Switzerland (all)

I have met a friend on the occasion of the Norwegian 'Styrkeproven'. My longest tour, I ever did. The Styrkeproven starts at Trondheim and finishes after 540 kilometres in Oslo. I made it in 21 hours... My Norwegian friend decided to join me on a planned tour throughout the Alps.

We started at Landeck (Austria). So, the first summit has been the Arlberg Pass. Then we have been riding up the Rhein Valley in Switzerland. Night we spent at the city of Chur.

The very next day, we did two summits: Lenzerheide and Julier Pass. I remember, when I did the Julier Pass in my youth: people in the valley avoided to talk to foreigners. Of course they speak the Roman language (some of the 'ladinisch' - which is more or less the same, but with a touch of Italian (latin) influence... We ended in an expensive area. St. Moritz. [...] We left Livigno over the two Eira Passes ending at Bormio. It has been late, but there was still a little power in us: we made the Stelvio Pass from the South. Very demanding attempt! As it was late, we spent the night at the Franzenshöhe Hostel. Further down we hit Mals and later the Rescia Pass. As we ended at Landeck again and my Norwegian friend had time enough, we decided to continue by bicycle. We have been riding all the way the 'Inntalradweg' to Passau and further to Vienna, where the tour ended. Good luck to all the followers!

This has been my first attempt of crossing the Alps by mountainbike. I joined an experienced group. They started at Lech/Arlberg. On the first day, we climbed the Kristbergsattel, having night at Silbertal (Montafon). The very next day, we climbed up to Gargellen and then the 'bike-push' part over the Schlappiner Joch. Now, we are in Switzerland. Night, somewhere in the Engadin Valley. [...]

On top of the Tremalzo Pass you find a tunnel, which you have to pass. There is a bus shuttle service for bikers accommodated in Riva, just interested on the downhill. It is one of the most famous downhill roads in Europe. You find down hillers, never seen before... But you see, from time to time bike accidents... A wonderful scenic view to the Lago die Garda paid for the effort of climb. Our tour ended in Riva. This people are prepared for bikers. You can find every spare part you need. Hotels and restaurants are prepared for bicyclists. We left Riva, after a rest day, by a shuttle bus, back to Austria. Good luck to all the followers!

We said: we can do it on our bicycles...: The Route des Grandes Alpes. Starts on Lake Geneva (Genfer See) and is one of the famous French routes through the Alps to the Mediterranean. It leads, from Lake Geneva to the Côte d'Azur and crosses 16 high alpine passes (nine of which more than 2000 m), including the Col de l'Iseran, the highest road pass with 2770 m in the Alps. The route to overcome about 700 km long with an altitude difference of 15 700 m. The 1913 opened for the first five individual stages range is now 600 km from Department of Streets and along 68 km of national roads. Several cuts are stages of the Tour de France. Passing Martigny, and climbing the Forclaz Pass, heading for Charmonix. On the foot of the Aquille du Midi we have seen the huge glacier which winds down near Charmonix. Impressive: the climb up on the Roselend road.

My daughter Anne, a very brave bicyclist, joined me. After a long winter we like to see the sun again... Unfortunately, we have seen rain and snow again... The best part has been the Lago Lugano (on Italian side...) and the Lago di Como (North shore - wonderful detours to avoid the Hwy tunnels...). We have visited Madonna di Ghisallo, whereas a museum and a bicycle monument is there... Nevertheless, Madonna di Ghisallo is elevetad by round 800 meters, what means: climb bicyclist, climb!

On the way back we hit the very nice city of Sondrio. Due to strong front wind, we went up the passo Bernina by train (ferrovia Retica). Worth to do this relax tour: good views to Piz Bernina and Piz Palue. But we went back on bike at the Hospiz Bernina. A short downhill to meet the entrance to the Passo Forcola (Border to Livigno, which is a so called free trade zone - no value added tx - belongs politically to Italy). [...]

Recommended to see this wonderful bicycle path... Good luck to all the followers!

Half way of the classic tour to Lago di Garda. But still nice, as it covers the prim half part. Interesting the climbing over Schlapiner Joch, Scaletta and most interesting Alp Chaschauna. A sort of power check... Livigno is a very nice ( and rather cheap - no tax) place to stay. We left Livigno, using the tunnel to the lower end of the Passo Fuorn (Ofenpass). Further down the Inntal bicycle path way. Ending at Landeck, whereas we catched the train back to Vienna. Good luck to all the followers!

Starting at Feldkirch (Austria), we followed the Upper Rhein bike path, which leaded us nearly to the city of Chur. As it starts raining, we went by bus over the San Bernardino pass, down to the city of Bellinzona (Ticino). Via Monteceneri we hit Lugano.

The Italian side of the lake is just wonderful. Not so extreme busy as on the Swiss side. Looks logical we followed the road to the Lago di Como and further to the city of Sondrio. At Tirano we have crossing the boarder again. Back to Switzerland and up the Bernina pass from the South. Nor recommended - too strong head wind. With our very last power, we have been climbing up the Passo Forcola. Downhill to Livigno on low speed to avoid further cold. Fingers went stiff!

The very next day, we left Livigno in snow. Snowflakes at night covered the landscape with snow powder. We have been one of the last bikers leaving Livingo Tunnel by bicycle. Today they have installed a bus shuttle service. Down the Ofenpass (Passo Fuorn) to Zernez and further the Inn valley bike path to Landeck. Now the very last part close to Landeck is finished. Good luck to all the followers!

Cynthia Wong, Kekoa Proudfoot, Phil Sung, Lisa and I just returned from the Tour of the German Speaking Alps. As tours go, the statistics were unusually bad: we got in 945 miles and 88,916 feet of climbing, of which 13,879 came from 4 hikes we did in Switzerland, meaning we got in only 75,037 feet of climb on the bike. We only had 2 flat tires, both of which were caused by a bad tire blowing out on descents. We did lose almost a week to rain, and another 3 days due to a number of us (myself including) getting sick on tour.

This is our family trip with our son, and a loaded triple through eastern Switzerland. Biking with an eight year old, means more chances to stop and enjoy the scenery, but still be able to climb through the mountains.

A short tour in German Switzerland

Some lakes, and the great capital: Bern

The Appenzell region, and the great lake of Bodensee

The fresh Jura, the great north of Switzerland

The east part of Switzerland and the West part of Austria. Great mountains, great nature!

The wonderful Jura, the beautiful lake of Ginevra, the great land of lakes.

This year I made a tour in German language Switzerland. This reportage is completed with some photo that illustrate how to having fun in this wonderful country

This is a tour in French Switzerland, from Como to Ginevra... this is Calvino anniversary!

The most interesting places of this trip are:

• Lago di Como (Italy)
• The Alpes (Switzerland and Austria)
• Munich
• Crossing the border to Check Republic
• Praga
• Dresden
• Berlin

Eine Fahrrad Tour zu den Haupstädten von Europa: Strassburg, Luxemburg und Brüssel. Als Höhepunkte galten die Route des Cretes, eine faszinierende Hochstrasse durch das Elsass in Frankreich; die Route du Vin, die Weinstrasse mitten durch das weitläufige Weinanbaugebiet im Elsass und die vielen Burgen und Schlösser wie Haut Koenigsburg, Beaufort und Vianden in Luxemburg und schlussendlich die Bergregion Ardennen und die Nordseeküste in Belgien.

Starting in Switzerland, biking across the Alps in eastern direction through the Dolomites of Italy to Ljubljana, capital of Slovenia; cruise around Mt.Triglav National Park, and finally mastering Austria's Southern Alps on the way back to Switzerland. Strong presence of snow and as a consequence the closure of some mountain passes caused many spontaneous changes of the route.

Fahrrad Tour durch die Alpen der Schweiz, dem Inn Tal entlang in Österreich, Oktoberfest Pause in München, Schloss Tour in Tschechien mit der faszinierenden Hauptstadt Prag und schlussendlich über Dresden nach Berlin.

After graduating from grad school, I decided it was finally time to do the trip that I had been thinking about for years--crossing europe via the EuroVelo 6. This journal is a light-hearted account of my trip. I try to include as much information as possible for other cyclists wishing to do the same trip, but I also try to make it entertaining. You can be the judge of that.

Biking across the Swiss Alps to Venice, along the adriatic coast of Italy to Greece; island hopping on Corfu, Crete, Santorini, Naxos, Samos; and finally following Turkey's Mediterranean coast to Antalya.

Durch die Alpen der Schweiz nach Venedig, der adriatischen Küste von Italien entlang nach Griechenland, Insel Spass auf Korfu, Kreta, Santorini, Naxos, Samos; und schlussendlich der Mittelmeer Küste entlang bis Antalya in der Türke

With three of my children at the foot of the Bernese Alps, then Bern, Solothurn, Lucerne and again, in the Bernese Alps. 5 days of the Swiss adventure.

This time we're already in a foursome. I am with my three children. The youngest is 10 years old Agatha. We drive along the Pennine Alps. In addition to biking trails great mountain tours - Zermatt with Matterhorn and Chamonix with Mont Blanc. Travel of dreams.

My first bicycle trip, which my son accompanied me. Drove along the river Inn from its source, through Swiss, Austrian Tyrol to Kufstain on the border with Germany. 300 km of great cycling adventure.

London to Paris. An adventure in July. Arriving in Paris in time to see the Tour de France. Read my blog of the journey.

Il Reno, fiume europeo per eccellenza, via d'acqua e di commercio, fonte di sostentamento e di ricchezza delle genti che da sempre si sono inseduate lungo le sue rive; oltre 1'300 chilometri molti dei quali sono diventati confini naturali degli stati che attraversa, dalla Svizzera all'Olanda passando per Francia e Germania.

Il Reno è uno dei simboli dell'Europa, le sue rive uno dei tracciati piú frequentati dai cicloviaggiatori. Questa è la prima tappa di un viaggio che intende percorrerlo tutto, dalle sue sorgenti nel cuore delle Alpi fino alla foce nel mare del nord, dai paesaggi naturali quasi incontaminati a una fra le aree industriali piú vaste del continente.

Lungo il cammino non mancherà l'occasione di visitare alcune città, alla scoperta della storia, dell'arte e della cultura d'Occidente.

La prima tappa del viaggio lungo il corso del Reno ha inizio nelle Alpi, nel cantone dei Grigioni e piú precisamente sul passo dell’Oberalp dove si trova una delle sorgenti del fiume, quella del Reno anteriore (Vorderrhein); l’altra sorgente, quella del Reno posteriore (Hinterrhein) si trova nei pressi del passo del San Bernardino.

Il fiume termina la prima parte della sua corsa nel lago di Costanza (Bodensee) a Fussach, in Germania, per poi formarsi di nuovo a Stein am Rhein (Svizzera).

La regione che si trova subito a nord delle Alpi svizzere è ricca di laghi, grandi e piccoli. Agli estremi si trovano i due bacini piú grandi, il lago Lemano a sudovest e il lago di Costanza (Bodensee) a nordest, che segnano anche i confini naturali del vasto altipiano e della stessa Confederazione, dal cantone di Ginevra a San Gallo.

Il percorso che attraversa la Svizzera centrale si snoda fra questi estremi restando ai margini del grande altopiano, e tocca buona parte dei laghi posti alle pendici della catena alpina, all'incirca fra Thun e Walenstadt, attraversando anche alcuni centri maggiori come Berna, Thun, Lucerna, Zugo, Zurigo, Rapperswil: siamo nel cuore della Svizzera, dove si trovano i cosiddetti cantoni primitivi.

Finché si resta sulle sponde dei laghi il percorso non presenta particolari difficoltà, anzi è spesso pianeggiante; d'altra parte siamo ancora in un territorio segnato dalle Alpi, quindi capita che ci si trovi a dover superare qualche dislivello o passo alpino (è il caso del Brünig fra Meiringen e Sachseln).

Ho suddiviso il tracciato in due parti: la prima da Berna a Lucerna (circa 160 chilometri da percorrere in due giorni, con sosta a Meiringen), la seconda da Lucerna a Rapperswil (100 km , percorso di una giornata). Questo è il resoconto della prima tappa.

In the summer of 2009 I cycled in the Alps again. I organized my tour around 3 milestones: I registered for participating in the 2nd hardest well known bicycle-marathon of Europe, the traditional and famous La Marmotte (174 kms + 4900m heightdiff. with the Col du Glandon, Col du Galibier and at last Alpe d’Huez.). The other event was the international BIG meeting in South Bayern (Germany) with other bicycletourers and at last a test tour along the route of the Ötztaler radmarathon (228 km + 5200 m heightdiff.). A participation on that event in the following year became one of my dreams in my life. Beside these I visited another nice and memorable climbs above 2000m, in Switzerland (Mattmarksee, Lac Moiry, Barrage Grand Dixence, Alpe Galm, Tatschalp, Oberaarsee besides snowwalls and the wonderful Männlichen, etc) and in France (Col de la Colombiere, Val Thorens, Col de l'Iseran, etc.) the country of the Tour de France.

I had successful days on the La Marmotte and the Ötztaler radmarathon testtour.

Totally I cycled 2335 kms + 47060 m heightdifference on 18-19 whole days.

For me this is the fifth year of touring and the fourth for my wife. Our site is about the cycle tours we've made through Europe. We've cycled trough nine countries so far (some several times) and hope to visit the rest in the years to come. Enjoy!

Cyling Passes and Summits in the alps: Here is a cross section of (sofar) 35 passes and unnamed summits - from the famous to relatively unfamiliar (ie from Timmelsjoch to Passo Cason di Lanza) - from a day long workout to pleasant afternoon climbs (ie from crossing Vrsic Pass to a nice hill outside of Vrsno) - from road to MTB rides (like the ride to the Karwendelhaus or Tiliacher Joch). All are represented with pictures, maps, approach elevation data -also many route descriptions, ride statistics and personal opinion. Content wil grow.

This is my travel blog of several years on the road. It started life as a round-the-world trip, but before long I realised that A-to-B cycling isn't as interesting as getting off the beaten track and really exploring a place. So since I left home I've had as much time off the bike as on it, earnt more than I've spent, learnt a new language, met an amazing girl and got married to her! Eager to travel by bike as a couple, we're currently seeing where this new dimension takes us.

I prefer to write about the way the trip affects me psychologically and about the cultural, political and historical curiousities I encounter. It's an uncomfortably personal story at times, but I think it's more interesting than reading pages of distance measurements, road conditions and visa hassles.

My creative outlet comes through photography and video which I also share on the site - I carry 6kg of camera equipment and don't regret it for a second!

Meine erste grosse Radtour begann zu Hause und führte mich in Richtung Asien. Ich bin aber nicht der Typ, der für alles einen Plan hat. Ich lasse mich einfach dahintreiben, und finde Unterwegs immer wieder Ideen, wo ich gerade hin könnte. Häufig durch Jemanden, der gerade unterwegs ist, und mir von seinen Erlebnissen oder Plänen erzählt.

J'ai fait le tour de l'Europe à vélo en solo durant l'été 2009. J'ai parcouru 12 000km à travers 11 pays. J'ai vécu une expérience magnifique! Venez lire mon blog!

We don't just have our house on our bikes, we also have our two dogs, Jack and Paco, along for the ride. That's 60kg of furry luggage and another 50-60kg of non-furry luggage between the two of us! Needless to say we don't go fast but we do go everywhere, refusing to let our extra load stop us from tackling hills with grades of up to 18%. We have been on the road with our two dogs since July 2008. So far we have covered 17,000 kms and 18 countries in continental Europe.

A six day ride across Switzerland from Basel to Zernez in the Lower Engadine, taking in some of the easier passes including the Glaubenbielen Pass, the Pragel Pass, the Wolfgang Pass and the Fluela Pass.

A tandem tour of the Alps, starting from Munich, then riding through Austria, Switzerland, and Italy.

Another tour of the Alps for this Summer was being planned, but nearly had to be cancelled due to an accident in early June, when I fractured my collar bone and hurt my head and right leg. I had the goal of completing climbing all asphalted pass roads in the Alps from 1700m and higher (which I have detailed in a list at the cycloclimbing.com site).

The weather forecast for the next week looks promising, so I decide to take the train to Geneva, and start a cycle tour crossing Switzerland diagonally till St. Margrethen (at the Austrian border).