From Lake Luzerne to St Gottards Pass and then down again !!

The beautiful lake Luzern

Well we did it! With huge help from Bruce, the good old Mondeo estate and our little home on wheels, we made it to the top over two days. We left Lake Luzerne on saturday morning and trundled across the valley floor with the Swiss Alps rather eerily getting closer and closer.
Bruce bet us two bottles of champagne that we wouldn't make Andermatt by sunday night so the challenge was on !! Once in the lower Alps we climbed and climbed and although like nothing we had done before it was manageble. Bruce met us at Goshenen just below Andermatt on Saturday and we had a beer. We were now pretty confident we could meet the challenge. We drove back down to the camp and then restarted at Goshenen the following morning.  The steep hills started almost immediately and we both had the colly wobbles as we watched bruce and Arby (the caravan!) disappearing up the mountain and through one of the first rather horrible avalanche shelters. We tended to walk through these because the noise of thundering motor bikes of which there were hundreds was just too scary.
Soon the motor bikes were joined by Ferraris galore out for a Sunday trip to the top. We made Andermatt in about 2 1/2 hours with bruce waiting for us as we emerged from a long tunnel. Devils bridge before the tunnel was extraordinary and we were both glad to be cycling at this point and not one of the rock climbers that were scaling the sheer and super high rock face.

Now it was only 7 miles to the top ......unfortunately I thought Bruce said 7 kms so was bitterly disappointed when I thought we were nearly there only to find we still had another 4 miles. I must confess there were many occasions when we were quicker walking than cycling! but it was an extraordinany experience and we struggled on and on and on and up and up and up.! We were now above the first drifts of snow, really quite deep in parts. We passed a huge concrete structure that turned out to be an air vent for the road tunnel under us. 3 kilometres from the top the road divided and we left the fast road and joined the old road made from cobbles. It was hard work and we would love to have seen some Marmots (We could here them calling) and then around a corner was the welcome sight of Bruce's smiling face and the car and caravan decked out with Gemma's Union Jack! We were at the top....2106 metres.
Wow!!! and it was so worth the effort. The views, the lake at the top, the snow, the blue sky were just mind blowing and made us all feel very humble.
So then we went down !! and down and down. The first 14 km on the old cobbled road you can see in the picture which rattled our teeth, our brains and our bones! We were over taken by 10 guys from the 16th Regiment of the Royal Artillery who sweetly stopped to talk to us. They were already on their 2nd pass of the day and were riding from London to Venice in ten days, a distance of 1000 miles ! We met them later in our camp and they were gracious enough to say how proud they were of us ! the British Army no less. One of their group had hit 50 miles an hour going down hill !

a beer at Goshenen

The first hill out of Goshenen with the first avalanche tunnel

Sal getting the best possible picture of the valley we had just come from

Twists and bends as we went up

At the top at last

Other tourists took pictures of us at this sign!! Goodness knows what they are going to do with them

The longed for daily beer. bruce had cooled them in the snow.

Then the cobbled road down to Airolo.

Half way to Taranto

700 miles completed . Wahoo!!

sunshine, rain, sunshine, stunning switzerland and the hills begin in earnest

I would like to put more photos up at this point. The ones in the rain showing Sal in her yellow peril cape are particularly funny.  Sadly i can't seem to get them across from iphoto but will try again another time. We have had the most amazing weather showing switzerland at her very best. Lake Luzerne is almost turquoise at the moment with the glacial water flooding down. The route we have been following has taken us along valley flooss, along the river Ruesse and then further and further up the mountain towards the St Gottards pass which is at 2108 metres. We are almost glad that we had the 'bad' day the other day because had it all gone to plan we would have been doing the big climb yesterday. Bruce went on ahead to check out campsites and the visibilty was about 50 yds and it was snowing at the top. Down below, following Lake Luzerne Sal and I cycled for nearly 7 hours in rain and wind. Actually, we had a great day and had a few adventures on the way......cycling across an airfield was one and taking the ferry across the lake was another. The photos we took were dark and grey.
Today was completely different. Hot and sunny as we climbed up and up and up towards Andermatt. We took endless photos as we just could not believe the colours and the beauty we were seeing. The Swiss are trying really hard to make the route 'cycle friendly' and are very nearly there. Some of the tunnels were a bit scary...but it was the noise of thundering trucks on the roads above us or the roar of the hundreds of motor bikes that over took us that was most off putting. We both managed the climb OK, walking a bit but not nearly as much as expected. Not a marmot to be seen as yet!  Bruce came and picked us up about 5 miles short of Andermatt. With any luck we will be able to get over the pass tomorrow.....Watch this space.

Then Bruce arrived again and all was good again !

Actually it was good before he arrived as well because we left the caravan south of Basle and followed the brilliant Swiss Route 5 for about 33 km through beautiful Swiss country side finally getting to Gelterkinden before getting a train and tram back to our starting point.

The bad day before five glorious days !!

Well what a week we've had ! One very bad day out of 7 isn't too bad but that is how it has worked out and we are now within spitting distance of the St Gottards Pass. The bad day meant hills we weren't expecting, Tom Tom took the car and caravan on hills it it couldnt cope with and Mary Ann  got stuck in nettles and lost in Basle.

Strasbourg to Basle

                                       

1. We had to have a day off cycling after 7 days to catch up with our domestic chores. Goodness knows what our fellow campers made of us! This camp was only a 25 minute cycle ride out of Strasbourg.
2. Sally set off to Colmar and I followed the canal path. Up until this little lock keepers cottage the path had been smooth and easy. It was Sunday and everyone was out.....roller skaters galore, runners, joggers, cyclists,walkers and a family where the 5 year old was cycling, Dad was running  whilst pushing a three year old in his buggy and Mum was running alongside. can you imagine that on the Marriotts way?!! After the cottage the path deteriorated and left the canal. I found myself cycling through fields of wheat ...again ! 
3. Sal and I met up again on the Rhine. Actually it was a rather dull and boring road because for miles and miles we were separated from the river by a high bank. Every now and again we popped up the bank to make sure the river was still there. Banana breaks are common  and we are also munching our way through 88 Ma Baker bars  and about a thousand dextrose tablets !!! Along this road I got my second puncture (silly me had not found the cause of the first puncture which turned out to be a tiny incisor shape stone embedded into the tyre) After a long 83 km ride we finally got into our camp site on an island between the Rhine canal and Rhine river. Actually we were too exhausted to enjoy the view but we managed to eat mackeral fillets in mustard sauce before falling into bed and both slept for nearly 11 hours!
4. This is the real Rhine and not one of the tributaries or canals ! We finally managed to cycle along side it today crossing over to Germany just below Colmar. We could have gone all the way to Basle but stopped about 20km short as we knew of a good campsite. Its built in tiers up a steep hill and along side vineyards . We had a lovely swim, supper and then watched the sunset over the Rhine which was spectacular. Hopefully tomorrow we won't regret the 20 kms we will have to make up in order to get to Luzerne by Wednesday.

Keskastel to Strasbourg

1. Rolling country side on the way to meet Sal who had taken the caravan 80km on towards Strasbourg. She actually left the car and van on the side of the canal leading into Strasbourg. Much much later we got back to it in a torrential storm and found ourselves blocked in by three camper vans. We had no choice but to stay put and then cycled into Strasbourg the next day.
2. Much like England? It was shortly after this I had my first puncture and for the first time EVER did not call Bruce for help!!!
3. A beer stop, proudly showing our GB stickers on the backs of our bikes!
4. As we came into Strasbourg the first building we came across was the European Parliament.
5. Then the Council (Palais) of Europe which is where Ella did her internship last year. Strasbourg is a wonderful city and 100% bike friendly. From this point we pedalled into the city centre (via a sunny beer stop) often just going alongside the canals.
6. & 7. The Cathedral is the central point of the city. As you can see quite spectacular. The surrounding architecture was quite Gothic but there are also huge Italian style Piazzas. Really lovely. I was able to easily cycle out to our camp site in the suburbs whilst Sal cycled back to get the caravan.