I gave January a miss in the hope that February would have better weather and any winter storms and rain would have had time to go and find somewhere else to live. It had rained all week so by Friday when the forecast said dry and high single digits temperature on Sunday - yipee! success! It snowed on Friday morning, most cleared by Saturday but on Sunday there were still remnants of it but as no more had fallen, roads were dry. Time to meet at Sissach station. After some parking discussion, confusion in the form of " I forgot I signed up, I cant join today" as we waited for the last person, we finally collected a group of 5. Two were brand new joiners so received a BLVF scarf to keep them warm :). Comments about the cold would be a recurring theme on todays ride. Then a frantic - toilets?? search - failed due to lack of coins - we headed off towards Lausen for our clockwise tour of the hills around Gelterkinden. Lausen solved the toilet issue thanks to the kind people in the cafe.
Now on to the real work we were quickly past Liestal then Fullinsdorf as we headed to towards Giebenach. Stop one for a snack and some hot tea - from my tiny cup of course! dont want to burn my mouth. The horses on our way from there to Olsberg were not looking out the stables - they had more sense than us. A push up teh step part after we left the village and at the top we stopped to admire the views, mention the cold for a few minutes before the steep descent to Magden for the proper toilet stop. More tea & food revived us, and we set of again for the next climb towards Sunneberg. Up and over and off we go again avoiding random walkers standing in the middle of the road. Soon on some fast and straight TT practice parallel to the motorway, we swooshed along and at the end a sharp right and a sudden stop! Lamas? Alpacas? something in the field and they were curious to see us.
Some were still feeling the cold so we didnt stop long. Just long enough for a quick photo shoot. Next village was Zuzgen for the only CCC approved col of the day at Col de Nerstel. I was behind while the cold amongst us went ahead. Getting out of the village is fairly steep and it settles down as you pass a farm and a hairpin bend going slowly enough to admire the chickens. When we reached the Col the first 2 were nowhere to be seen. We stopped at the bench, drank tea and admired the view. We now had 2 ahead and 3 behind. One went ahead to find the others who had missed the turn up the gravel road to the col. Once caught and realising how cold they felt and that were still a bit behind - having stopped - they decided to " go back to Sissach". So that was a pity but OK, we 3 regrouped and continued on. The view from the top looking over the hills and into the valley was wonderful. It was cold, but we were fairly comfortable. After a steep descent to Hellikon only about a km to reach Wegenstetten, I decided to adjust the route and go along the farm road avoiding most of the main road. Before we turned off the main road we had to go and admire the snail fountain. Water was available and well received.
The farm road is flatter than the main road, until the end where you need to climb to join it. Another spontaneous route adjustment meant to avoided Asphof and then the main road to Ormalingen instead turning right up to Junkerschloss and a rest at the table and benches. Emergency rations were shared, I always take 2 emergency gels, while I ate my now weirdly warm and squishy banana that had been in my back pocket for hours. This was decision time - we could go straight to Sissach or do the initial route and up another climb! we chose the climb :).
We had a fairly uneventful cycle through downtown Gelterkinden, apart from the crossing where we had cars from 2 of the 3 sides at the same time.... no harm done, just a bit of a surprise. Now behind the railway line and through the houses to reach Böckten and cross the main road and we were on to our last challenge of the day. The Wittinsburg climb avoids the ridiculously steep Bockten climb up to Känerkinden. I once saw a flock of about 20 Red Kites soaring in the sky above me. While we stopped at the top discussing how I can't tell the difference between Bockten and Böckten..... we were approached and chatted to by a passing local who explained (I think).
Onwards and downwards we went and were back in Sissach in no time. In true Swiss efficiency the train to Basel was in a few minutes and so we said our goodbyes. As I went home, I saw the train arrive when I was just a few hundred meters away. Perfect timing.
Later I realised that the others who had "gone to Sissach" because it was too cold and also done the last climbs instead of going directly from Gelterkinden to Sissach. So we all did the full route. I had an extra 10km to get there and back.
Distance: 64km
Climbing: 1000m
Avg Speed: 18km/hr
Cloud cover: 80% :)
Many thanks to the group for the company and I hope that its warmer for all next month.
If you are interested in the Club de Cent Cols - have a look at their website.
https://www.centcols.org/en/
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