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.

We are staying in a hotel with a Peruvian theme….restaurant and staff. I would not recommend it, poor quality mattress that has one of those rubber sheets like you put in your children’s bed when first toilet training at night, that makes you sweat.

Breakfast was a mess, made worse by a power failure in the dining room and an incredible influx of a tourist group. Food handling techniques were poor to non existent, no hand sanitiser in sight.

We ended up grabbing our breakfast and relocating to an adjacent room that had no one in it.

The rain radar contradicted the weather forecast that said it was going to rain. I could not see that the rain would hit the area, so we took off to ride down to the far end of Lake Luzern to Fluelen 51 km away, planning to return by the ferry.

We grabbed our bikes and made our way out of Luzern through the peak hour traffic. We had some 20 km of more suburbian like riding to do through a series of built up areas, but some nice vistas from the lake promenades.

We cut across a couple of sections of land turning away from the lake.

Returning to the lake and various sculptures and water features.

The skies were lifting, and we could gradually see more

The further down the lake we went, the better the scenery got.

The lake weaves around, with varying headlands jutting out, on both sides, creating narrow passages looking reminiscent of fjords. We are heading towards those snow capped mountains.

When you head up hill from Brunnen there is a sign saying the road ahead is dangerous and that it is recommended you catch the train or ferry. I have never seen such a sign before and we were like ‘eek’.

However very quickly we realised that this was not the case and that cyclists and walkers were very safely accommodated.

The last section of the lake, riding from Brunnen to Fluelen is the best section of riding scenery and infrastructure wise.

Getting to those mountains was an engineering masterpiece. We rode through multiple tunnels. Some were newer two lane tunnels, with a raised broad footpath for bikes and walkers. Others were older tunnels adjacent to newer ones for cars. The older tunnels were just for cycles and walkers. We must have ridden through nearly one km worth all up.

In other places the sides were open with a cycle track to the side.

The closer we got to Fluelen the more amazing the scenery became.

As we rode the last section of lake, we could see the ferry criss crossing the lake to various villages. We arrived at the ferry terminal 10 minutes before it was due to arrive and leave.The ferry departed hourly and the return trip took 3 hours.

As it was approaching 1 pm we decided to catch this ferry rather than explore further. The weather was lovely now, sun shining so it promised to be a great trip back. It cost a total of 112 Swiss francs (about Aud $185) including 16 Swiss francs for the bikes.

We found ourselves a great outdoor seat at the rear of the ferry looking backwards, so that we could savour the view of the mountains for as long as we could.

The closer we got to Luzern the clouds came rolling in, like some great performance on stage, the curtains were closing. It was a magnificent performance and one that we would long remember.

This ride rates. If you are a cyclist and heading this way we can recommend the route. A shorter option would be to get the ferry to Vitznau and ride from there.

The day held another highlight, as we had dinner with friends Sandra and Rolf, friends I met in the Maldives in 1985. I have had a few catch ups in recent years, but not since 2019 due to not being able to travel.

We had a lovely meal at a local Swiss restaurant and I do so value our friendship lasting so many years.

Well another day has gone, and tomorrow we ride back to where we started 3.5 weeks ago.

Thank you for reading, stay safe, smile on 😊

…with the sound of music..? It looks like that in the photo below. You think maybe Julie Andrew’s is about to start singing?

I really like the next two photos. Bidding the three mountains farewell with the promise of a half decent looking day.

Alas the rain radar told a different story. We had watched it and knew without doubt that the band of rain was too big to miss Switzerland and we were bang smack in the middle. We had the morning though!

I took one last look up the valley and then turned my back. Maybe I will see these three again. It had been 35 years since my first visit and let’s hope a lot less until my next.

We headed straight into Interlaken as we needed to cross the river and ride down the ‘other’ lake side towards Brienz. We knew from our return bike ride yesterday that it was a good road and we would start with a couple of shorter climbs.

We stopped a few times on our way to Brienz as the lake was magical.

We turned left at Brienz, and again there were Swiss Airforce planes busy with their low altitude flights. Yesterday we had seen and heard many flyovers. I have since learned that the main airbase for the Swiss airforce is just a few km away at Meirengen.

There is a single runway and a series of large caverns in the adjacent mountain where the aircraft and ammunition is stored. You can drive the plane right though and out another cavern opening.

Then we climbed. The graph below shows the nasty one. As far as climbs go, on a loaded bike, we both felt this was tough. Not as long as say climbing to Les Gets in France last week, but steeper and pinchier. There were extended periods of 9-13% plus gradient.

There was no verge at all. There were many sections of no side barrier and long drop offs. I moved further out into the lane in those sections as one mistake by me, or the lightest tap by a car and life was over.

The vehicles were in abundance and would have difficulty overtaking due to the oncoming traffic.

It’s a hard place to stop when pushing 9-13% plus as you need to be able to twist your shoes out of their cleats and then re cleat to start again on a steeper slope. That is hard to do and keep your balance. Well it is for me.

On some left bends there was a little excess on the right hand side so I would move over there and jump off and wait. They were all very patient and highlights the huge difference riding here vs Australia. Not one car horn today.

Tony took a few photos climbing.

We often stop for a breather at the top of climbs and Brunig Pass had a cafe restaurant. So we stopped and had a hot chocolate (do it yourself version, as we were presented with a mug of warm milk and a sachet) and I ordered ‘something’ to eat. My German comprehension is far less than my French and she said croissant, and something else that sounded like mousse. I ordered the latter.

Mistake. Awful. It was like a five day old dried out sausage roll, with thick dry pastry that was inedible filled with stuff that almost looked like a sausage roll but sweeter. I got a spoon and scraped it out to eat leaving the thick pastry that you could use as a weapon.

Also turns out the cafe is 10 metres ascent short of the top of climb so our legs did protest after a break. Brunig Pass boasts a bus and train station and a few other eating places. Then it was into the descent, which included a few areas of roadworks.

We stopped here to look at the view of this lake, Lungerersee. The town you can see is Lungern.it was super picturesque.

Down in Lungern we stopped at a small supermarket and grabbed a bottle of Perrier to refill our bidons.

The weather is closing in and the blue sky has gone. The next lake we ride past is Sarnersee.

Lake Luzern (Lucerne) twists a lot. Our approach is from the south. 10 km out we don our rain jackets as there are a few spits. Can we get there without getting wet? Looking less likely as it is raining over Mt Pilatus.

5 km to go, it rained. Just a steady downpour. We went direct to our accomodation despite being 1.45 hours too early. The young guy said we could come back in one hour….and we discussed the bike storage. That took 15 minutes as he conferred with his grumpy boss.

The boss said they could go outside in the rain. I looked at the spot and said no reminding him that when I made the booking I was advised they could store our bikes safely and securely. Back to the grumpy boss. Voices raised and the grumpy one came out and eye balled me, saying something…..but not one bit of warmth in his eyes or voice.

The young lad took me down one level in the lift where they store all kinds of stuff. Perfect storage! So now only 45 minutes to kill in the drizzle.

Around the corner we found a cafe and ordered some lunch. We ate slowly. We ordered more hot drinks. Voila, 45 minutes had passed.

Stored the bikes, showered and washed our clothes. Hanging the clothes out windows today was doomed to failure. This is our laundry set up here.

The rain had eased so we headed off to wander around the city. Some lovely buildings, statues and fountains.

We popped into a few bike stores whilst wandering as we needed some chain lube. In this store was an ex- pat from the USA who has lived in Switzerland over 20 years. He was impressed we had cycled Brunig Pass loaded, and told us in his younger years he used to skateboard down it 😳 I was thinking of those open drops…..

He had this steel bike custom made locally and had it treated to look old and rusty much to the disappointment of the manufacturer. He has since had a motor added so he now rides it 20 km to and from work.

Another day has gone. A shorter one at just under 80 km. We have two nights here too, as a second day of free choice. We have mapped out a ride to the far end of the lake to Fluelin, and a ferry ride back.

We need to check ferry schedules and the weather forecast is not brilliant. We do have options of stopping earlier at other ferry locations.

Thanks for reading. Stay safe, smile on 😊

Today was our first scheduled rest day, or potential rest day. Two nights in Wilderswil.

There were pre planned potential options:

• Grosse Scheidegg high altitude loop ride (80 km, 2000m ascent);
• Figure 8 loop ride of Thunersee and Brienzersee;
• Circular loop ride Brienzersee;
• Jungfraujoch excursion;
• Diddly squat.

The weather ruled out option 1 and 4. Rain was forecast and by the time we returned from breakfast we could no longer see the Eiger, Monch or Jungfrau. We still cannot.

Grosse Scheidegg ride would be awesome but at around 1600 metres elevation pointless in such weather and risky. Safety first.

Diddly squat was never an option ba ha ha, perish the thought. When we did the supported rides with an English based business, there were rest days scheduled on three of the four trips we did.

It drove us nuts! On the third occasion we instead took off and climbed SuperBagneres overlooking Luchon close to the Spanish border.

Option 2 was ruled out as it was likely we would end up wet, and besides, we were in Thun yesterday.

Option three won, a circular loop of Brienzersee. Our thought process was a chillaxed ride, no pushing it.

Off we headed with a lot less gear in our bike, but the wet weather gear was with us. We rolled down the hill into the village.

Within two km we were in outer Interlaken, skirting around the outside on a busy arterial road.

The first view of the lake was of the ferry coming into dock.

We were not on the road very long, and we deviated onto the bike path that was well signposted. There were great views.

Then we had to climb, and descend steeply into historical Iseltwald.

The bike trail was interesting. It was very steep in parts with a. A maximum of 15.5% recorded with one section over 10%for far far too long.

We could hear what sounded like a bugle playing. Very loud and clear. I joked that it was ‘the last post’ as we were working hard on what was meant to be a chilled ride.

There was a sharp right hand turn and I needed a new cycling kit as a bus was rounding the narrow corner and playing its bugle sound at very loud decibels.

As the path flattened out, we were passed by a young lady on a time trial bike, pushing limited gearing with very low cadence and sporting flash carbon wheels.

About five minutes later we caught her as the track turned to gravel and she asked Tony if we knew when the track would return to sealed. We did not know the answer.

There were some steep gravelly descents and we both walked our bikes down. We then arrived at Giessbach Falls, and I recognised them from a ride I did in the opposite direction in 2019.

There is a large hotel that can be reached from the water via a furnicular.

After walking down from the falls, the bike path returned to sealed. Making our way towards the end of the lake, there were lovely views across the lake.

This is looking to where we need to head tomorrow as we make our way to Luzern.

We had originally planned to stop for coffee in the town of Brienze, but noted the growing clouds over Interlaken. I did like these two carved figures on the side of the road. There are some very clever people around.

The yellow bike below is Swiss Post doing deliveries. We have seen lots of these buzzing around in various towns.

More carvings.

Statues too.

We were then on the open road all the way back to Interlaken. Note the growing cloud cover. We had a beautiful lake view, and confirmed that tomorrow we would ride out on this lake side. There is a descent into Interlaken but that climb is far preferable to the bitchy pinches on the other shore.

In Interlaken we rode around trying to find a bike shop. We have seen so many on our trip and now we want one, the ones we did find were closed. Tony wanted some lube oil for the chains as we we are nearly out.

We stopped at a supermarket where I grabbed some lunch items that we proceeded to demolish outside.

We headed back to Wilderswil and chilled. 49 km ride, with a few harder climbs than ideal, but we will feel refreshed for tomorrow.

We went for a 4 km or so walk around the village, found a small supermarket and purchased items for a simple cold dinner.

I’m intending to sleep earlier tonight, which in turn probably means I will wake super early.

Tomorrow, we head to Luzern, a beautiful city and location. Hoping the rain holds off until we have crossed Brunig Pass, which is just over 1000 metres altitude. The web cam there is currently not working.

Thanks for reading, stay safe, smile on 😊