Getting to Zurich

It rained most of the way into Zurich.  And while 30 miles in the rain was not my most memorable cycle, it was still fun to spend time with Connor.  We had one more 'summit' to cross, the Albis pass, a relative easy one at 2500 feet versus the Gotthard pass.  The view from there was great.  Lake Zurich is in the background.

We also had a great time getting to Zurich.  Since Connor's brakes were a little iffy, we decided to take the ferry from Flüelen to Lucern.  The ferry took three hours, which gave us time to have lunch overlooking the lake, and reminisce a little about the trip.

It's a little hard to describe the beauty of the Swiss Lake District.  We immediately compared it in our minds to Lago Maggiore, but it did not have the bustle of all the Italian tourists that Lago Maggiore did.  Even though it was a Sunday, the lake was relatively quiet.

Well that is about the end, as tomorrow is the flight back.  Tonight is dinner in Zurich with an old friend, Simon, from Basel.  The trip was a great one!

Leaving the Gotthard Pass

We slept in as long as possible, since it was raining. The weather changes pretty quickly, and we were hoping for a break. After lingering as long as possible over breakfast, we checked out the museum. There we got an interesting story that the Gotthard Pass was at the original dichotomy of good and evil. Of course they Did not say which side of the pass was the good and which was the evil!

We took off, and were greeted with a sea of fog and light rain. The road dissapeared nearly 30 feet in front of us.  

As we made it down the weather got better.  We stopped at a small place to have a coffee to warm up. It's 45 degrees out. But they didn't take credit cards and of course we had no Swiss francs. Finally Connor rummaged out two euro coins and we could afford one cup of coffee!

Passo San Gottardo

(With Connor's voice now in the blog) 

After arriving in Airolo and seeing how close we were to the summit (in an almost impulsive fashion), we decided to go for it and start climbing the intimadtingly named, "Tremola." For some backstory on the nearly infamous road, I first heard of it and the Saint Gotthard Pass nearly two years ago, and being rather into cycling, I have wanted to traverse it ever since. I tried once before nearly a year and a half ago, but, having gone in the middle of May, the pass was still snow covered. Going from Milan to Zurich however, I tried to still make the trip memorable and took a short train through the alps (to avoid this grand disappointment) but all I got was a broken wrist as I crashed four miles outside of Zurich.

BUT NOW as Dad and I sit here at a restaurant in our hotel, the Ospizio San Gottardo, sipping a beer named "Gottardo," who cares. Two years after first seeing a picture of the pass on the computer sitting in my dorm room in New York City and I've made it. 

The "minor" 8 mile trip from Airolo to San Gottardo happened mostly on the Tremola, but before that we were graced with incredible views of Airolo. We climbed the "via San Gottardo" road coming out of Airolo, seeing the beautifully peaceful town below. 

As we neared the Tremola (and my excitement grew for the end of a two year goal) we passed motorcycles and convertibles, Swiss military bases, and even a horse drawn carriage.

But eventually we hit it. 

The climb itself wasn't terrible, yet I attribute that to the fact that I've biked here from the sandy shores of Nice, passing not only rolling hills on the coastline but another mountain climbing out of Genova. Yet it was nothing similar to a climb in the US, or anything either of us had ever encountered. On Google Maps we saw that the Tremola was a series of (nearly too many to count) switchbacks, and as we climbed, we found that Google Maps did not lie. 

Yet a few miles later, passed by the nicest cars and convertibles seen since Monaco, the road was clearly anything but a disappointment to what I thought it would be. 

And after climbing the 8 miles to the top, we were graced by the simplest sign that I can only read as "mission accomplished." 

And as we sit here in the restaurant in our hotel, a chilly 48 degrees Fahrenheit outside with me sipping a beer brewed here in the Ticino canton of Switzerland, and Dad enjoying a nice Pinot, all I can think is that while writing "mission accomplished indeed" would be a rather cheesy ending to this post, life is pretty good. 

Airolo

We made it to Airolo at 2:00 local time

The weather is fantastic - about 70 degrees Fahrenheit. We are 10 miles from the Gotthard Pass and we decided we are going for it!  We will be at the top of the Alps with our next post!

If you look closely at the next photo you will see the switchback road. That is what we are climbing next!

The Road to Airolo

We have done 15 miles. Only 21 miles to go. But it's straight up!!!!

Getting to Bellinzona, Switzerland

62.7 miles

62.8 miles

62.9 miles

The tenths of a mile were slowly clicking by on my odometer.

Wow it's hot!

Honestly, I think I forgot how painful it was to sit in a bike all day!  But then again Connor did 30 miles to meet me in Milan Malpensa, so he was just crossing 100 miles.  He can do it, he's only 21!

But I get ahead of myself.  I haven't told you about having lunch on Lago Maggiore, or putting my feet in the beautifully cool water, or taking the ferry to Intra, or the sketchy guy who asked if he could hitchhike on my bike!

The day started out great.  I got to Milan without incident (only an hour late), and Connor met me.  Here we are leaving Milan Malpensa:

My bike had been packed beautifully by my bike shop, and we got on the road by about 12 pm.  Once we got outside of the airport, the scenery started to improve dramatically.  You may not realize that the Lake District is only an hour outside of Milan.  Now you know why the Milanese are never in town on the weekends.  Who would be with the abject beauty just a 60 mile drive away!

The Lake District of Italy reminded me of my own childhood, and the trips my Mom and Dad took me on up to the Finger Lakes, in central New York State.  The story the Seneca Indians told was that the five lakes were formed by the hand of God when he pressed on the earth.

When we rode in the car to get the Finger Lakes, it seemed to take forever.  On my bike from Milan it also seemed to take forever too.  I guess some things don't change.  My Dad would always give the first one of us to see the lake a nickel.  Today we came upon the lake in full force, it was amazingly beautiful:

We got to ride along Lago Maggiore for a good hour or so.  We then came upon the town of Laveno.  We had lunch at a great little cafe right on the water.  In fact, there were steps down to the water's edge, so after ordering we both took our shoes off and went down to cool our hot feet in the lake!

When it was time to get on our bikes again, we noticed that the ferry was pulling into town.  We did a quick check on the map, and decided to take the ferry and go a slightly different route.  The ride on the boat was great.  We ran into a British couple who were also riding their bike. But theirs was motorized! Here our our bikes on the ferry:

We hiked for a few more hours, and eventually came to the border of Switzerland.  True to form in Europe, no passports, really nothing.  Just a sign saying Italy was finished!

From there we had about 20 miles to go.  I must admit, I thought I was in good shape, but those were 20 long miles.  Along the way I had a laugh when a hitchhiker asked if I could give him a ride!

And of course if you are 21, you have to do the selfie thing!

We finally arrived in Bellinzona, weary but happy to be done with our first day.  We got dinner, and now are completely surrounded by mountains.

Guess what tomorrow brings???

And here is the climb we are doing tomorrow:

Just joking.  But we will be doing a lot of climbing tomorrow!