Today's Route
Route So far
Travelogue
Today was a fantastic day.
Yesterday fell into three parts. We cycled from Mulhouse to Basel. We cycled through Basel itself and saw a little of the centre by the Rhine. And we cycled out of Basel, heading south-east.
The third stage involved cycling through the extended urban sprawl of Basel. It never felt like Switzerland, with so much traffic on generally busy roads and lots of ..... underwhelming concrete buildings. That's one way of describing them anyway.
Within literally 3 km of leaving our apartment in Gelterkinden, everything changed. It rapidly got greener and quieter and within 5 km we were in the foothills of the eastern Jura Mountains, a sub-alpine range that spans the France/Switzerland border. It was pleasant. It felt Swiss. Much better.
In an instant though, the road became steep. We literally turned a corner and.... bang! Super steep! M1 had remembered that specific bend from his 2022 trip and warned M2 to stay in a low, low gear as we approached it.
Our legs went to work and we cycled up the short but brutal hill that announced our arrival in this range.
The hills kept coming. We went up and we swooped down, overall climbing slowly but surely. After the first shock to the legs the climbs here became less steep and they were never too long.
But M1 also knew that this was just a taster. There was a much more serious climb coming. The Schafmatt Pass.
On the way up, we passed the bar where M1 had been so grateful to be able to buy a coke and fill water bottles on that 2022 trip. It brought back memories of this wonderful oasis in the hills.
Not long afterwards, we reached the start of the main climb up the Schafmatt Pass. It was generally quite steep and often what we'd call very steep. 12% certainly (comparing with climbs we know at home). Strava indicates that there was a 15% section. We're not sure we believe that. Whatever the numbers, it was tough. We worked away in bottom gear, sometimes zigzagging to reduce the effective gradient. There was hardly any traffic which made this safe for us to do. Occasionally we stopped for a breather and to gulp water. The temperature was in the low thirties Celsius.
After about 4 km of working hard to ascend the Schafmatt Pass, we reached the top at 812 metres above sea level. We quietly celebrated and congratulated each other. We didn't have the energy for much more than this but it felt like quite an achievement.
A thrilling descent, complete with proper hairpin bends followed. We were careful not to get too thrilled and whizz off the edge! It was fun through to speed down the hill, powered by gravity alone.
All day we followed Eurovelo route EV5 which was better signed than M1 remembered. In 2022 he'd mostly used EV5 but here and there had deviated from the route. There was no official Eurovelo GPX file back then and M1 had found another cyclist's recording of their route which seemed good enough. Now, with both the recording of M1's 2022 ride and the official EV5 route both on screen, it was possible to see where M1 and EV5 had parted company and decide which of the choices to follow. Today we opted to stick with the EV5 signs and this meant M1 saw places he hadn't in 2022.
We stopped in Aarau, a typically picturesque old town and sat down for coffees and croissants (AKA breakfast #2). We deserved this. We'd earned it!
We soon found ourselves on a gravel trail, cycling through shady, cool woodland. The gravel continued for about 20 km and was a great cycling surface.
M1 had cycled from Mulhouse to Sursee in a single day in 2022 but hadn't really seen Sursee itself. We cycled into the centre of the town today. It also was picturesque, with cobbled streets and old buildings. We sat outside a cafe and had a tasty lunch.
We continued on our way and cycled along the banks of Lake Sempach.
Before long we were entering the outskirts of Lucerne and finally, could see the famous castle as we cycled alongside the Reuss River.
Our apartment for tonight is in a very lovely part of the old city. The buildings are amazing and we're about 2 minutes walk from the river and its pretty bridges.
This evening we heard the sound of a brass band from our window and went to investigate. It turned out to be a parade involving brass band and some fairly elderly men in uniform, some of them on horseback. We have no idea what was being said by the master of ceremonies but it drew quite a crowd of tourists. We walked down to the river and took some photos. Lucerne is an exceptionally beautiful city.
What an amazing day. A huge climb under our belts. Wonderful, scenic cycling. And we've arrived at the western end of the enormous Lake Lucerne, our gateway to the Swiss Alps.
We've cycled six days in a row and we have more climbing ahead of us so it's time to rest our legs. Tomorrow, we'll do a little sightseeing on foot and after checking out of the apartment, at some point take ourselves and our bikes on a ferry and travel the full length of the lake, all the way to the small town Fluelen at the eastern end. M1 stayed there in 2022. This time, M1 and M2 will be staying two nights in an apartment in Schattdorf which is about 3 km from Fluelen. So, that's two whole days with no more than a teeny bit of cycling. Our legs should be back to full strength after that. That's the theory, anyway.
Awesome day. Loving this part of Switzerland.
Photos
At the top of Schafmatt Pass. Go us!
Kestrel
Sursee
Lucerne!
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