The first biggish ride of the trip, somewhat strangely starting from the top of the Col de la Schlucht. There was a good reason for this, as it was the perfect place for an overnight van camp in cooler temperatures, and it allowed me to start out along the famous Route des Cretes, a superb wartime road along the spine of the Vosges hills. This gave an easy start in perfect weather, blue skies, warm but not hot. Fabulous views to the hills I did yesterday like the Hohneck, and then down to the lakes and valleys below. It was undulating but relaxing until I took the side road to the Col de Breitfirst. This is followed by the Col de Platzerwassel. All of these names reflect the fascinating Alsace blend of two cultures, and the riding, atmosphere and scenery were all superb as I started the descent. This was steep and hairpinned but I went reasonably well by my abysmal descending standards, and really enjoyed it. It eases off towards a series of villages like Sondenach and Metzeral and then enters lovely Munster where I'd been the afternoon before. The long final climb back to the Col de la Schlucht, the main business of the day really, starts in town and heads gently to Stosswihr before the long series of hairpins up the col. This was great training, never too hard at a steady 6%, but quite long with around 750m elevation gain. The road is a little busy but my early start helped and I quite enjoyed it. I added a little bit to the end, on the high road to Lac Blanc but was still conscious of not overdoing it (especially with rain and thunder forecast) so kept it to a 65k/1234m day and retired for lunch to the stupendous Auberge Firsstart near the Hohneck where I had roigabrageldi and an incredible local cheese platter with a glass of Edelzwicker.
A unique and fascinating ride from Aachen taking in three countries as well as the Netherlands highpoint at the Vaalserberg. A great way to start the big trip, albeit compromised by the heatwave which meant I had to cut it short without properly engaging with the Dutch Limburg climbs which feature in the Amstel Gold spring classic. After the parkrun, I moved the van to the university and then cycled along to Vaals and the Dutch border. The climb up the Vaalserberg starts in town, through some steep streets to wooded hairpins and nice gentle climbing up to the famous three countries stone marking the border between Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands. I couldn't help reflecting that I would soon be on much bigger climbs, like the Galibier! After the stone, the route dropped into Belgium - I assume Wallonia although some of the names were Flemish. They were about to play a world cup match so there were lots of flags and football shirts, in fact Gemmenich was probably the most patriotic Belgian town I've ever seen! After some gentle riding I passed north then east into the Netherlands and ended up on the Camerlig, which it turns out is considered the hardest climb in the country. It was now maximum temperature, close to 40c, so this was hard work and I was glad just to cycle down to Aachen after less than 40k, conscious of not burning too many energy matches at the start of the trip. The temperatures finally rose to 41.5c breaking the all-time German record.
Gradually increasing the cycling mileage, trying to replicate steady Alpine climbs where that is vaguely possible. As such, the long ascent from Pontblyddyn to the Horseshoe Pass isn't bad, and I enjoyed it despite the traffic. Superb fast descent to Llangollen and then round to Ruabon where I had a sandwich in milky sunshine. From here it was into Wrexham and then out to the border at Lavister before climbing back home. I backed this up two days later, joining Peter for a Clwydian climbs special, leaving Mold for the long climb up to the Moel Arthur col from Nannerch (ideal). Down into Ruthin for coffee and cake, and then up the gentle climb of the 'Mantel' which runs parallel to the Shelf and was new to me on two weeks I think (although I have run up it I suspect). Back to Mold via Llandegla and Treuddyn.
The weather has been unsettled recently, which isn't ideal given my urgent need to increase the cycling mileage. I have done a few routes maximising the climbing around Hope Mountain, but the savagely steep, short potholed lanes don't really replicate the demands of the typical Alpine col! This morning's ride didn't either but it still felt a bit more worthwhile. A heavy shower had just cleared as I left Bethesda for the long but nicely gentle haul up to Ogwen Cottage. I have run this in the past, and descended it on a bike, but I can't remember ever cycling it from this direction. It is quick and efficient and I then had a headwind which made the sprint to Capel absolutely superb. Around 34 minutes from Bethesda to Capel, exactly 14 minutes from Ogwen Cottage to Capel: what seems fast to me just isn't by most cyclists standards, and as ever I find the contrast with running to be horribly stark, even given the obvious fact that one is my competitive sport, the other isn't. Anyway, the weather had now cleared to wonderful sunny but blustery conditions and the inevitable headwind hit for Dyffyn Mymbyr, which wasn't much fun as a result. Climbed up to PyP for a mini Alps training session and then enjoyed the always wonderful descent down the Pass. At Llanberis I got onto the Padarn cycling path and then climbed up to Clwt y Bont and Deiniolen via steep obscure lanes through council estates until I was up on the open hill above Mynydd Llandygai with its wonderful views to the Carneddau and Elidir. From here it is another fast descent, although I took the absurdly narrow and overgrown Lon Hafoty in error before finishing up Hen Durnpike back to the car.
