I have planned 3 days this year to go for an adventure in the mountains. This is the story of day 1. All other dates are on the Strava club. These placeholder dates are during the week with the intention that that means less traffic on the roads as well as on the trains to get us there and back.
The first date was Monday May 27th and by one week before, I had one person keen to join. As the week went on and planning was being made for travel, it was clear that the weather forecast for Monday was rain, and lots of it, while on Sunday the weather was expected to be good. Plans then changed and we decided to go on Sunday May 26th instead. It was a good decision!
This was my companion`s first mountain pass ever, so we had lots of discussion re clothes, pacing etc before we started. When we set off towards Meiringen along Brienzersee we were looking forward to a fun, but tough day, out. The lake was its usual amazing colour as the weather was bright and sunny, lots of blue sky and a chill in the air. I made the decision not to take my knee warmers but the arm warmers, gilet and rain jacket came with me as well as my rain shorts - you never know! In Brienz we moved off the main road onto the smaller roads and had to navigate the area where the Schwingen was taking place.
https://www.schwingfest-brienz.ch/
The area had one of those strength games where you hit a peg with a hammer and see how far up a pole you can push a weight, that people were playing at 9am when we cycled very slowly through. This first hour was flat and reasonably fast, but not too hard as we needed to save our energy for the climbing. Once out we continued to Meiringen for the first stop - toilets at the Bahnhof.
10 mins later we rode on, refreshed, fed and ready for anything.
On the road out of Meiringen there was quite a few cars. At one point were were passed by an old yellow bus taking tourists to the mountains so they could stare at the mountains through the side windows. We would not have any windows. This was the first encounter with yellow busses, more to follow.
"Right turn at the garage" and up we go. The first part is steep and we saw 2 people ahead on bikes and I was surprised we caught them up and passed them, they were on mountain bikes and I realised one was a child so..... Im still happy I passed anyone :). You gain elevation quickly at this % gradient so it wasnt long before the scenery was my distraction from my breathing.
The road is fairly narrow all the way up and until you reach Schwarzwaldalp, there can be cars as well as busses on both directions. We met 2 brand new busses coming towards us when it was quite steep. We both stopped and huddled at the side of the road on the grass, trying both not to hit the bus and not fall down the side of the slope. They had not sounded their William Tell horn, so it was a bit of a surprise.
The first point of interest is when the road runs above Reichenbach Falls. Its about 12-13% here, so you know you are climbing again. We stopped for a short time and let lots of cars pass us, had a snack and a breather.
Then we continued, up and up and up.
The higher we went, the better the views. We arrived at the plateau and the speed increased before we stopped to eat at the busstop which has a convenient bench
The bus stop bench
View from the bus stop bench :)
At Schwarswaldalp the cars stop and now all that stands between us and the top is some steep road, hairpin bends and fewer trees. The magazine article which inspired me to climb here in 2016 has a great picture of a bendy road, I made one too. This was our last stop before the top - we ate a gel and drank some water (obtained from the gushing stream next to the road).
The last part is my favourite. The roads are bendy, and the views are stunning. When the yellow bus appeared round a corner suddenly with no pre-announcement horn it was another huddle at the ride of the road hoping not to be hit or fall over. Some managed that better than others.... No one was hit but some "sort of" fell over :).
We reached the top at last, admired the achievement, parked the bikes and went for food at the Berg Restaurant. The soup was wonderful and when I was asked if I wanted cola and I hesitated, the guy looked at me as if I was mad. He gestured that I had just cycled up so of course I wanted cola. I ordered cola.
The toilets are downstairs - careful with cleats!
Batteries all recharged it was time for the mad run down to Grindelwald, the road is steep and narrow and we passed many people walking and cycling so you had to be careful. Much had recently been rebuilt and is now concrete so it was a bit less grippy than tarmac. When we reached the the Owl Sanctuary we were met with another bus approaching us and at that point I remembered I had hear the horn in the distance but didnt know if it was in front or behind us. It was just at the crossing like in this picture :).
We stopped, stood pressed against the wire fence but off the road, and he passed. My companion screeched to a stop more than me and we later discovered that the last of the tread on her rear tyre had disappeared, down to the canvas - we assume this was the cause. We discovered this just before we also discovered the gravel. Navigating the gravel road, instead of the main one with cars, I dont know what would be better.
The last leg after the gravel section was fast and we were soon in the outskirts of Interlaken. We avoided the centre, used local knowledge to get to the other side and finished our ride by connecting the dots on the Brienz main road. Much has a pavement you can cycle on so there wasnt much real road.We were passed by 2 cyclists from VC Allschwil on their mountain bikes.
The weather was dry, mostly sunny and not too hot - perfect decision. I write this at home with the rain pouring down outside and according to MeteoSwiss the mountains have the same - so I am pleased we changed our mind.
Thanks to my companion for the company and congratulations on her first HC climb - the first of many I hope - with new tyres.
An excellent day out with:
Yellow Buses avoided - 5
Cyclists seen and waved to/spoken to - loads
Times I said "wow look at the view" - 1 million
Distance - 82kms
Climbing - 1566m
Avg speed - lets just not bother with this number
