Cernay marks the southern end of the Vosges ridge road, a town of around eleven thousand people on the Thur river, where the mountains drop to the Alsace plain. The old centre has a fortified gate, the Tour de l'Horloge, and a few half-timbered houses, and the town has the practical air of a place that serves a valley. It is also the gateway to a part of the Vosges with a serious past.
A few kilometres to the north-west, the summit of the Hartmannswillerkopf, known to French soldiers as the Vieil Armand, was fought over bitterly in the First World War. Both sides dug trenches and tunnels into the rocky ridge, and the death toll was huge. Today a national monument and cemetery stand on the slope, and the trenches, bunkers and barbed wire have been preserved among the trees. It is a sombre and moving place, and a short ride from Cernay for anyone who wants to understand why the Route des Crêtes was built.
At the other end, Cernay is where the ride becomes ordinary again. The descent from the high ridge, past the Grand Ballon, the highest summit in the Vosges at about 1,424 metres, brings you down through steep woods and then out onto the flat vineyards of the plain. On a motorcycle, the last stretch is a fine run, with long bends and a clear view over the Rhine valley, though it can be crowded at weekends with cyclists and day trippers. Surfaces are good and corners are open, so it is an easy, flowing ride.
Practicalities are simple. Fuel, food and coffee are all easy to find in a town of this size, and there are supermarkets on the edge of town as well as bakeries in the centre. If you stay for dinner, try a choucroute, the Alsatian sauerkraut with sausage and pork, washed down with a local white wine. Evening light comes late in summer, and the sun on the hills as you finish the ride is a satisfying end.