I used Avocet Road 700x28 wire-bead, non-Kevlar tires on 36 hole Mavic MA-2 rims with 1.8-1.6mm DT spokes; Campagnolo Record brakes (Kool-Stop red pads), small flange hubs with a SunTour new winner pro 6-speed FW 13-15-17-19-21-24, Sun Tour Pro derailleur and downtube shift levers, and Shimano Dura Ace 180mm cranks with 46-50 CW, SPD 525 pedals and M110 shoes; the frame is steel and about 26" with oversized top and downtubes using an Avocet Racing 20 Turbo Gel saddle on a two bolt Campagnolo Record seat post, steel Cinelli bars and Ritchey stem. I wear Avocet polypropylene shorts and jerseys. My suitcase and bicycle go as two pieces of legal overseas air baggage and, with my small carry-on bag, can be taken on trains on arrival. Whole bicycles can be shipped by air but upon arrival the bicycle cannot be carried onto most trains. Sent as baggage, the bicycle can cause one or more days delay just when it is least convenient.
We stopped for photos at the Luzern Lion sculpted into the cliff and then watched Alpine swifts dart around the tower on the wooden bridge across the Reuss under low clouds. We visited Mrs Dierauer Sr on the Musegg, above the Armory at the city wall. As we sat on a stack of newspapers to protect the furniture, we exchanged anecdotes of some of the things we experienced since last year and munched on sweets, fruit and hot tea. Mrs Dierauer offered John the waterproof parka of her late husband, because John was still shivering from the bike store jacket, that was neither water nor truly windproof. It also had no hood, an essential for such a jacket. We headed off to Hergiswil past the Alpnachersee, with deserted beaches on an empty road.
The rain let up as we approached Sarnen, so we cut across town just past the train station to the the small road up to Flueli-Ranft and into the Melchtal. At the town of Melchtal in the Melchtal, we stopped for a warm lunch before the climb. The road becomes narrow (timed one way traffic) and steep with a 12% grade at Stockalp (1075m), at the end of the valley, climbing to Frut (1902m) and the Melchsee in seven kilometers. From Frut, we rode around the lake and climbed to the higher reservoir and into snowfields as we approached the end of the road at Tannen (1976m). Here we took a hiking trail around the granite wall to Engsteln (1837m), where we descended the private road from there to the Susten Pass road to reach the Haslital at Inertkirchen (625m).
We rode up the three hairpins of the Kirchet (709m) to the Lammi Gasthaus where we turned off to Rosenlaui. This road climbs steeply through a forest and heads into the canyon of the roaring Reichenbach where Sherlock Holmes and Dr Moriarty went over the falls to meet their deaths. The Rosenlaui glacier and the Wetterhorn come into view as the road rises above the cascades of the Reichenbach. The road levels off in a high valley before Rosenlaui, where we stopped at the Hotel Rosenlaui (1330m), where Andreas and Christina Kehrli preside. After a hearty dinner of hackbraten with roesti and a tall (58dl) cool Eichhof beer, we retired to the 5th floor "touristenlager" accommodations where we were the only guests and got a good night's sleep to the sound of pouring rain and the rushing creek.
The road widens and gains a center stripe just before Grindelwald (1034m), where we inspected the BOB and WAB cog railways before heading down the Luetschine river to Interlaken with a favorable breeze. On the way we passed the Schynige Platte (BOB) 800mm gauge cog trains that were loading passengers who had just arrived from Interlaken on the BOB (Berner Oberland Bahn) meter gauge train. I doubt they saw much in the low clouds, but the tour must go on.
In Interlaken (563m) we looked back across the large meadow in the middle of town for a view of the cloud truncated Eiger-Moench-Jungfrau that were just visible in the haze. From here we headed east along the Brienzer Lake to Brienz where the BRB steam cog railway was loading passengers as we ate lunch on the steamer dock. We continued past Meiringen back over the Kirchet (709m) to Inertkirchen (625m) and up the Grimsel road to Gutannen and Handegg (1402) where the rain began in earnest. We climbed to the high dams of the Haslital Power Company that hold back the Aar river. The rain faded to a drizzle at the Grimsel (2165m), to reveal a view of the Finsteraarhorn (4275m) to the west, the source of the Unteraar and Oberaar rivers.
The banks of the summit lake still lay under snow while the water was covered with a sheet of clear new ice between floes of old ice. A few snow flakes blew around between the drops as we stopped for a hot chocolate at the Gasthaus at the end of the lake before descending to Gletsch (1761m) almost straight below in the Rhone valley. Here a panorama of the 266m higher Furka Pass, and the desolate glacial valley 400m below via stacked hairpins lay before us. Clouds and late afternoon lighting competed a classic stormy ambience for the Grimsel.
The rain stopped as we reached Gletsch and rode up the Furka Pass (2431m) to take obligatory pictures in front of the Rhone Glacier. It was good to see how much progress the DFB had made in the construction of its new highway crossing. To comply with new highway standards, this project makes the right-of-way descend more steeply, so that the train can cross the highway on level track without cogwheel drive. Looking back from the Furka summit we saw that the usual late afternoon fog cascading through the Grimsel gap onto Gletsch as so much cold air from a freezer chest.
We crossed the broad summit, coasting down an empty road above the Furka Reuss canyon toward Realp (1538m), with the Oberalp Pass visible beyond Andermatt. We stopped in Realp at the DFB (Dampfbahn Furka Bergstrecke) engine house, but their season had not yet started so there was no action. A light drizzle began to fall as we approached Hospental (1452m) where we stopped for the night at Hotel Roessli.
We took pictures of the old serpentine road, in the Val Tremola below, with its stack of hairpins traversed by the trace of the Roman road. Below the Fortezza, bicycles are relegated to the old road of poorly maintained paving stones that give a great vibra massage. The road levels off in Airolo (1165m) before descending to the Ambri-Piotta valley, from which the SBB Ritom funicular railway climbs at 100% grade to a reservoir that supplies railway power.
Although the double track Gotthard railway, with corkscrew tunnels and many bridges is impressive, it is dwarfed by the enormous bridges and tunnels of the split level motorway, so high above that it is out of one's field of vision. In contrast to railways, the cost of such super highways is seldom questioned because they allow the public to ride this amusement park without perceptible cost. Meanwhile, the otherwise roaring Ticino River, that is mostly diverted from its polished granite bed for hydro power, had only a token flow of clear mountain water.
We stopped briefly at the super market in Biasca near the railway station, where a multistage waterfall descends from out of the clouds to the valley, finally crossing over itself in two opposing streams that flow from a swimming hole about 100m above. We rode on to Bellinzona where we were the last customers in the grocery store as we selected a hearty lunch. Under cloudy skies, it was a straight shot to Cadenazzo and along the east shore of Lago Maggiore (193m) into Italy. Here the lake is lined with holiday homes with gardens of sweet smelling wisteria and deep blue and pink hydrangia.
Once in Italy, we stopped in Luino at the bancomat for Italian money. The convenience of using an ATM card to access my home bank is a great leap forward from the days of cashing travelers checks, at banks that were never open when you needed one. The lake looked refreshing but the air temperature didn't encourage swimming. Just as well, because it was the kind of cool air that suits bicycling. At Laveno we took the ferry to the busy side of the lake in Verbania from where we crossed the Toce river that originates on the San Giacomo Pass. From here it's a small climb to Omegna (298m) and the Lago d'Orta where traffic again dwindled to nothing along the east shore. This lake has an island with a picturesque red stone castle and small forest.
Beyond the lake at Gozzano (367m), we turned west and climbed to Pogno (461m) where it started to rain and continued to drizzle as we headed up the road through a chestnut forest as is common all over the Piemonte. Toward the end of the canyon the rain stopped before we entered the tunnel (598m) from which we descended to Borgosesia (359m) on pavement steaming in the late afternoon sun. We crossed the high stone arched bridge over the Sesia, beneath which large trout and swans decorate the deep blue waters. We stopped to say hello to a restaurateur who runs a great osteria where we had eaten on past tours. Being early, we headed off westward past Trivero (580m) where Richard and I had found a hotel last year.
At Valle Mosso we turned north along the ridge to Mosso Santa Maria and on to Veglio where "the bridge to nowhere" crosses a deep ravine to Pistolesa (655m). The route to this bridge escaped me for years as I marveled at it from below until Brian Tomlin from Ivrea found the way to get there. The weather made the view from the bridge to the south over the vast Po valley unusually clear in the golden evening light that cast a shadow of the bridge onto the roofs of Veglio. The new bungee center seems to have given purpose to the bridge. A red carpet and gate in the suicide prevention fence in the center of the span presumably allow jumps now, that don't end in tragedy.
We descended from Pistolesa to the main road in the valley from which we climbed a few ridges to Biella (410m), arriving at dusk. After riding around for awhile, we found a hotel that was too ritzy for our taste, so we asked the receptionist and got directions to a hotel that was more our speed. After a hike around town we found a pizzaria that filled our minimum daily allowance with reasonable quality.
As Brian headed back to work, we rode on to Chivasso where the bridge over the Po, that had been washed out three years ago, had finally been replaced. We followed the south shore of the river, catching lunch in a restaurant just before Torino. In town we cut through the center, past the Mole' and Stazione Centrale, down the Via Nizza so that we could see the former Lingotto FIAT plant with its banked speedway on the roof. The Officina Lingotto did not disappoint us. Its planned conversion into a European auto center was coming along well with a large section of the building renovated and an elegant looking main portal completed.
At the edge of town we headed south on Rt N20, the Tenda Highway. We stopped for refreshments In Raconigi, where a two kilometer long brick wall parallel to the road encloses the castle and grounds of the Savoias, the last royal family of Italy. We learned from the man behind the counter that the castle was a national museum and that the Savoias lived in exile in France. Raconigi is at about half of the 87km flat distance to Cuneo (587m). Although it didn't rain the clouds hung low and made sure we couldn't see the mountains until we were in Cuneo where we crossed the high stone arch road and rail viaduct over the Stura di Demonte.
After a drink of water at the great fountain in front of the train station, we headed up the road to Borgo San Dalmazzo (641m) and then south toward Robilante (686m). In Robilante we dropped in on the great chain saw store, who's owner turns out to be the uncle of David Clucas, right here from the internet. Dave was there on a visit at the time but out of town, so we missed him. We stopped for the night at our usual spot just up the road, the Albergo Ristorante Aquila Reale.