Col de Platzerwasel - Grand Ballon - Hohneck 130 km

Beautiful but strenuous tour in the Vosges mountains, with Col de Platzerwasel, the Col du Grand Ballon, the Hohneck, the Route des Crêtes, the descent from the Col de la Schlucht, the Munster and Rhine valleys. You will have marvelous views, cycle through woods and magnificent mountain scenery, on the ridge of mountains (Route des Crêtes), along vineyards, and through quiet valleys. I marked the tour difficult due to its length and ascent, although experienced cyclists might mark it average. The cols are not very steep, the asphalt is mostly very good, and the only dissonant may be the amount of traffic on a beautiful day. You can find something to eat and drink in Metzeral, Markstein, Guebwiller and surrounding villages, Uffholz, at the Col du Grand Ballon, at Hohneck, the Col de la Schlucht, and Munster. Profiles of the climbs can be found on climbfinder.com (https://climbfinder.com/en/climbs/col-de-platzerwasel, https://climbfinder.com/en/climbs/grand-ballon-cernay and https://climbfinder.com/en/climbs/hohneck) and cyclingcols.com (https://www.cyclingcols.com/col/Platzerwasel and (https://www.cyclingcols.com/col/GrandBallon).
The start of the route is close to the holiday house we were staying in Metzeral. Here, the climb of Col de Platzerwasel directly starts, first gently through Sondernach, and then steeper through woods and 6 hairpin turns to the summit on smooth asphalt. The climb is 10 km with 707 meters ascent to ,1183 meters at an average of 7.1 %. We had little traffic, but later in the day in becomes busy with traffic accessing the Route des Crêtes. At the top, you are still in the woods, but after a short descent, views of beautiful mountain scenery open up. You then climb on to Col le Breitfirst at 1280 meters. After a short descent you join the route des Crêtes to le Markstein (this part of route des Crêtes you do the other way later in the tour). From Markstein you descend to Guebwiller on good asphalt. From Lautenbach you leave the main road and descend further to Guebwiller on minor roads and cycling routes. From Guebwiller you ride on to Soultz-Haut-Rhin. From here, you cycle through the Rhine valley on the edge of the Vosges towards Cernay, with vineyards and views of Swiss mountains. Just before Cernay, in Uffholz, the climb to Col de Grand Ballon starts. This climb is 22.1 km long, with a total 1169 meters of ascend (there is intermediate descent), and an average gradient of 4.7%. You first ascend through woods to Vieil Armand where there is a war memorial. The road then flattens off and descends to Col Amic, before ascending the last 6.5 km to the Col du Grand Ballon, a nice place for lunch, with good views. You then continue on the Route des Crêtes to Markstein. You continue following the Route des Crêtes past the turn-off towards Metzeral and continue undulating all the way to the foot of the climb to Hohneck. This is a short climb, but steep in places to a restaurant at the summit. The climb is 1.5 km long with 115 meters ascent at an average 7.7%. The last stretch on the parking lot is semi-paved. We rode on an unpaved path to the actual summit at 1363 meters where the views are great. You return the same way to the Route des Crêtes, and continue to the Col de la Schlucht. You are now on a major road with busy traffic. Descending the Col is a pleasure nonetheless due to the good asphalt, moderate grades and nice views. Just past the col there are good views towards the Munster valley. You descend all the way to Stosswihr, and then follow cycling routes on minor roads and cycling paths to Munster. From Munster you take another cycling route through the Munster valley back to Metzeral.