I have now covered 2245 miles and am 70 miles off over taking the web site. I have left Switzerland which I am most upset about. I love Switzerland. I am now in Italy and will be making for Venice for the weekend. Ok same as before, this is what has happened in the past week.
Wed 25th April (reast day Bern)
Quite a nice little city, lots and lots of bikes every where and not locked to anything.
Mine of course was safely secure back at the hostel. One of the first things that I did was to go up to the park which had a nice view over the city,
I relaxed for a couple of hours reading my book and having a sleep. The rest of the afternoon I had a little walk around the city and saw a few sights.
Thurs 20th April (Day 35)
After leaving Bern Switzerland just kept getting better. My route took me along the north shore ot Thuner See (See is german for lake) which is better than Lake Geneve because it is not so populated.
I then cut through Interlarken (I'm sure you can work out the translation for that) and cycled along the south shore of Brienzer See. The views were getting better and this road was really quite. It has to be in my top ten of best roads ever cycled.
The road then soon turned into a track that would of better suited a mountain bike, so not the best to be going along it with a fully laiden touring bike. But she is a good bike and handled it well. I eventually came to this amazing waterfall which I stopped at for a bit and chilled out. It felt very refreshing standing in the mist created by the falling water.
And I love the way that nature always finds a way,
but I do not give much hope for the long term chances for the tree. This was a truely great day because I also passed the 2000 mile mark as well.
Fri 27th April (Day 36)
Another fantastic day, but it was not what was planned. I found out in the morning that Grimselpass and Furkapass were were closed due to snow. So I went to the tourist office to find out my options. Because the passes were closed they said I could either go back to Spiez and catch the train across, or go the long way round to Andermatt and catch a train from there. In the end I opted for the second choice, I do not like cycling west on this trip. It made what would of been a 60km ride over the passes into a 130km trip around them. First I had to climb over a little pass of 1008m (Brunigpass) which gave me good views going up, and after I crossed it.
It is when I took this photo that I got talking to a family from Boston. They were very interested and quite impressed with what I was doing that they went back to their car to get lots of food to give to me to keep me fueled (FANTASTIC). After this I cycled to Buochs and crossed Vierwoldstatter See by ferry to the north shore. Beautiful lake, I found a cool jetty and had a little play in the lake (Videos).
I then carried on to Fluelen with good sights on the way.
I found a camp site by the lake where I went for a swim at the end of the day,
quite good becasue that ment that I saved money on a shower. I got talking to a couple of Swiss girls at the site, they forgot their tin opener and me being the prepared camper had one to hand. They then invited me over for some food. Again what a great day, more free food. Well it wasn't really free because I then ended up fixing one of their jackets with a bit of stiching.
Sat 28th April (Day 37)
I had a little swim to start off the day (VERY REFRESHING) then started up to Andermatt.
I knew that Oberalppass was open but that is 12km east of Andermatt, so what I thought I would do would be to cycle up to the pass then turn around and go back to Andermatt to catch the train. This would then mean that I would of cycled up to a pass and the extra 24km would equal the train journey. But when I got to Andermatt I found out that another pass called the Lucmanier pass on a minor road was open. This was great news because it gave me a route through the Alps that I could do on the bike with out having to get the train. So off I went and started to climb up to the Oberalppass and crossed the snow line.
As the snow became more frequent I stopped to contemplate the contrast between the white of the snow and the dark colours of the land.
I got up to the top at 4ish,
2046m the highest I have ever cycled and I had a great descent on the other side down to Disentis where I camped. When I started this day I was at 430m, I then cycled to 2046m over 40km. So that is like the hill out of Strete Gate to Strete but carring on at the same gradient for 20miles instead of 1.5miles (Slapton people will get the picture). Needless to say I was quite tired.
Sunday 29th April (Day 38)
Aim of the day, to cross the Lucmanier Pass. I started at 1100m and had to climb to 1916m over 20 km.
I was a little tired from the previous day but I got to the top before mid day.
The descent was amazing because I was going down off the Alps. I dropped over a mile in height in 25miles of cycling, covering the first 20 of that in an hour,
and that includes time to staop and take photo's. The best one being of this sign,
I do not like the way that the boy is going to die and the girl gets away. Even though the descent was amazing, I think it was the straw that broke the camels back where my tyre is concerned.
Mon 30th April (Day 39)
Main objectives (aims, still can not work out the difference), get a new tyre for the back wheel and get to Italy. Both accomplished by 11am.
Not the best photo but it had to be a sneaky one because I was told to put the camera away by the boarder gaurd. My bike was running really smooth with the new tyre, and both of them were fully inflaited by the dude in the bike shop. Really should of gone and got my tyres pumped up properly when I started this. It could of made the past 2000miles a little easier. But nevermind, if it is not one thing it is another. When I was approaching Italy with my fully inflaited tyres thinking that the bike was running very smooth, a spoke on the back wheel suddenly snapped. One spoke is not so much a problem, it is when 2 or 3 start to go. But I will see if I can get it sorted in Venice. A sticth in time save 9 and all that lot. Well any way I am in a place called Bergamo and am going to have a rest day on Tue (1st May). I passed some nice places alone the lake to get here.
The housing looked almost mediterranean which is very different to what I have seen in Switzerland. I love these subtle changes that i notice as I cycle along, some gradual, some not.
Any way people that is all, I will update again in Venice probably.
Wed 25th April (reast day Bern)
Quite a nice little city, lots and lots of bikes every where and not locked to anything.
Mine of course was safely secure back at the hostel. One of the first things that I did was to go up to the park which had a nice view over the city,
I relaxed for a couple of hours reading my book and having a sleep. The rest of the afternoon I had a little walk around the city and saw a few sights.
Thurs 20th April (Day 35)
After leaving Bern Switzerland just kept getting better. My route took me along the north shore ot Thuner See (See is german for lake) which is better than Lake Geneve because it is not so populated.
I then cut through Interlarken (I'm sure you can work out the translation for that) and cycled along the south shore of Brienzer See. The views were getting better and this road was really quite. It has to be in my top ten of best roads ever cycled.
The road then soon turned into a track that would of better suited a mountain bike, so not the best to be going along it with a fully laiden touring bike. But she is a good bike and handled it well. I eventually came to this amazing waterfall which I stopped at for a bit and chilled out. It felt very refreshing standing in the mist created by the falling water.
And I love the way that nature always finds a way,
but I do not give much hope for the long term chances for the tree. This was a truely great day because I also passed the 2000 mile mark as well.
Fri 27th April (Day 36)
Another fantastic day, but it was not what was planned. I found out in the morning that Grimselpass and Furkapass were were closed due to snow. So I went to the tourist office to find out my options. Because the passes were closed they said I could either go back to Spiez and catch the train across, or go the long way round to Andermatt and catch a train from there. In the end I opted for the second choice, I do not like cycling west on this trip. It made what would of been a 60km ride over the passes into a 130km trip around them. First I had to climb over a little pass of 1008m (Brunigpass) which gave me good views going up, and after I crossed it.
It is when I took this photo that I got talking to a family from Boston. They were very interested and quite impressed with what I was doing that they went back to their car to get lots of food to give to me to keep me fueled (FANTASTIC). After this I cycled to Buochs and crossed Vierwoldstatter See by ferry to the north shore. Beautiful lake, I found a cool jetty and had a little play in the lake (Videos).
I then carried on to Fluelen with good sights on the way.
I found a camp site by the lake where I went for a swim at the end of the day,
quite good becasue that ment that I saved money on a shower. I got talking to a couple of Swiss girls at the site, they forgot their tin opener and me being the prepared camper had one to hand. They then invited me over for some food. Again what a great day, more free food. Well it wasn't really free because I then ended up fixing one of their jackets with a bit of stiching.
Sat 28th April (Day 37)
I had a little swim to start off the day (VERY REFRESHING) then started up to Andermatt.
I knew that Oberalppass was open but that is 12km east of Andermatt, so what I thought I would do would be to cycle up to the pass then turn around and go back to Andermatt to catch the train. This would then mean that I would of cycled up to a pass and the extra 24km would equal the train journey. But when I got to Andermatt I found out that another pass called the Lucmanier pass on a minor road was open. This was great news because it gave me a route through the Alps that I could do on the bike with out having to get the train. So off I went and started to climb up to the Oberalppass and crossed the snow line.
As the snow became more frequent I stopped to contemplate the contrast between the white of the snow and the dark colours of the land.
I got up to the top at 4ish,
2046m the highest I have ever cycled and I had a great descent on the other side down to Disentis where I camped. When I started this day I was at 430m, I then cycled to 2046m over 40km. So that is like the hill out of Strete Gate to Strete but carring on at the same gradient for 20miles instead of 1.5miles (Slapton people will get the picture). Needless to say I was quite tired.
Sunday 29th April (Day 38)
Aim of the day, to cross the Lucmanier Pass. I started at 1100m and had to climb to 1916m over 20 km.
I was a little tired from the previous day but I got to the top before mid day.
The descent was amazing because I was going down off the Alps. I dropped over a mile in height in 25miles of cycling, covering the first 20 of that in an hour,
and that includes time to staop and take photo's. The best one being of this sign,I do not like the way that the boy is going to die and the girl gets away. Even though the descent was amazing, I think it was the straw that broke the camels back where my tyre is concerned.
Mon 30th April (Day 39)
Main objectives (aims, still can not work out the difference), get a new tyre for the back wheel and get to Italy. Both accomplished by 11am.
Not the best photo but it had to be a sneaky one because I was told to put the camera away by the boarder gaurd. My bike was running really smooth with the new tyre, and both of them were fully inflaited by the dude in the bike shop. Really should of gone and got my tyres pumped up properly when I started this. It could of made the past 2000miles a little easier. But nevermind, if it is not one thing it is another. When I was approaching Italy with my fully inflaited tyres thinking that the bike was running very smooth, a spoke on the back wheel suddenly snapped. One spoke is not so much a problem, it is when 2 or 3 start to go. But I will see if I can get it sorted in Venice. A sticth in time save 9 and all that lot. Well any way I am in a place called Bergamo and am going to have a rest day on Tue (1st May). I passed some nice places alone the lake to get here.
The housing looked almost mediterranean which is very different to what I have seen in Switzerland. I love these subtle changes that i notice as I cycle along, some gradual, some not.
Any way people that is all, I will update again in Venice probably.
