Full Route des Crêtes

This is what autumn riding should be about - warm sunny skies, forests glowing autumnal colours, a final burst of beauty before the snow blankets the mountains and the ice prevents any kind of road bike riding at altitude (high or low).

Looking towards Grand Ballon, beyond descent to Col d'Amic

This ride had 3 distinct sections, making the 191km covered fly by. First was the exit from Basel along the Rhine then the canals to Mulhouse. If you take the Boulevard d'alsace, its virtually zero traffic beyond the very short distance from Huningue. Next the canal banks to Mulhouse have a quality asphalt surface, with none of the obstacles you find on some bike paths allowing for good speed up to the start of the route des cretes.
Already 60km done by this point, 2hours to the start of the climb, so a good warm up for the ascent to Grand Ballon. Much nicer going from Cernay as you climb to the war memorial at Hartmannswillerkopf then recover with a drop to the col d'amic, so you've had a good warmup and rest before the final steep 6km climb to the highest point on the route. Looking back, the Swiss alps were visible on the skyline, Schwarzwald to the east, and the Vosges all around. Very strong side winds today on the last few km of the climb.
Always good this time of year along the high route, I carried on to col du Bonhomme before stopping for a sandwich and coffee. Met a nice Swiss man there who was staying near Colmar for a week, cycling the Vosges.
Great descent down to Sainte-Marie, then over another climb to Ribeauville before picking up the route du vin as the 3rd segment of the ride. Still harvesting grapes, the leaves on the vines are all yellow now, but the high road which is just to the north of Ribeauville, Riquwihr is absolutely worth putting up with the steepest ramps of the day for the speedy roll down towards Colmar and the train home.

Biggest milestone ever! the half way marker

Ride of the Falling Leaves #2

This years ride of the falling leaves, organised by the stylish Obst & Gemuse cycle shop in Basel was a success despite bad weather. The promised sunshine never arrived and it stayed overcast all day, after the morning rain. On top of that, the summit of Belchen pass was thick fog, looking just like the col d'aubisque from a few weeks ago.
Obst & Gemuse is the only outlet for Rapha in Switzerland, so even though the Rapha van was not present this year (the driver is injured) there were many Rapha garments on display to look stylish through the falling rain and fog.
This year we split into two groups, and the route was more or less described to all so much safer and no ride of the falling bodies this time.

Nice way to end the season, hope there will be some better weather to enjoy the autumn before the winter arrives.