I always have a tendency to feel somewhat melancholy on the last day of a cycle tour. You out so much time and effort into organising it (research, mapping, coordinating accomodation, blogs).

Then there is the actual having to ride it, the physical and mental challenge. Setting out at aged 60 (very close) and 61 to ride 3000 km is something that not many have the desire or capability to achieve.

You get an array of comments, and for those who take the time to write positive comments via the blog page or fb we are appreciative. The support and encouragement of your words is acknowledged and not taken for granted.

There are many who ‘like’ the blog without actually reading it (easy to tell….as the number of likes on two fb pages versus actual number of reads is significantly different).

But to those who do reach out, our gratitude and thanks.

So after our breakfast we left Luzern during peak hour traffic, and once clear of the city found ourselves in the burbs.

Shortly thereafter we were back riding in agricultural fields of wheat, corn, potatoes and poppies. Looking back there were the mountains again. Lovely vista.

Rothenburg was a pretty town we rode through.

Then we passed Lake Sempach.

We saw this Trek sign in a village. Being a Trek Ambassador in Australia, I thought I’d grab this photo for my Instagram account, where all things Trek are tagged.

We had no time pressures today. We only needed to ride about 75 km to finish, and we had told my son Ben we would arrive after 3 pm, trying to fit in with his work meetings.

We planned to sit in Aarau for a while. The weather was lovely, and we had a fruit smoothie each after wandering around the town. Note the paintings under the eaves.

A very pretty town, that is the capital of the northern Swiss canton of Aargau. It is located on the Aare River, and also the southern foot of the Jura Mountains as we were about to discover.

We ended up moving on sooner than planned as we realised we had a lumpsch to get over, and we both preferred warmer legs. It was nearly 4 km long at an average of 6.8% with pinches of around 11-12%.

It was warm climbing and when we got to,the top we discovered it had a name. Staffelegg Pass at 621 m altitude is one of the lowest Jura mountain passes and is surrounded by Wasserflue and Gisiflie, popular hikes.

I saw these signs though and laughed and twisted a bit, how I was thinking.

There was a bus shelter at the top of the climb that we sat in as it had just started to spit with rain. Checking the Swiss rain radar site, we could see the band moving towards Basel and knew we were likely to get more rain.

So we kept moving, stopping at a CoOp in Frick to grab an iced coffee and sushi.

About 8 km later, we made it back to Ben’s including his 14.4% pinch up his road. Accomodation is always at the top of a climb😳

So here we are. Done and dusted bar some short rides we will do in the area before our departure home on Monday night.

I could not do this without my partner in crime, Tony. He looks after all my mechanical ‘stuff’, takes the photos, and engages in lively navigational debate at times.

Doing a trip such as this, you see each other tested fully both physically and mentally. We survived each other and we both gain a greater appreciation and respect for each other as we know what each other goes through.

Time to celebrate some say. Think we’ve only had one ever finishing a tour, and that was LeJog where a group of partners got to John O’Groats ahead of us and cheered us all on, giving us champagne.

Oh actually, same tour company at the ends of London to Venice greeted us with champagne too.

This time, we shared this! Sandra gave it to us last night. 💕

Someone was pleased to see us!

There will be a few more blog posts yet as we will do some small rides whilst Ben sleeps weather permitting. Plus I have promised others to cover a few topics including…..what’s in the bags so stay tuned.