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#11
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Switzerland mountain roads questions
sergio wrote
I vote for Grosse Scheidegg, too. Good, then I'll add my vote. In the area I was told there is a nice steep road going up from Grndelwald to Kleine Scheidegg. I doubt that such a road is paved. I don't have mountain bike map for the Grindelwald area. (If I really want to ride wilder unpaved stuff closer to higher mountains, why don't I just rent a serious mountain bike and ride sections of the official Switzerland mountain bike route #1?) Bicyclists are tolerated on the new (Autostrada) San Gottardo. Luckmanier?: I would avoid. that's both good + bad for me: because one of the main reasons I wanted to ride over San Gottardo / Gotthard was to make a loop with Lucomagno / Lukmanier and Oberalp. Sanetsch is fine and quiet, but there are also so many beautiful roads that are dead-end (no through traffic) which I have never explored. Sounds like an opportunity for future exploration. I'm happy to start with Sanetsch - (does it make any sense to continue north from Col du Sanetsch and descent to Gsteig?) After that I don't think my first choice would be to ride up to major resorts like Zermatt or Saas Fee. Somehow the Zinal / Val d'Annivers seems like a possibility -- maybe because I've never been there. Ken |
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#12
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Switzerland mountain roads questions
Ken Roberts wrote:
Stelvio and Gavia!!! Don't miss them if you ever ride the Alps. Stelvio is rather close to Switzerland, and the day Tony and I rode it last summer our loop went thru Switzerland, so it fits the thread topic. And I thought it was a really great that day, here's some photos: http://roberts-1.com/t/b08/itj/k/a Great photos and wonderful weather. When I ride there I hear Va Pensiero from Nabucco in my head. I think Giuseppe Verdi must have been a closet bikie. http://ddata.over-blog.com/xxxyyy/0/...-pensiero.html But I think a lot depends on weather and snow cover. Like a German rider I met in September at Passo Tonale told me he didn't like Stelvio but did like Gavia -- but admitted that it was a sunny day on Gavia and cloudy on Stelvio. I myself was unimpressed the first time I climbed the east side of Stelvio three years ago on a cloudy day with little snow remaining in September, but very impressed with climbing the east side in June this year on a sunny day with lots of snow remaining from big late-spring storms. For sheer adventure and remoteness, Col de la Seigne and Col Ferret on the south side of Mont Blanc are memorably great passes. http://www.paloaltobicycles.com/alps_photos/i59.html Yes definitely for those willing to incorporate hiking and/or rough dirt/gravel (and possible sticky mud) in their bicycle touring. Not just for the adventure -- the close views of the Mont Blanc massif are very spectacular. Thanks to the suggestions and web pages of Jobst, I've ridden over both of them. I will gladly ride again over Col du Grand Ferret (on the Italy / Switzerland border) in favorable conditions. Col de la Seigne I'm not planning to repeat -- the road on the Italian side was just too rocky at the time I did it -- but I'm glad I did once. Then there is the great San Giacomo, from Crevola d'Ossola in the Simplon to the Val Bedretto on the Nufenen pass. http://www.paloaltobicycles.com/alps_photos/i54.html http://www.paloaltobicycles.com/alps_photos/i53.html Va Pensiero! Jobst Brandt |
#13
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Switzerland mountain roads questions
sergio wrote
I rode once only up to Rifugio Elisabetta. Is the road worse farther up, or did you find it just as bad? I think it's more of a hiking trail higher up, on both sides of Col de la Seigne. The views are really great (on both sides), but I don't think it's much fun riding it on a road bike. Put me on a mountain bike with a front suspension and I'd consider it. (and then I'd also consider riding some other dirt-path passes higher and closer the Mont Blanc massif, e.g. Bonhomme) To me Col du Grand Ferret is different, because if you take it southwest to northeast, then you do lots of hiking and rolling and carrying climbing up from the refuge, but then the northeast side is mostly ridable -- so I get the reward of a descent for my labor of hiking. But on Seigne I'm not a good enough descender on unpaved rocky hiking trails for it to feel like the downhill is a reward. Also the times I ride over terrain with substantial bumps, the more likely that things get loose or break on my bike. Bike repairs are not something I need to get involved with more times on a big trip outside my home region. Ken |
#14
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Switzerland mountain roads questions
sergio wrote
I surely do hope you did not duplicate my mistake. Taking the bike path along the southern side of the Brienzer Lake, east of Interlaken. I took the road on the northwest side of the lake to avoid _my_ mistake of riding the bike path along the south side my first time doing a loop over Grosse Scheidegg. Not only do I believe that Grosse Scheidegg is worth riding again, I've already ridden it a second time. Ken |
#15
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Switzerland mountain roads questions
Ken Roberts wrote:
I rode once only up to Rifugio Elisabetta. Is the road worse farther up, or did you find it just as bad? I think it's more of a hiking trail higher up, on both sides of Col de la Seigne. The views are really great (on both sides), but I don't think it's much fun riding it on a road bike. Put me on a mountain bike with a front suspension and I'd consider it. (and then I'd also consider riding some other dirt-path passes higher and closer the Mont Blanc massif, e.g. Bonhomme) There is only a short steep section on the east approach that is rocky: http://www.paloaltobicycles.com/alps_photos/i60.html Here it is on the west side, coming and going: http://www.paloaltobicycles.com/alps_photos/i59.html http://www.paloaltobicycles.com/alps_photos/f85.html weather up here is always variable. To me Col du Grand Ferret is different, because if you take it southwest to northeast, then you do lots of hiking and rolling and carrying climbing up from the refuge, but then the northeast side is mostly ridable -- so I get the reward of a descent for my labor of hiking. But on Seigne I'm not a good enough descender on unpaved rocky hiking trails for it to feel like the downhill is a reward. The Col Ferret is a lot shorter but in the same east-west valley. For a young and healthy bikie, its a great adventure and mostly riding down the east slope. Also the times I ride over terrain with substantial bumps, the more likely that things get loose or break on my bike. Bike repairs are not something I need to get involved with more times on a big trip outside my home region. We were once all young and beautiful: http://tinyurl.com/5uzfgy but that doesn't mean you can't go there anymore. I've been going back for more than 50 years and love it every time. Nostalgia is a great emotion. I first saw these roads when most were unpaved in 1948. One of my great adventures was staying in Hotel Belvedere in the year that it reopened after more than 60 years closure. When I first saw it from our family cars as a youngster, I said I would some day stay there... I did! http://rhone.riverama.com/rhoneglacier.php Jobst Brandt |
#16
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Switzerland mountain roads questions
On 21 Ott, 00:17, wrote:
*I first saw these roads when most were unpaved in 1948. *One of my great adventures was staying in Hotel Belvedere in the year that it reopened after more than 60 years closure. *When I first saw it from our family cars as a youngster, I said I would some day stay there... *I did! *http://rhone.riverama.com/rhoneglacier.php I see, Jobst. You were so lucky as to have parents that left such an imprinting onto you. Hotel Belvedere is in a great place, so crowded (with reason). This year, having read your report about it, I recommended friends to lodge at Hotel Rosenlaui where myself I had never stopped. They found it marvellous and are surely going back next year to ride and hike. Their thanks to you, though indirectly. Sergio Pisa |
#17
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Switzerland mountain roads questions
Jobst&Ken,
here is a suggestion for you, or anyone else as a matter of fact: a little known road in the Dolomites. From Braies to Pratopiazza, easy and beautiful: a true jewel! To make a loop up you can ascend from Carbonin. On this side the road is a rocky path and barebly possible to ride with a racing bicycle, though I managed to do it. Sergio Pisa |
#18
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Switzerland mountain roads questions
Ken Roberts used his keyboard to write :
sergio wrote I vote for Grosse Scheidegg, too. Good, then I'll add my vote. In the area I was told there is a nice steep road going up from Grndelwald to Kleine Scheidegg. I doubt that such a road is paved. I don't have mountain bike map for the Grindelwald area. This road is paved - actually the climb from the other side (Meiringen) is far more beautiful and has a minor part unpaved, but hard enough to bicycle on your road bike. In fact the postal bus takes this rad as well (and has and takes priority always!) (If I really want to ride wilder unpaved stuff closer to higher mountains, why don't I just rent a serious mountain bike and ride sections of the official Switzerland mountain bike route #1?) Bicyclists are tolerated on the new (Autostrada) San Gottardo. Luckmanier?: I would avoid. that's both good + bad for me: because one of the main reasons I wanted to ride over San Gottardo / Gotthard was to make a loop with Lucomagno / Lukmanier and Oberalp. Sanetsch is fine and quiet, but there are also so many beautiful roads that are dead-end (no through traffic) which I have never explored. Sounds like an opportunity for future exploration. I'm happy to start with Sanetsch - (does it make any sense to continue north from Col du Sanetsch and descent to Gsteig?) After that I don't think my first choice would be to ride up to major resorts like Zermatt or Saas Fee. Somehow the Zinal / Val d'Annivers seems like a possibility -- maybe because I've never been there. North part of Sanetsch is heavily unpaved, you have to carry your bike or take the cable car. Ken |
#19
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Switzerland mountain roads questions
sergio expressed precisely :
On 20 Ott, 21:58, "Ken Roberts" wrote: Col de Sanetsch is a 'must do' Thanks, it's now on my list. If it is as I found it a few years ago, be sure you have an electric lamp at hand. Sergio Pisa I heard that now the tunnel is illuminated |
#20
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Switzerland mountain roads questions
Ken Roberts formulated the question :
sergio wrote I vote for Grosse Scheidegg, too. Good, then I'll add my vote. In the area I was told there is a nice steep road going up from Grndelwald to Kleine Scheidegg. I doubt that such a road is paved. I don't have mountain bike map for the Grindelwald area. This road is not paved! (If I really want to ride wilder unpaved stuff closer to higher mountains, why don't I just rent a serious mountain bike and ride sections of the official Switzerland mountain bike route #1?) Bicyclists are tolerated on the new (Autostrada) San Gottardo. Luckmanier?: I would avoid. that's both good + bad for me: because one of the main reasons I wanted to ride over San Gottardo / Gotthard was to make a loop with Lucomagno / Lukmanier and Oberalp. Sanetsch is fine and quiet, but there are also so many beautiful roads that are dead-end (no through traffic) which I have never explored. Sounds like an opportunity for future exploration. I'm happy to start with Sanetsch - (does it make any sense to continue north from Col du Sanetsch and descent to Gsteig?) North of Col de Sanetsch you have to carry your bike or take the cable car. After that I don't think my first choice would be to ride up to major resorts like Zermatt or Saas Fee. Somehow the Zinal / Val d'Annivers seems like a possibility -- maybe because I've never been there. Zermatt/Saas Fee is a bit boring - rather flat. The views at the end of the climbs give some compensation though. I personnaly would like to climb the road to Lac de Dixence... Ken |
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