Anyone done much riding in the Vosges? I’ve been there a few times with the bike but it’s always been on family holidays, so just got out on one or two serious rides (using the VTT routes you get from the tourist office – very tough on the lungs but a bit boring). What’s it like as a base for a MTB holiday?

It seems to be the sort of place you’d need to be (very) fit to get the most out of it – a million miles of hiking trails with huge climbs. Is there much of an uplift scene to break things up? ie if you do a XC epic on the Monday, can you arse around in a bike park whilst recovering on the Tuesday?

Bump for any Vosgians on the forum.

Hi
I live in Basel, so 35 minutes from Thann which is basically the South-Eastern gateway to the Hautes-Vosges.

I’ve ridden the Thur valley, Grand Ballon, Thanner Hubel, etc.. extensively and I confirm that there is LOTS and LOTS of great singletrack to be had. My best bit of advice would be to ditch the official VTT routes, and get yourself a 1:25000 map. If I’m available I’m always happy to guide around a bit, or at very least email some routes (e.g. gpx).

Some pics from this April:

You’re right about having to mainly earn your climbs. One good thing is how close to the tops of the hills the roads go, so good shuttling possibilities if you have the resources (multiple mates/cars/etc). But yes, there is a bike park here for resting the lungs.

Let me know if you end up coming over.
Ash

Dear Ash,

I am going to the Vogezen for the next long weekend 11-14 nov. This will be my second time there and I was pretty impressed last year. I just decided to have a more careful look at the routes and suddenly found this topic in google.

Could you please e-mail me (aacchhee <at node> gmail) some nice singletracks in the area of Grand Ballon and in the Southern part in general? I like both climbing and descending, so really long loops are very welcome.

Do you know a good German (and probably French) website with a collection of such tracks?

Thanks,
Andrey

hi Ash,
My boyfriend and I are staying over the weekend in the Thur valley. I am looking for some nice trails connecting the Thanner Hubel with the Col de Bussang / Ferme Hauberge Gustiberg/Brennwald. Or some singletrail loops departing in the Thur Valley. Would you share some of your insider knowledge? (mrieckmann at gmx.net)
We are in for a 5 h tour.
Thanks in advance,

Miriam