We met at Sissach station, one of our usual start points and were expected to be a small, but perfectly formed, group of 4. On my way there I got a message to let me know that one of the group had bike issues so would catch us up. By the time other others had arrived, this had turned into - meet you in Langenbruck. We set off on time, weaving our way through the outskirts of Sissach and along the veloweg saying hello to the dog walkers. It wasnt long before we were on the main road and I decided to adjust the route slightly to avoid the main road so turned right onto the farm roads. The sun was out but it was still a good temperature.
We rode at a good pace, chatting as we went, heading towards Langenbruck. As we passed through Waldenburg, there was some surprise at the amount of artworks dotted along around the village. Clearly we need to pay more attention to https://www.villedesarts.ch. There is always art here , I had no idea why though - guided tours - check the link :).
In Langenbruck we visited the worlds biggest toilets and waited for our missing companion in the shade. We could admire the bikes on the opposite wall - Mine is huge compared to the others.
The riders flew past, impressive in both speed and style.
After a while, we moved to viewing spot 2 just at the top of a short climb and watched the riders again. We crossed the route here so had to make sure we kept out of the way. There were no permanent route controllers here but we were whistled at by passing motorbike police in front of the riders to make sure we were aware to be alert.
Now on the inside of the loop we made our way to the last planned viewing spot along some fairly smooth gravel roads. We landed at the sharp corner and had a great view of oncoming riders when far away, then were up close as they turned the sharp bend. the corner was decorated with both Swiss and Belgian flags and there were spectators already here who looked like they had been here for a while. We had great views of the riders as the negotiated the sharp bend and swooshed off down the hill. A team car arrived, the same road that we had come and squeezed past as it waited for its rider to pass before quickly chasing after her.
The arrival of the helicopter meant we were about to have the front riders
This was my favourite viewing spot, and we were lucky to be able to watch about 15 riders pass here. The last 15 so that meant we saw World Champion Marlen Reusser as well as the current leader Elisa Longo Borghini. Once they had passed, the roads were reopened meaning we could cycle along this to get to Aarburg and the finish of the race. It was great fun rushing along the road, hardly any traffic other than confused spectators and for the last 3kms it was closed as the route was coned off to use in both directions.
We arrived in Aarburg just in time for the ceremony and duly cheered and shouted for the winner of the day (Reusser), overall leader (Reusser) who shared the stage with the Fox mascot, Points leader (Zoe Bäckstedt) presented by the Lidl giant banana - who knew?, Best young rider Cédrine Kerboal and Femke de Vries, the Queen of the Mountains. It was a great atmosphere. It was also baking hot. We bumped into another FAF group from Basel who had come a different way and who were off back to Basel via Rohr. Thats too steep for my legs.
Now we needed to find some shelter and ideally something to eat/drink. It wasnt entirely clear where the event village was, I hadnt seen this info on the website, but have now found it - TdS comms is confusing as the race itself has a different website to the stage information. I know Aarburg fairly well and I had expected the event village to be along the water as I know this is used for other events in the village - I was wrong. It was in the old town main street. We finally found it and at the first restaurant with outside seating in the shade, we were getting settled in when a smiley man appeared to inform us that the kitchen was closed. They had sold all of their food - so the hunt continued. The street was very busy with loads of cyclists and bikes clipping along, all of us trying to find water, food and a place to store our bike. We were gifted some fresh fruit by Lidl - excellent! and we finally managed to get a seat at a tiny table near the main water fountain. I was really hungry by this time and it seemed like forever before our food arrive - but the staff appeared run off their little feet with the amount of people. It was really good and kept me going for the rest of the day.
We finished our food and one decided that, as it was about 36Deg C, she had killed her legs in the mountains the day before, she would get the train home from Aarburg and we said our goodbyes. That left 3 of us. One more went to meet up with others and make her own way home, so me and the late arriver decided that despite the heat, yes! it was a good idea to cycle home....
We left on the veloweg to Olten just as the mens competition started and saw the line of motorbikes patiently waiting for their time to go, hiding in the shade just at the junction.
This route to Olten is the only one you should ever use as the main road is awful - lorries, cars, busses, yuk. The river road is great, there is shade and no traffic for most of it. Once in Olten, we continued to Trimbach and started the last climb. This is a favourite road for motorbikes, but the cafe they congregate at was not very busy and there were hardly any on the road either. I was cooking by this time and my companion and me went at our own pace. I stopped twice to rest and recover a bit under a shady tree and she continued on. She went on ahead so by the time I got to the top, I was on my own. The downhill run back to Sissach was brilliant, I refilled with water at one point, poured lots over myself and evapo-cooled all the way home.
A great day out watching the pros in excellent company.
