July 21, 2024, like some other Belgians I went to celebrate the Belgian holiday in the Vosges Mountains. With the GFNY Grand Ballon in Thann there was a nice event on the calendar.
The weather forecast, you could write a book about it. From lots of rain, wind, thunderstorms, to it will all be better than expected. Checking various weather sites daily in search of certainty, a recognizable phenomenon for many. In hindsight, there was no need, other than a wet road surface we had perfect weather conditions. The hard drizzle turned into very light drizzle just in time and even dry from the start. From then on there was mostly sunshine at a pleasant 25 degrees.
Enough weather talk, over to the course. The GFNY Grand Ballon is one of the few gran fondo'sthat I'm running this season, the greater the desire to fly right into it. I did so on the first climb of the Grand Ballon, where I was able to thin out the first group into a leading group of about ten riders. After that, we spun around at a leisurely pace, including on the Col du Firstplan, a steady climb.
The real work came next with the sequence of the Petit Ballon and the Platzerwasel. For a cyclist, the name Petit Ballon is misleading. Other than the fact that the summit is lower than the Grand Ballon, it is actually much more difficult. Irregular, steep and a poorly run road. The Petit Ballon always makes me suffer in capitals. This time, I had a bit of myself to blame as well: from the start of the climb I rode away from my group to Simon Gregoire (who had driven away on the descent of the Col du Firstplan). The goal from then on was to go up as hard as possible to get to the top with the first ones, and it worked. Finally, just before the top, Tim Alleman and Thomas Devauxconnect.
The four of us went to the final climb, the Platzerwasel. A wide road, steep, you don't see it but you feel it. The only Frenchman in our party dealt some small jabs, and just at the summit came the final blow. In all my optimism, a little later I rode in one fell swoop to close the gap on what I thought was a short nod after the Platzerwasel. Too optimistic, for those who think you're at the top at the summit, it takes even longer than you think. The kink was actually a firm nod, this resulted in connecting to then drop. I consoled myself with the thought that this is no chasse patate can be called, as I did effectively make the connection. The winner had gone flying at that point.
In the end, Simon Gregoire dropped from our group of three. Together with Tim Alleman, I headed to the finish line where we were still about fifteen seconds from the winner. Tim won the sprint for place two. In hindsight, I used my strength a little too much, so I fell a little short in the final. I'm 32 now, and no, I'm not going to learn anymore.
Most important of all, it was a fun day. Partly due to perfect organization. This event stands and also attracts more participants every year (already fifteen hundred by now). The organization itself provides the feed stationss for the participants (handy for the lonely granfondists), it route is good outlinedand there are plenty of signallers and motards. Other than the fact that you cannot ride in your own club attire, there is not much to criticize about this gran fondo. A guarded bike park after the race would be handy, but then that's the only real point of improvement I can think of. A day of carefree popping in a gran fondo, GFNY makes it possible.
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