Coloradans Tackle the Swiss Alps

The next Swiss Adventure started with a road trip to the next "base camp" of Meiringen (which by the way claims to have invented meringue and has the white stuff all over every local bakery), with an obligatory stop at the local gas station for a nature break along the way... As the last "campers" pointed out - Leave it to the Swiss to make sure the restroom experience is as pleasant as possible...
Ready to ride - "counselor" Gustav made sure to be stocked up with the most important on-ride nutrition (Swiss chocolate, of course)...
We're on the road again! Heading up Gross Scheidegg in the Berner Oberland to see the views of some big famous mountains (esp. the Eiger) at the top - climb, climb, climb...
This is a great climb, with hardly any cars at all on the route... oh, and some pretty amazing scenery as a bonus...
...which helps to take your mind off the little 18-20% grade parts here and there...
What perfectly beautiful weather - we were very lucky.
Made it to the top! And actually got a picture of all of us together (asking for it to be level was obviously too much - must be the altitude)...
The descent was so picture-perfect in spots, it seemed like a painting...
At one point there was a brief stand-off... whatever you do, don't moooooooove.....
But we made it thru all obstacles and ended up having a great ride and a great day!

The next day was Sunday and after the previous day's challenge the group was totally energized and ready to tackle another big adventure...
Well, at least their minds were on cycling (the UCI Road World Championships)...
With the hopes to create a spark and some energy for more "climb, climb, climb"ing, some cappuccinos were in order...
Luckily the caffeine did the trick, and the group was off to head uphill again. Today's challenge was Gotthard Pass - a classic Swiss climb complete with non-stop cobblestones toward the top (even with some grades up to 12%!)...
Despite the bumping around, we made it to that top too - Yahoo! Almost in Italy, the signs switch to Italian (they say "ore" for hour), and passing cyclists say "Ciao" (although we were the only crazy cyclists up there at this time)...
That night it was time for some major carbo-loading to prepare for the big riding the next day...
The next morning we woke up to some looooooow temps, and frost all over the car, but that didn't stop these campers from riding -- After all they're tough Coloradans!
It ended up being another perfectly clear day - Susten Pass was gorgeous...
Pass #1 down -- Yeah!
The view from the top was stunning...
Couldn't see all this last time we were riding here a few weeks ago (when it was 7pm and almost dark!)...
Next was Grimsel Pass. One of our fave sections is when bikes have their own road to bypass a tunnel, so no cars - just us...
Lots of beautiful scenery to distract one from various "discomforts" while climbing here...
No discomforts evident for "Team Swiss" here though! (or maybe just riding high on endorphins)
Course maybe it's cuz this time I only did one pass and drove support for the rest (it was quite efficient, getting 5,000 ft elev in just 16 miles!). Gotta hand it to Paula - She did the full Silver Route from the Alpenbrevet, with 11,500 ft elevation over three passes. And Di tackled two huge passes with a never-ending smile. Cold temps at the tops and freeeeeezing wind on the descents? No problem for these Coloradans. Hopp, hopp, hopp -- Great job!!

The view from the top of Grimsel Pass is one of my favorites, where you can see the full Grimsel descent plus the next climb winding its way up Furka Pass in the distance...
The gals tackled the final climb with non-stop gusto and still saved some energy for smiles at the top... Way to go!!!
Meanwhile the "accelerated camper" guys enjoyed their own Swiss adventure by tackling the "Gold Route" of the Alpenbrevet - All 17,500 ft elevation gain of it! With it being almost October the daylight is quite a bit more sparse which meant a finish in the dark and fog...
...but of course that made it all even more epic - What a day!
We were so lucky to have such perfectly clear, beautiful weather to enjoy one of the last good biking days in the Swiss Alps this season. Now next stop is Italy, Lake Como area, where we are hoping for some warmer temps... We'll see if that plan works!

Ciao,
Buggy

P.S. Thanks for all your comments on the previous post!!

June - a month full of adventures...

To quickly round out the month of May... After Jo's visit, I made a visit to the U.S. to see some family and friends (and our dog Brandy!) in TN & GA. It was a whirl-wind "tour" as these visits always are, but it was wonderful to see everyone. In addition to visiting, I also got the chance to do some biking with friends in the north Georgia mountains and Atlanta - Our friend put together a great story about it here called Hausfrau in the Holler (yes, I am taking the easy way out for this! she just writes so much better than I). More pictures from this visit can be seen by clicking here.

Then came June - The month of outdoor adventures! Since it's hard to describe all the experiences in words, and as they say "a picture is worth a thousand words", I'll just include links to the pictures and let them tell the story! (with a few samples here...)

It started with some biking at a couple local mountain passes: Pragel and Ibergeregg. As you can see it was still a bit winter-ish at the top...
Here in Switzerland you always have to be ready for different things to be crossing the road in front of you -- cows, goats, and sometimes a whole herd of sheep...
We discovered a backroad up one of the passes that hardly had any cars and was full of stunning Swiss mountain and village views that we had all to ourselves...
For more you can read our friend's write-up on this ride here, and more pictures are here.

The next day we did a "recovery hike" up (& down) the Gross Mythen mountain (definitely what I would call an "active" recovery!). It was a beautiful hike, and at the top we were greeted with some snowfall - That's June in the Alps for ya. Before we ducked into the hut shown in the background to warm up, Jeff did as any good Swiss (or Swiss wannabe!) person would do, and played a few tunes on the Alphorn across the valley below...
For more pictures, click here.

The following weekend we went to watch the time trial stage of the Tour de Suisse pro cycling race, which was being held on Klausen Pass. We decided to bike to the pass from home with a few friends, and along the way we "added on" a couple smaller passes, Albis and Raten. Once again we discovered some great backroads with no cars (just a few tractors) and incredible views...

For more pictures from that day (including ones from the local newspaper/website), click here, and a photo story on our friends' website here: Tour de Suisse.

The next day Jeff did another "active recovery" by going running in the mountains for 6 hours with a couple friends. (I guess that's "recovery" after you've recently run thru a desert for a week!?!) I think they got so distracted by the views that they just didn't want to stop...


For more pictures click here.

While he was out "Berglaufen", I was immersed in a full-day mountain biking skills course. It was all in Swiss German, but luckily I had our friend Martina to translate the important stuff for me. I learned a lot, and finally got over my chicken-ness enough to ride down a full set of stairs -- and survived to tell about it!
The following weekend Martina put me to the test again by taking me rock climbing in the mountains. It was the first time in several years that I had climbed outdoors, and the very first time that I did lead-climbing (where you don't have a rope above you the whole time and instead have to clip in to bolts along the way up). Martina is the best and most patient teacher!
Eventually I even got comfortable enough to enjoy the views from the top...After climbing we topped off the day with a refreshing swim in a nearby lake...
For more pictures, click here.

The next day we decided to branch out a little and check out some cycling in the nearby country of Liechtenstein. At just over 60 square miles for the whole country, it doesn't take much more than a day to check it all out! They definitely have the "castle theme" going there...
What we also found there were some wonderfully smooth roads for biking, and some serious hills including a good climb up to Malbun ski resort. It was a really hot day, and a steep climb that seemed to just keep getting steeper, so we plenty of breaks to, um, enjoy the view.

To read our friend's more detailed account of the day, you can click here, and more pictures are here.

The following weekend we stayed a little closer to home and checked out some more of the local roads... We feel quite lucky to have places like this within riding distance from home!
For more pictures click here.

After these long days of biking, running, hiking, etc., it's nice to top it off with a refreshing swim, and it's a cool feeling to just walk down the street and jump in the lake (sometimes very literally cool!).
So that's our month of June in a nutshell. The rest of the summer we will be staying busy with several visitors, so we'll be out and about a lot of the time, but mostly staying in Switzerland -- I think there's still enough to see here to keep us busy for a long time! Can't wait to share it all with more friends and family.

Have a great summer!!

Cheers,
Becky