We spent our first day putting the bikes together from our upgraded junior suite and completely changing our minds, once again, as to which direction to head first. Finding a bike path on the backside of our hotel, we opted to start not by train but by bicycle, easily pedaling our way out of Zurich and onto trusty Route 5, which we have primarily followed for the past 200 miles.
Rolling farmland of corn and wheat, hawks circling overhead, quiet river valleys, bike route signs at every turn, and nary a single car on any paved surface we have traveled. We LOVE Switzerland!!!
From Staad we traveled through more mostly flat and peaceful farmlands to a campground on Lake Murten. Here we enjoyed a lakeside view with a smidgen of shade thrown by one lone tree and later, the back of our tent. The cookies melted but we did not. We strolled into old town Murten – SUPER cute – and walked the ramparts and lakeside promenade. Kinda like Alki Beach on a Saturday, so we felt right at home. From Murten we continued on to the westerly end of Lake Neuchatel (and we aren’t even on the Lakes Route yet!), where we were treated to the most amazing lakeside tent site yet, overlooking the Jura Mountains complete with swans floating by and a swiss sunset.
Yesterday we rode in from Lake Neuchatel, the scenery having changed from farmland to rolling hillsides and then, there they were, the incredibly spectacular Alps. There was a slight detour when Gina blew past a route sign onto your basic highway before realizing that (a) biking in Switzerland is much more bucolic than that and (b) we really aren’t in Italy anymore. After surviving her brief encounter with fast-moving Peugeots, we got back en route through the Swiss countryside.
Upon arrival, we took a dip in Lake Geneva, a 5 minute walk from our campsite, and cooked up a picnic dinner in the park with the hundreds of other locals having come lakeside to escape the heat.
Today we’ll take the train to Montreux and Chateau de Chillon (a castle, of course), then tomorrow it’s back on the bikes to head toward Gruyeres, moving deeper into the heart of the Alps. This means there will need to be much more feasting on chocolate croissants today, as we’ll need some extra climbing energy.
Email Sent on 19 July 2008
Well, so much has happened since we last wrote. For starters, as we pedaled out of the French-Swiss countryside, we found ourselves in the midst of the Tour de France peloton. Gina broke away from the pack to take her shot at the yellow jersey, but was soon reeled back in, her panniers not being very aerodynamic. We said “au revoir” to the boys and entertained ourselves with the outstanding views of Lake Geneva from the vineyards above thru which we pedaled before turning north into the triple-chevron hills toward Gruyeres.
From our campground outside of Gruyeres, our ride took us through more amazing alpine scenery into the high-roller town of Gstaad. This is the home of the Swiss Open, which was underway when we arrived. I’m not sure how ‘open’ this tennis tournament really is, as we tried to enter Gina based on her Wii credentials but were quickly turned away. Not to be disappointed, we star-searched instead, but were unfortunately denied once more, as there was no Julia Roberts or Brangelina to be found. After climbing many more hills in the midday sun and with rain threatening, we called it a day in the town of Zweisimmen, where we stayed at a ‘Biker’ hotel.
Onward we pedaled to the Lauterbrunnen Valley, where we had planned ahead to stay for several days in order to hike the mountainsides we had expertly tobogganed just a few short months ago. Deciding that the impending thunderstorms might put a small damper on our tenting experience, we called ahead and rented ourselves a genuine, pint-sized European caravan. In the States, we call this a trailer. In the Lauterbrunnen Valley, we called this home.
For the next 3 days, Gina had us hiking nearly as many miles as we had biked to get here, taking cog trains up to the imposing peaks from which the only way down was via remote ledges and dangling, wind-blown gondolas, to flowery paths clogged with grazing brown cows that we were, and I quote, “not to look in the eye” as we cautiously stepped behind to pass.It was a wonderful ‘rest’ off the bike. On our next trip to the valley, we hope to upgrade to a mobile home.
From the Lauterbrunnen Valley, we continued northward to Luzern, where we passed another camping evening conversing with a young German couple who were bike touring as well. They spoke perfect English, admitting they had practiced on their one trip to the States, which consisted primarily of spending their hard-earned Euros at the Mall of America. We hoped to see them down the road, but given their daily average mileage of 100 KM, that was really unlikely.
Leaving Luzern brought more incredible lakeside and farmland riding.
We have truly been astounded at the Swiss bike routes – so well-signed and so little traffic. And, in some cases, so little to choose from for places to stay. Unlike Germany, with a Zimmer Frei (available room) around every bend, the Swiss seem a bit more cautious when it comes to inviting strangers into their homes. This brings me to our next big adventure on the road, in a little campground outside of Einsiedeln. It was late in the day, severe rain was threatening, and there were no Zimmer Freis or hotels to be found. Turning Gina loose to secure us another caravan at the one and only campground within 50 KM, I was pleased to see her walking off with the campground host to check out our night’s accommodations. Pleasure soon turned to skepticism when she came back saying “now, we’re only doing this for the EXPERIENCE of it.” People only say that when something bad is about to happen.
Now bad may be strong word, as what she rented us was shelter … if you’re Oliver Twist. Picture 12 mats on a floor in that dusty old room above your garage and you’ll get your own EXPERIENCE of our home for the night. When the thunder and lightning started, we were quite grateful for the roof … almost as much as after we erected the tent indoors to create our bug-free sleeping zone.
That night was, unfortunately, the start of 3 days of rainy riding. However, it was also the start of a string of indoor lodging that far surpassed our Oliver Twist accommodations, from a 5-star hotel on the shores of south Lake Zurich to a classic Gasthof on the cliff-ringed Lake Walensee to our favorite of all, a guest room on a working farm outside of Gams, a whistle-stop town west of the Rhine River.
At the farm, we also had the option of sleeping in the straw, but it wasn’t quite what we had in mind, like spending a cozy night tucked in an Easter Basket. This straw actually smelled like a barn, and may have had, in fact, recently bedded a cow or two. But we loved the farm and drank a small toast that night to the owners’ daughter, who recently moved to Toronto, thus making room for us in a real bed for the night.
We left the farm to pedal up and up into Appenzellerland, home of smelly cheese and more cable cars leading us up into the mountains where, if we had backpacks instead of bikes, you can be assured Gina would have had us trekking from hut to hut, of which there are 24 strewn throughout the region.
Instead, we hiked to two, the latter of which required traversing one exposed ledge after another, spelunking through one very wet cave, and placing our trust in a few old wooden boards bolted to a cliff, at which I said a small prayer before stepping into the void.
After a few days of brilliantly sunny skies, we hit the road once more in the pouring rain. In case anyone is shopping for our upcoming birthdays, we’ve decided it’s time to invest in Ortlieb panniers. Engineered by the Germans, and adorned on every other tour bike we have passed on this trip, they will bring us fully-waterproofed peace of mind. It’s that or we suggest you buy stock in Hefty and Ziploc, as we continue to bag up our belongings every morning.
Thanks once more to the amazing network of bike-friendly roads, we safely pedaled back into Zurich yesterday, to our once-again upgraded junior suite. Not being able to sit still, Gina now has us on the Zurich walking tour, which somehow included another high-wire cable car. I’m sure there’s some church tower around the corner with at least 437 steps that comes next.