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Travelogue
Today was a simple day. We simply had to cycle to Andermatt. See? Simples.
Andermatt is a mountain village and ski resort. It lies at about 1400 metres above sea level and is reached from the Lake Lucerne side of the mountains via a mountain pass called the Gotthard Pass (sometimes, the San Gotthard Pass). So, our job today was to cycle the San Gotthard Pass up to Andermatt. Like I said. Simples.
Except for the small matter of needing to cycle up hill almost constantly for four and a half hours on heavy, heavy bikes. Have I mentioned that our bikes are quite heavy?
M1 has cycled this route before. M2 had not. Neither were sure they were up to the task today. But it turned out, we very much were. Cycling over 600 miles / 1000 km from London seems to have whipped our legs into fairly decent shape.
The first two thirds of the route ascend fairly gently. It's really not difficult. But then after about 15 km of cycling it gets noticeably steeper and you become aware that you're cycling an Alpine pass.
Early on, we passed a curiosity. There's a farm on the route which has quite the collection of gnomes and mechanical novelties!
We stopped for coffees at a kiosk in Gurtnellen, one of the villages you pass through on the way up the pass. We'd agreed that come what may, we'd stop at intervals, make sure we were drinking regularly whether we felt the need or not, and that we'd eat little and often. For food, we had biscuits and bananas. A bite of banana and a couple of biscuits went well with the coffees.
When M1 cycled this route in 2022, it was a Thursday and he was on the road at 5:00 in the morning. It was quiet and there was never much traffic. Today, a Saturday and (apparently) the longest day of the year, everyone was out enjoying the mountain roads. We were passed by absolutely hordes of motorcycles, sports cars and road cyclists. No, we didn't pass anyone. Have I mentioned our bikes are really heavy?
The last 5 km of the ride were by far the toughest. It gets steep and the road leads you uphill in a series of switchbacks. At the last switchback, just before a series of long tunnels, we left the road and joined a cycling/walking path that passes over the top of the tunnels. It was great to get off the road but the path too was really steep and it took some effort to keep pushing those back wheels around!
We stopped for photos at the Devil's Bridge, happy in the knowledge we were now very close to Andermatt.
After cycling alongside a long covered section (not quite a tunnel), we emerged into sunlight and the vision of Andermatt.... just over there :-)
We'd done it! M2 is now an Alpine Cyclist! We took a photo by the sign and celebrated!
Andermatt is more of a small town than village. It has shops, restaurants and hotels. We stopped at the Co-op and M1 bought provisions. On getting ready to depart, M1 had a chat with a young Swiss woman cyclist. She was riding a very nice looking road bike. M1 asked how far she was cycling today and was impressed (to say the least) by her answer. 300 km. Gulp! Yes, 300 km. Apparently on the longest day of the year there's a Swiss tradition to cycle this 300 km circular route that includes a number of mountain passes. Amazing. Maybe some of the motorcyclists and sports cars were out for the same reason?
We pitched our tent at the Gotthard Campsite, a few metres from where M1 had camped in 2022. We had lunch and really appreciated it. We deserved it!
It's a great campsite with mountains all around and fellow travellers to talk to.
The sun was shining and the sky was blue. But we knew it wouldn't last. The forecast was for "thundery showers". M1 put the solar panel and battery in the tent, in anticipation of rain. Dark clouds were drifting over the mountains that surrounded us. We walked to the reception building to await its opening so we could check in, and sat on the sofa outside under an awning.
And then the heavens opened. A massive thunder storm, with forked lightening and for a while, heavy hail stones! This went on for about an hour. It's now raining more gently but the sound of thunder echoes around the mountains still. We've retired to the tent where we're just hoping it doesn't leak like it did that one time in France!
M1 and M2
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