Stage 3 - Rheinach > Baar (Talacher) [Thu 21 Jun | 77.52 km]
Zurich > Talacher > Zurich
Stage 4 - Baar > Wildhaus (Hutten) [Fri 22 Jun | 124.86 km]
Zurich > Wardenswil > Beichlen > Samstagern > Hutten > Linthal > Urnerboden
Stage 5 - Widnau > St. Gotthard (St. Gotthard) [Sat 23 Jun | 129.11 km]
Urnerboden > Klausenpass (1952m) > Erstfeld >-by train-> Andermatt > Gotthardpass (2108m) > Airolo > Biasca > Claro
Stage 6 - Mendrisio > Mendrisio (skip) [Sun 24 Jun | 148.80 km)]
Claro > Cadenazzo > Lugano > Mennagio >-by ferry-> Bellagio > Madonna di Ghisallo > Bellagio >-by ferry-> Mennagio > Lugano >-by train> Bellinzola > Claro
Stage 7 - Locarno > Naters (Nufenenpass) [Mon 25 Jun | 101.90 km]
Claro > Bellinzola >-by train-> Airolo > Nufenenpass (2478m) > Brig >by train-> Visp > Raron
Stage 8 - Sion > Crans-Montana (Crans-Montana) [Tue 26 Jun | 74.40 km]
Raron > Sierre > Crans-Montana > Sion >-by train-> Aigle >-by train-> Le Sepey
Stage 9 - Sion > Lausanne (Col des Mosses) [Wed 27 Jun | 55.97 km]
Le Sepey > Col des Mosses (1436m) > Col du Pillon (m) > Gstaad > Lauenen
The weather, which had been quite glum for the few days I'd been in Zurich, cleared up for the first stage of the Tour de Suisse that I was to watch, conveniently enough. The stage was due to end in Baar, just over the hill from Zurich, at around 4pm, and I was planning to catch it somewhere near Talacher, since that was the short category 4 climb on the final loop around town - they'd be passing through twice, so it seemed like the spot. The ride up Sihltal to Sihlbrugg and over to the Zug area is pretty nice, bike paths along the Sihl most of the way, but the road itself isn't really all that bad - a nice gradual incline. Met up with Alex in Cham first, though, to check out his place and ride to Talacher together. So much cool stuff... The whole place is filled with vintage bike stuff of every possible description, all from the glory years of bike racing. We ended up standing outside the house of the family of Brigette Mcmahon, the Swiss Olympic triathalon gold medallist, just by luck of the draw - small world effect kicking in again... Alex got some good shots of me in Blackbird kit as the peloton sped by...
A quick ride back to Zurich the way I came, and it was time to really pack up for more touring. The next day found me headed out early for Hutten, a minor climb on the way from Baar to Wildhaus, to meet Alex's friend Jack, who was excited to catch the stage there, and maybe chase the pack down to Rapperswil. We ended up setting up at the end of the "climb", with the road snaking up to us on our little hillock beside the road. It was really a pretty good spot, considering that this particular section of course wasn't anything that exciting. The peloton came by lazily and then dropped down towards the lake, and we opted to go find something to eat rather than chase them down the hill.
Had a nice meal, and then headed on my way in mid-afternoon, a little later than planned, but i figured it would be all right. I was looking forward to Klausenpass - I'd ridden over this one back in '99, when i was in Switzerland for the CMWC, and remembered it as being quite a beautiful 2-step pass and valley. Made it to Linthal, at the base of the first climb, in good time, but my delay at Hutten had made me late to begin with, so i had 47 km, including the whole climb up to Klausen, to complete in 2.5 hours if I wanted to make the campground at Altdorf by nightfall as planned.
An hour later, I'm in the flats before the actual Klausen climb, having a coupe Danmark (a la Jobst Brandt) at Gasthaus Sonne, having second thoughts about getting to Altdorf tonight. I finish my ice cream, and head off up the road somewhat halfheartedly, only to turn around after a kilometer or so, and head back to see how much a bed in the massenlager will set me back... I think what finalized my decision to stay here for the night was that the souvenier shop on the summit wouldn't be open, and I wouldn't be able to get a patch for my Carradice! At 12 francs for a bed and a shower in the morning, the decision really was an easy one. I'd begun to think I'd take it a little easier on myself than my original plan to ride along with the Tour de Suisse for its entire length... Through the skylight in the massenlager, I could hear the cacaphony of hundreds of cowbells, echoing through the night. More points for the minidisc... The more I think about it, the more the idea of touring the alps with just a carradice for luggage, staying in hotels and massenlagers, grows appealing.
The next morning, I was up bright and early to head off over Klausen, and down the long, fast downhill into the Altdorf area. I'd decided that I would try to make it as far as I could before hopping on a train to Andermatt, so as to be able to climb the Gotthard, watch the racers come over, and then roll down and situate myself on Val Tremola for the best viewing of the legendary cobbled climb. Stopped on top of the pass for coffee and a sandwich, and to take in the views, bought a patch, and then set off for the long coast downhill. The Alpine Choughs have appeared now, tooting along in their endearing, but very un-crowlike manner. After a screaming downhill from Klausen, i end up in Erstfeld, where I catch the train to Gotschenen, where I'll make the transfer to a retractable-cog train headed for Andermatt. Already the train is packed with cyclists and other people headed up to watch the tour.
Hopping off the train in Andermatt, I join yet more cyclists, all making the pilgrimage up the Gotthard to spectate. It turns out to be a much easier climb than I had expected, especially with the tailwind pushing me along. Even on my 3-speed, fully loaded, I'm passing plenty a roadie with no problem. Traffic starts to get crazy up near the summit, and they start turning cars around for lack of parking, but bikes, of course, get to roll on. At the summit itself, I cram my way into a restaurant to get some much-needed food and stop to relax inthe warm sun for a bit. While I'm sucking down the spaghetti bolognese, i watch the peloton crest the pass and speed down towards Airolo, where they will turn around and climb all the way back up again - this tiem on cobblestones! Vicious. Couldn't find the summit marker in the chaos, so no picture of the loaded bike next to it, but I think I'll live.
I roll a switchback or two down Val Tremola to set up for the climb, which is due back up here in less time than one would think. It's a gorgeous view from where i eventually stopped, with a clear shot of the 4 or 5 switchbacks below me, perfect for photography, or so it would appear from the number of press photographers who set up around where I was. Tremolo is a nice smooth cobble, not like some of the Belgian nastiness i found on the way down to Paris - stuff like this is just a matter of letting the bike go and just float over it at speed. Tremola is a true classic of a climb, and when the racers come up, it's certainly taken its toll - there's no more peloton to speak of, the pack has broken up completely, and Konychev (Fassa Bortolo) pulls past with nearly 2 minutes on anyone else. 45 minutes later, the last of the stragglers ride past, and people start packing up and heading down into Ticino.
The ride down Tremola is fantastic - I fly down the cobbles, which are much smoother than one might think. You just have to be careful through the turns, due to water on the road. The second part, lower down, just after you cross the main Gotthard road, has some nastier, more eroded cobbled sections, but even those aren't too bad, and are easily dealt with. From Airolo, it's a smooth downhill coast all the way to Biasca, where things start to flatten out a bit, and the pace, which had risen to 60+ km/h, slows down a bit. I should note that while the Dutch have the award for sheer quantity of bike routes, the Swiss get major kudos for having quite possibly the best-signed bike routes in existence - if you get lost on a Swiss bike route, you weren't paying attention. Any time you'd have any question where the route turns, there's a sign. Beautiful.
As you drop off Gotthard into Ticino, you notice a complete change - the landscape, the vegetation, the architecture - everything's more, well, Italian, for lack of a better explanation. The ride down from Airolo has convinced me of one thing, though - I'll be taking the train for that first section, because that long gradual climb is just the thing to totally wind you before having to tackle the real beast - Nufenenpass.
I stop in Claro, just before Bellinzola, at a nice secluded campground (with a washing machine!), where I set up for the next 2 nights. Tommorrow will be time to skip a stage of the tour and head down to Lago di Como to make the pilgrimage to Madonna di Ghisallo, chapel of the patron saint of cycling, and a museum of Italian cycling - a shrine as much to the Madonna as to the greats of Italian cycling. As night falls on the campground, I spend the last bits of light planning my attack on Nufenen 2 days hence, and then watching the stars come out en masse, added to by an occassional firefly and some larger, but also phosphorescent, bugs.
I noted in my journals at this point that my gear-changing routine was working quite well. Here's a rundown of how i went about it. I was running a pari of cogs on my Sturmey-Archer AW 3-speed hubs, a 16t (my normal cog) and a 23t, which gave me a low gear of somewhere around 1.5:1. To switch gears, I simply broke the chain at the master link (this was an unfortunate neccessity, as the shortest possible chain length would go around the big cog snugly, but took up all the slack) and moved the chain over, letting a Singleator with a 1/2" x 1/8" derailleur pulley take up the slack when in the smaller cog. It sounds like a lot of work, but I can do the shift in under a minute, which is fast enough for me on tour.
I leave about 8 the next morning to head down to Lugano and then over to Madonna di Ghisallo. I've wanted to make this trip since I first heard of the chapel, who knows how many years ago, and I was really excited to finally visit it. On the way out of Claro, I'm riding through fields of various crops, when one particularly lush growth catches my eye - a large field of hemp! Wasn't expecting that. It must be being grown for fibers or something to that effect. There's one good climb on the way to Lago di Como, over Monte Ceneri, which is the route the tour was taking that day, and there were already placards up indicating the route. Got an ego boost coming over the top of this climb, on which I had passed a group of several local cyclists - while I was stopped to change gears for the downhill, they caught up with me and passed, shouting "Bravo!", which I could only assume was directed towards my climbing efforts on such a strange bike... Spotted the Cofidis caravan in a hotel near Mezzoico. Made the quick climb out of Lugano, along the lake, and headed for the Italian border. After a crazy ride along the narrow roads along Lago Lugano, being passed (carefully, really. it might not seem it, but they know what they're doing.) by tons of seemingly hell-bent Italian drivers (who seem to be possessed to drive any motor vehicle as if it were a Formula 1 car), The road drops down steeply into Menaggio, where I stop for a short wait for the ferry to Bellagio, where I'll start the steep climb up to the chapel.
As for my theory about bike route signs and their relation to a country's view of cycling - I had theorized that Italian bike route sign would be depictions of racing bicycles, like those in France, indicating a view of cycling as sport, rather than pratical transport. I was wrong. They simply don't exist at all. Wonder what that means...
From Bellaggio, the road that leads to Madonna di Ghisallo winds up for just over 10 km, almost all switchbacks, and really quite steep for a fair bit of the way. The chapel is worth it, but they definitely make you work to get there! It's packed to the gills with bikes, photos, jerseys, trophies, you name it - completely overwhelming at first, and almost too much to take in in such a crowded little place. The table outside the chapel is filled with all sorts of knickknacks for sale, from pins to postcards signed by Bartali before his death ($.50!) and metal headbadges so you can carry the image of the Madonna di Ghisallo wherever you go. It's now a quick ride back to Bellaggio, where I ponder, over gelato, the idea that i just rode 90 km to spend an hour gaping at bicycles in a chapel.
The climb out of Menaggio turned out to be easier than I had thought it would be, and from there it's a fairly quick ride back to Lugano, where I catch the train back to Bellinzola, and then ride the last little bit back to the campground in Claro. It's better that way, cause i still need to do laundry before going to sleep, so I can be completely ready to take off at my earliest opportunity the next morning. Instead, however, i bonk a mere 2 km from the campground, and spend 16 francs on random food items at the campground store, and end up doing laundry at 6 am the next day. There was a young Swiss couple in the campsite above me now, on a tandem, my first company here in Claro - They're riding down into southern Italy from here.
The Swiss couple are off as I'm still halfway through with the washing, and I follow them out not too shortly thereafter, headed for Bellinzola, where I'll catch my train, but not before grabbing a few more of the tasty rustic baguette-type loaves of bread that they have at the campground store to complete my breakfast of bread, milk and honey. Simple yet delicious. I'm aiming to get to Airolo around noon, which would give me time to climb up to the point on Nufenen that I'd planned to watch from, one of the final switchbacks before the summit. As I'm waiting for the train, I note that hooded crows have replaced the usual black crows here in Ticino. As the train winds up towards Airolo, I start seeing more thick shale roofs on the houses we pass, though the pole beans and small vineyards typical to gardens here in Ticino remain.
From Airolo, the climb to Nufenenpass starts out somewhat gradual, and begins to wear you down that way, and then, 15 km into the climb, at All' Acqua, takes a jump and becomes 1 in 10, on average, for the last 10 km. Brutal. I ride and walk as far as I can get by the time the publicity caravan starts rolling through, which leaves me a couple switchbacks down from the top, perched on a snow ledge at the side of the road, across the way from El Diablo, giant bike and all. Garzelli whips through with a sizeable lead - apparently he's gotten his strength back after a not-so-hot showing on Gotthard 2 days ago. El Diable whoops it up, every now and again stopping to chat with a team car or photographer - everyone seems to know him, the riders, the race officials, and everyone in between.
After a tighter bunch than on Gotthard rolls through, it's up to the summit with me as well. 2478 meters makes it my highest this trip. From here I can see where I'd have to go if i chose to try Passo San Giacomo, and the snow is still heavy, which pretty much finalizes my decision to spend my time on the Berner Oberland side of the Alps. The view down from Nufenen summit is incredible, you can easily see the Fischerhorner and Lauteraarhorn, prominent even over the rest of the Berner Alpen. The road drops down on the north side even steeper than the climb I just made, and suddenly I'm quite glad I won't be headed up that direction, as I had originally planned to do on my way to San Giacomo.
After an insane downhill all the way to Brig - the Nufenen part had me braking to 20 km/h through the turns, and then immediately accelerating to 60 km/h as soon as i let off the brakes - I find myself hopping on the train from Brig to Visp, an absurdly short ride, just out of sheer annoyance with the route through Brig. I check out the campground in Visp, and the campground turns out to be a pit, so I move on, eventually stopping in Raron, at an only marginally less boring campground, just off the road, and basically a grass parking lot. Much of Wallis past Naters has just been plain dull at this point. Somewhere coming down Nufenenpass I lost a chainring bolt - the one small part I don't have spares of, for whatever reason... Thank god I carry the almighty zip-tie - never, ever leave home without them. I'm looking forward indeed to the climb to Crans-Montana to watch the time trial, if for no other reason than to get off the floor of the valley.
I didn't think that getting to the top of the course in Crans-Montana would be too much of a problem the next day, given that I only had about 25 km to ride, and the racers weren't due to hit around 2:30. I started out fairly lazily, stopping on a side road above the Rhone, and eating breakfast on a bench there, overlooking the river in all its chalky whiteness. Stopped momentarily near the bottom of the climb to try and find a chainring bolt, but couldn't really seem to get across what I wanted, and the bike shop wasn't entirely helpful. Ended up with a better jury-rig than the zip-tie, but a jury-rig all the same, even if it was to hold out until i got back to Zurich.
The climb turned out to not be incredibly hard, but certainly a chore with a full load and the hot sun blazing. The racers were due to come through in mid-afternoon, so I wasn't even getting the worst of it. They were all over the climb, taking practice runs before the start of the time trial later in the day. At one point, I was passed by a group of Telekom riders, who I ran into a couple switchbacks later, loading their bikes onto the team car for the trip back to the start - one of them, I think possibly Udo Bolts, stepped out towards the road as I rode past, to shout encouragement, telling me I was looking good. I think i yelled back that he should check me again in a few more switchbacks...
I made it all the way to the top well before the racers were due to start, explored a bit, and finally succeeded in getting a race program - after coming up empty-handed at the Feldschlosschen booth, I got stopped by one of the workers who chased me down and handed me a program they had found, for free. Nice. Rode down a couple kilometers, tailing Bartoli, Garzelli and a couple other Mapei riders, until I stopped about 2 km from the top, in the middle of the last steep straight before entering town. Who should I find up the road, of course, but El Diablo. He's always a good indicator of a quality viewing location. While sitting around, flipping through my newly-acquired program, I come to the "horrible" realization that I'm older than 75% of the peloton.
The capper for the day is watching Armstrong, who's been a solid 3rd in the GC, come blazing up the road, putting a full minute on anyone else in a mere 25 km time trial. And to think I'd heard near the beginning of this that he'd be riding for Hamilton, as practice for the Tdf... After the last of the riders comes through, at around 5, it's off down the hill, past the French couple I ran into on the way up - they're chasing their 3rd Tour de Suisse - the husband's passionate about cycling, and it appears to be catching on as far as the wife is concerned as well. I've met some fantastic people over the last few days, simply by seeing them every day as I ride to my viewing spot.
I end up riding down to Sion, and then deciding there that I'll catch the train to Aigle, from where I'll catch the cog train up to Le Sepey, hoping to make Les Mosses in time to camp, but that begins to look less and less likely. The ticket counter guy is a first - a completely unhelpful Swiss rail employee - but still I manage to convince him of the ticket I want to buy, and get on my way. I'm a little worried about making the campsite as i sit waiting for my transfer in Aigle, but I'm kept entertained by Swiss teenagers, who keep coming over to borrow my corkscrew to open bottles of wine, and ask me for rolling papers that I don't have. Ah, contributing to the delinquency of minors...
After a twisty and slow ride on the train, during which I note the presence of a dirt road that looks like it could've been rideable up to where I was headed, I get off at my destination, Le Sepey. It's practically dark at this point, and I'm not entirely sure how much climbing I have to do to get to the campsite, so I check the center of town to see if there's a hotel. There is, and its' closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Today is Tuesday. Doh! As I'm headed up out of town, I stop to ask a resident how far it is to the camping, and I end up being invited up for dinner, and offered a spare room, which I gladly accept, as it solves my quandry immediately. Besides, I'm tired. My hosts, Benno and Norbert, are quite friendly for just having met me, and graciously offer food and a bed to sleep in, and complete refuse any offers of payment.
Le Sepey turns out to be even more beautiful in the morning than it appeared in the dark last night, and I should be in for a treat if the rest of the surrounding area is as nice. I'm perched on the edge of the Berner Oberland now, on this, my last day with the Tour de Suisse. I ride out, and stop in La Comballaz for coffee and pastries, spotting 2 places I could've had a room that night, both within range of Le Sepey. No loss though, cause I had a great time as it turned out. Spotted my french friends, the Jalabert fans who I met the day before in Crans-Montana, a ways down the road, and wave as I roll by. I crest the smooth summit of Col des Mosses, a minor pass, and stop for food. I don't suceed in finding a patch for this summit, other than some nasty pink and blue thing that i refuse to purchase, but there's some delicious local Alpine cheese - L'Etivaz.- and a nice local sausage as well, to go with the pastries I picked up down the road at the bakery.
I roll back downhill slightly from the col, and find a nice spot just before the road goes over a stream, with a nice grassy patch to set up and have my food. I'm not there 10 minutes when El Diablo drives by, waving. He's back 10 minutes later, and asks If he can park his van and bike there, to which I gladly agree, and help him move the whole thing into position. He's the guy to hang out with on the tour - the whole publicity caravan knows him, and they drop off free everything as they roll past - cases of Sinalco, bags of sandwiches, handfuls of lighters, and all kinds of crap. If you're next to him on the course, you eat for free. A small thunderstorm moves through just before the peloton arrives, moving up the still-steaming road, not yet broken up into groups. I get some good shots as they roll by, and Jalabert tosses off a bottle as he passes, so I've got yet another souvenier. The besenwagen goes past, and El Diablo's hopping in his van, headed for the finish in Lausanne, yelling at me that he'll see me at the Tour de France...
From there, it's up over Col du Pillon, and then into the Berner Oberland, where my tour in the Swiss Alps begins...
Maps used:
Bundesamt fur Landestopographie 1:100000 #s 102, 103, 105, 107, 110 (Switzerland/Italy)
On to the next stage, touring the Swiss Alps