Boxing Day sunshine

 After a few days of cold and wet, there was some sunshine forecast for the 26th December. I had posted a ride last week and at one point had a max of 2 others signed up, by the time the day arrived, only me and 1 companion went out to admire Baselland in all its glory. The blue sky was a welcome change and the clouds were admired by all.

Starting at Sissach Bahnhof, we headed to Liestal and on towards Seewen. A diversion up the hill to Nuglar took us off the main road and high enough to admire the views. It really is beautiful here.

Once we had admired the view enough we continued on to Reigoldswil with an excellent descent from the top in the recently resurfaced road and stopped for coffee and cake. The coffee was a Ferrero Coffee Sweetie and some Christmas cake as all the shops were shut :). Very civilised in the middle of the village at the table/bench at the water fountain, bus stop and toilets.....

Suitably revived we had 2 more climbs to go. The route took us to Titterten then Lampenberg on more new tarmac which meant great fun swooping downhill. The Arxhof climb is a cracker! with a max gradient of over 20% at the end (real feel 100%). I managed to take more than 30s of my previous best time so that was fun, my HR has now calmed down.

Further on we stopped again to admire the views, it gets better and better and then even more new tarmac.

Then the whoosh down towards Liestal on the veloweg, pinging our bells to avoid shocking tiny children on bikes and dogs with our speed. Once on the main road we turned right back to Sissach. 

Great fun, with perfect weather and wonderful scenery.

Distance - 50km

Climbing - 880m

Avg Speed - 18km/h

Thanks to my companion for the encouragement and virtual push up that bloody hill.

Now planning the mid January 2024 route, where will we go??

3 go in hunt of some sunshine.... find it, then lose it again

Todays ride was a bit adventurous, the planned route had 5 climbs, numbers 2 and 3 being hard :). The weather forecast was for sunshine and climb 3 (Brunnersberg from Balsthal) is in full sun, so I thought we could warm up there.  Ha ha ha, for that to happen, there needs to be sun. But, lets not get ahead of ourselves.

We start in Sissach Bahnhof at 10:00 and welcome a new rider to the group. Off we go towards Thurnen for the first leg breaker just to get over the hill to the main road. Onwards all the way to Hauenstein. It was a bit chilly, but we were in good spirits - I think we were, because i can't hear that much with my winter hat on over my ears...

The top was foggy and cold and the metal wire fence had icicles shaped by the wind, this should have made me think, it didn't. Once in Olten we turned right and after a few kms and a pre climb refreshment stop started to climb the Teufelschlucht. I was here one Wednesday evening in the summer and was deafened by the shooting practice, no noise today, too cold and nothing visible after about 10 meters. You will notice the lack of images, none were taken, too piggin cold and foggy. At the top, a short discussion re possibility if taking a shortcut was dismissed because we would be fine. Famous last words. We descended to Balsthal and stopped at the Bahnhof for warm drinks and a toilet stop, getting us ready for the main event. The Brunnersberg webcam insisted there would be sun at the top, so with this bait we set off again. I start the Brunnersberg climb on the outskirts of the village to avoid the really stupidly steep lower part, but it kicks up soon enough. The cloud was still thick around us and we could see little ahead. On and on we climbed until finally there it was... sunshine and looking down we could see the sea of cloud in the valley. We stopped to admire the view - it is magical.

The road here is quite narrow but helpfully, normally, not much traffic although today I felt there was more than usual. I think many people wanted to get up out of the fog and into the sunshine. We would meet them again at the top.

Looking out towards Balsthal and the sea of cloud

The road ahead, narrow with no shade, soak up the sunshine. After a short photo shoot, off we went again for the last section where the trees stopped and we were left with grass. The higher we went, the stronger the sun and at the very top, there is the panorama of the Alps to admire and try to name that mountain with the information board.

With our Vitamin D all replenished, now it was time for the run down the north side. This side is always in shade and the further we went the colder and scarier it became (for me anyway). My gloves, that had been taken off on the climb up, were working hard to keep my fingers from freezing enough to still be able to break. By the time we got to Mumliswil my fingers felt like solid ice. Blowing onto my gloves helped a bit... 

Climb 4 to Langenbruck from Mumliswil started with us pushing the bikes up the very steep street that was still passable while the normal road has been in the middle of roadworks for weeks. Riding to the top and still hoping the sunshine would return I warmed up a little bit. The top arrived surprisingly soon and I could again admire the Welcome to Baselland sign, but not the normal view.

The grass at the top with tiny icicles, just like the fence at Hauenstein earlier today.

After a short stop to admire the non existent view we continued on, carefully to Langenbruck and then a decent whoooooosh all the way to Hölstein on the new road from Waldenburg. After all of the road works that seemed to be taking forever, its now finished and its great fun. 

We were now on the last leg, just one more small climb that felt like a wall (to me at least, oeff my legs) we arrived back safe and sound in Sissach. 

Thanks to my companions for the company and hope to see you on a future ride!

Distance: 85km

Climbing: 1744m

Avg Speed: 16km/h

Mid November damp ride

 Rain, rain and a bit more rain, this is what the last few weeks have been like. Not to forget the stormy wind. The Strava event had been posted weeks ago so that people had time to see it and plan around it, as needed. At one point there were about 9 people who had signed up for it, but by Sunday morning there were only 3 of us left. I imagine the others looked out of the window and went....nope! So it was a pleasant surprise, when we finally connected in Sissach Bahnhof, there were actually 5 of us! The weather forecast was showers, the fun was wondering when these would start.

The rain started just as we started the first climb from Liestal towards Arisdorf. Jackets that had just been removed were needed agian but noone bothered to stop to put it back on, we got to the top a bit damp and while we chatted, the rain got heavier and heavier. Jackets were back and we spent a few minutes sheltering in a bus stop before we saw some blue sky, took it as a good sign and swooshed down the hill.

 Speeding through the village, hoping the rain would really stop before onwards to Giebenach and Olsberg - no horses today. We stopped to admire the view at the top before the mad dash down to Magden and the official toilet stop.

The view over to the BlackForest was not exciting as we couldnt see much - but onwards and downward to Magden

Olsberg Top

View at Olsberg top

After the Magden stop we cycled on and when we reached Buus just had to stop to admire the ducks in the water....

The weather was warmer than normal for mid November and damp all the time but there was some blue sky and we were in good spirits.  The final climb to Rünenberg via Tecknau and Kilchberg was easier than some expected and was topped off by what seemed like giant rabbits bouncing away from the long grass into the trees - they were deer but giant rabbits sounds better :)

Another wheech down the hill, navigating to the veloweg before ending up back at Sissach Bahnhof just in time to catch the S3 to the SBB.

Great fun, thanks to my companions and hope to see you on the next one in December.

Distance - 53km

Avg Speed - 18.3kph

Climbing - 900m

Mid October ride

Well, we finally seem to have Autumn at long last. The problem with that is that yesterday it still felt sort of late summer and then this morning clothes had to be selected... What to do. The forecast had been obtained from the Epic Ride app and it was predicted to be cool - 9 -12 Deg max with 7% chance of rain.

Click to see full sized image  

We met at Gelterkinden Dorfbrunnen to start. Welcome freebies, some gifted from FAF SUI Swiss Cycling, were shared then off we set. A last minute change of plans meant one of those who had registered couldn't make it, so we were 3. We headed east through Ormalingen and on to Rothenfluh on the veloweg. We were obviously out very early and were unexpected, 2 walkers jumped when we descended upon them. I had been pinging my bell and had also set off the free hub wasps but apparently the chatting was too engrossing, so when I got close enough and shouted they actually jumped. We turned left at Rothenfluh to go down the main road then took a fast right turn towards Asphof for the first real climb of the day. This warmed us up! A short regroup at the top before on towards Wegenstetten, Schupfahrt and Eiken. The road flattened out and we made our way to Kaisten through the trees. The amount of leaves, nuts and twigs made we wonder if perhaps a gravel bike would have been better....cycling along, crunch, crunch ping!

At Kaisten we took a short diversion to Laufenburg Bahnhof for the toilets before heading up the Sulzerberg climb. My planned route headed off into the real gravel so that wasn't going to work and in the excitement of deciding to follow the main road, one of us managed to end up on the ground. After recovering gracefully, we continued up the hill.  Reaching the top and having stopped for a breather I realised we were only 2. We had just passed a large group of walkers out for the Sunday morning constitutional and that was where our 3rd had gone. She had noticed that friend was in the group and had gone to say hello.

Once she had returned, eaten a snack, we had more confusion about the route before finally deciding on the right road and swooshed down to Sulz. I have ridden this exact route in June... you would think I would remember..... It was 32Deg then, so I put it all down to the heat!

Next came climb "4 of 6" although its really "4 and 4.5 of 6" as there is a tiny descent before the last part and downhill on the fast straight road into Elfingen. Once back on the real main road and having found the veloweg, we were on our way to Frick and dinosaur country. Next and last stop was the toilets in Wittnau. Refreshed with some Scottish Tablet, transport to CH by my sister, we started climb "6 of 6". This last climb was really lovely, the sun came out, we were protected from much of the headwind and the roads were quiet.

Back at Gelterkinden again after 66km we said our cheerios and while I went straight home, my 2 companions still had another 10kms or so to go.

Good ride, lots of fun and we always seemed to arrive about 30 mins after the rain, so great weather.

Total Distance - 66km

Climbing - 1056m

Avg Speed  - 19.1km/hr

BLVF meets RideRawr

Having already planned to do train, ride, train at the weekend, I thought it would be great to learn new roads and join the RideRawr group ride when I saw it posted on Strava. 

If you are in the Luzern area, check out their Strava group and rides. The group is always fun and inclusive.

https://www.riderawr.com/   RideRawr Strava Club

Train to Luzern for a start at a cafe outside the centre, meaning I had to navigate the busy city roads, not fun for me. We headed off out of the city, through some roadworks and soon we were speeding along past green fields, a short stop to remove a windproof layer before the first climb. The first part of the route was basically one steep climb, then some rest, more steep climbing and some downhill recovery before a coffee and Berliner stop in Wolhusen after about 32km. I was pretty pleased with myself that I didnt drop too badly on the stupid steep parts. There were a few gravel parts which I survived as the route joined empty farm roads with other empty farm roads.

After the sugar refill we set off again, straight up another bloody hill. This one was too much for me and I got a little over half way before I unclipped and pushed the bike. But if you look at our times for the segment apparently I can push quickly as my time is practically the same as the others :). Or they waited for me ... who knows.

Then came more gravel. My Pirrelli Road tyres coped better than I had feared so all was good, just me being much slower than the others. We passed goats watching me push my bike, cows enjoying the sunshine and apparently there were also pigs, but I was concentrating more on my stem than the scenery at that point. And then we saw this - how brilliant is this!

One final climb where the roadworks had a cycle lane (genius idea) then swoosh down to the start again. I said goodbye to the others and with 60km and 1230m of climbing in my legs, I still felt good. As I had lots of food left I decided to cycle towards home having no real plan of how far I would get. Turns out I got to Olten and, instead of that one last Hauenstein climb which would mean another hour to get home, I got the train.

Great day out, many thanks to my companions especially Helena from RideRawr for the guiding and the route.

Total distance : 123km

Climbing: 1800m

Avr Speed: 19.3km/hr

FAF meets TdRF in Nyon

The FastandFemale SUI organised group ride to see behind the scenes at Tour de Romandie Feminin was on Sunday 17th September 2023.

The Basel based group met at Olten station and we were off on the train to Yverdon-les-Bains station where we met up with another rider. After a quick introduction, we set off on the 70km ride to Nyon. The route was organised to avoid meeting race coming the other direction. Before we got to that though, we had a few climbs to get over and views to admire.  The sunflowers looked sad to see the sun start to leave after the summer heat.

After a few more rolling kms was a wheech downhill to see the see. The essential toilet stop was taken at Morges, after we  avoided eating kgs of flies as we cycled along the trees by the water. Suitably refreshed we set off again arriving in Nyon just before 12:30, where we were met by our FAFSUI organiser with goody bags with a drink & snacks. We all smiled for the camera before heading down the the event village. 

After cheering the race through the finish line to start their last lap, we had time to go behind the scenes and see where the SRF TV production at work. The studio was small so we had to visit in small groups. I thought it was great. Having watched cycling racing for years on a screen it was fun to see how they are made.

We managed to get a good view of the finish again and only had a short time to wait before the helicopter above meant the race was close. The announcements being in Tannoy French meant I could understand nothing but it was clear who won. Congratulations to Leane Lippert for the stage win and Demi Vollering for the GC win.

We headed home, but first we had a spontaneous visit to the team busses and were rewarded by the gift of full team SD Worx bidons! I was already a fan, now I have something to use and it needs to compete for space with my 2022 Tour de France Team Jumbo Visma bidons. The ride back to Yverdon was taken a good pace, with few stops and we arrived at the station hungry and happy. Quick trip to the Coop for food, rest then the train trip home with a few millions commuters getting ready for the week ahead.

A huge thanks for the organisation of the TdRF and FAFSUI for the day and to the women who came to ride. See my Strava links for the ride recordings.

Total distance - 135km

Total climbing - 1400m

Average speed - 21.5 kph

Fast and Female SUI event - mark your calendar!

     

The Swiss Cycling Fast and Female team are arranging a meet-up and a chance to see behind the scenes of a stage race as part of the Tour de Romandie. We plan to do a train, ride, train day out. All details will be posted on our Strava group. The BLVF day is being planned with FAFB and we plan to travel and ride together. 

The TDRF is a 3 day stage race held between 15th and 17th September 2023. Swiss Cycling have arranged a chance for us to experience the final day close up. 

The details of the race can be found on the official website

Office Website TDRF     

Link to Aug 3rd Press Release

or on the Facebook page which shares updates on both the men's and women's version of the race,

Facebook page for updates

We plan to get the train to between Baselland and the finishline in Nyon and cycle there together.

If you want to join us, please join the Strava group where all information about the route to and from Nyon will be posted. 

More info and registration on the FAFSUI site

First Group Ride Report

Started Gelterkinden dorfbrunnen as planned, only me this time, I picked up my companion at the station. The two of us headed off towards Sissach and stopped at the back entrance to the station, just in case. Shortly before the station, just at the left turn to go under the rail bridge we nearly literally bumped in to my old cycling club on their way out. We turned left to find them all over the road :-),  with a quick wave and shout hello! cheerio! we continued on. They will also have a ride review - to see where they went have a look at their home page - www.vcpaloma.ch.

Dorfbrunnen - empty at 9am, full of children at 2pm

Last expected pick up point was at Liestal Bahnhof which we visited, even though we expected noone to be there - but you never know! Now clearly the pair of us, we headed for the first climb. Frenkendorf towards Augst the strava segment is called Feldhof hill sprint - there wasn't much sprinting going on today.

Once conquered, onward to Magden via Giebernach and Olsberg. There was too much chatting being done and we missed waiving to the horses having passed them before i realised. The Olsberg climb turned out to be "not as bad as i had imagined" im told. In Magden there was the compulsory stop for food, toilets and chatting to a local. Luckily my companion is also a local so all was well.

Another location added to my ever growing database

Now well refreshed, on to climb number 2 - steeper than the first and on a closed road as half of it is being rebuilt. Luckily roadworks have the weekend off and we negotiated the barriers OK and got out the other side. The descent towards Möhlin through the trees was great fun, with very little traffic coming towards us. Back down at river level we went along the rolling veloweg parallel to the motorway. The joggers taking part in the event at Zeiningen avoided us, and we them.

Avoiding all main roads we turned right and scrambled up the wall at Mumpf Bahnhof then on to the veloweg again. Last real stop was just before Schupfart at a bench, in the shade next to the burn. The air was clear, the birds were singing then the peace was shattered by a group of what seemed like the over 60s moped club outing  "nggeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee". The air turned a bit blue from the reek. 

Now, the last part Schupfart to Flugplatz climb and downhill before the very last climb to Asphof and we were back in Baselland again. Flying down the hill, wheech through Ormalingen and the ride ended in a cafe in downtown Gelterkinden and suger refill.

Really fun ride, weather a smidge warm and sunny  for my Scottish complexion but factor 50 did the job. 

I look forward to the next one.

Join the strava club if you want to see where we plan to go next or if you dont have Strava, just send me a message using the form on the right of this page.

Tour stats:

Distance - 55km

Climbing - 790m

Ave speed - 20kph

Strava group launched

I have now created a club on Strava  - see the widget on the right. If you don't have a Strava account, please send me a message using the Contact Form on this page.

Current plan is to arrange a group ride once a month on the third weekend of the month.

This means the first planned Group Ride will be Saturday 19th August 2023. The route will be posted in the Strava Club. 

To try to make it easy to join, the first ride will have multiple pick up points, we will start in Gelterkinden then go via Sissach and Itingen before reaching Liestal.

So, if you live in the area, want to cycle round and admire the scenery on mostly quiet roads, come along and join.

I look forward to meeting you there!

Introduction and why this is here

 

Cycling can be considered a solo or a group activity. If you normally go out on your own, cycling in a group is a great way to share the fun. You learn from others, share the experience but most of all, have fun.  With many cycling groups based in or near the city, those of us who live further out in the countryside either have a long commute there and back, or we decide it too far away and don't join. This is why I want to create a group ride in Baselland. This area has great roads, challenging climbs, fun descents and lots of places to stop and admire the view. On a good day, you can see the alps. When the weather permits, riding in the mountains is also great fun. It took me a few years to realise that I can just go to the mountains, there is no need to wait for a special event. Just take the bike on the train and Go!

With this blog I want to reach out to any women who are interested in joining me for a ride. I am launching a women only group ride in Baselland which will be centered around Gelterkinden.

As you can read from the bio, I am originally from Scotland, lived in NL for years before moving here in 2013.

If you would like to join or have any questions, please just let me know. Feel free to write in German, I will answer in English :).