority of the route is off sealed roads which could mean anything from gravel roads to the occasional stretch of something pretty technical (at least for a bike with panniers). The route did make me think this is where a bikepacking setup would be really helpful where there's a firm interface between bike and luggage (Ortlieb panniers rattle around a bit). That being said, it's certainly doable with panniers.

Anyway, I had some amazing couple of days on the route but frustrations and concerns rose due to difficulties navigating the route (having to retrace steps and find the last marker) and running out of spare inner tubes. So at that stage I parted way with the TMV route and headed for my own course through the Vosges Mountains. The region has obviously poured a lot of money into trying to make the region more cycle friendly (EU funding over the last couple of years) with a mix of routes for those who do and don't like hills. Cycle routes are a mix of segregated routes and roads which avoid major traffic flows with one particular mountain route sticking fondly in my mind where a barrier meant no through traffic leaving me with the road to myself.

The lack of other cyclists was quite astonishing particularly away from the flatter cycle routes. I guess many people flock to the more iconic climbs but there's a lot to be said for having the roads nearly to yourself (was great to see popularity of cycle touring among older people on the flatter routes). I was pretty heavily loaded (tent, sleeping bag, food but no cooking gear on a touring bike with a triple chainring) and whilst the climbs were testing they weren't beyond my reach (although there were a couple of climbs i descended that I glad I wasn't going the other way - descent from Le Markestein particularly sticks in my memory overtaking a camper van). After a week on the road my body felt pretty hammered in a good way.

Wild camping wasn't a problem, again, probably doesn't hurt that the region isn't overcrowded like you might find in somewhere like Provence. I gather from my Strasbourg host that it's not unusua

I finished up dashing across the wine growing region and over to the Rhine.

There were some images that stick in my mind:
Flowers in bloom, people appear to be really into their gardens with plenty of old horse wagons turned into impromptu flowerbeds
Maginot Line points to time when relations between Germany and France weren't quite so cordial
Sounds of cow bells up in the higher slopes
Learning the hard way not to touch my disc rotors
Got lucky with the weather (only one day of rain), figure late summer/early autumn is a good way of avoiding oppressive heat. Weather went from pretty cold first thing in the morning to almost too hot come 3pm
A few times I got worried about running out of water (I never had more than a couple of bidons with me) but always found help in the form of fountains or locals willing to give me a refill
Whilst the infrastructure is great, there are definitely parts where cycle supplies are harder to find (ran out of inner tubes at one point which wasn't such a smart move when you're in the middle of nowhere)
The French habit of shutting up shop between 12-2pm can prove frustrating at times
Not a great one for wine so cycle wine trail was rather lost on me
There's some lovely wetland areas down by the German side of the Rhine

Would encourage people to get there and give it a try. Happy to talk through where I headed if anyone wants a more advice.

Sounds like a real adventure! If everything was easy it would be boring, right?!
Good work Gustav.

Sounds ace, I've been wanting to go to this region since seeing some good photos at bespoked last year. What kind of bike were you on, and do you have any photos / routes maps?

edit - had a look at the bikepacking.com post. Looks great, planning next year now.

Strasbourg is the fourth best European city for cycling:
http://copenhagenize.eu/index/

I was on a Trek 920, gravel touring bike so gearing pretty well suited for going uphill. Unfortunately mobile died so no photos to share at this stage (or at least until i can find a way to get them off).

I hope to plot the route i took digitally in time but at present all i've got are some rather crinkled free maps from the local tourist offices with some vague markers. If you're looking to travel in the region, free maps I'd recommend include the following:

l'Alsace Centrale: vous facilite le velo... (Alsace a Velo/Alsace Central)
Cartes des Itineraires Cyclables: Centre/Sud (Conseil General Bas-Rhin)
La Haute-Alsace a Velo (Haute-Alsace Tourisme)
Vallee de Kayserberg (Comite Regional du Tourisme/Agence de Developpement Touristique du Bas-Rhin)

Good collection of different maps here although there's nothing quite like having a paper version in hand

http://www.bas-rhin.fr/transports/velo/itineraires-et-pistes-cyclables

The tourism authority seem more than happy to send through materials so you probably be in look if you emailed a request. As before, happy to answer any questions

Excellent, sounds pretty well set up for hassle free touring. The bikepacking.com article linked to this site too, which looks pretty useful

Yeah, if i had my shit together, I'd have probably printed off the pdfs but never quite got round to it...