Author: Rob Ainsley

Thanks to all that vertical work yesterday, we had the agreeable situation today of downhill all the way. Downhill from Susch to the border; downhill from the border to our accommodation target in Landeck, Austria. Along with thrilling scenery, sunny weather, light winds and a return to Austrian prices, it made for a very enjoyable…

Over the Albula Pass today, after which it was all downhill to Susch. Our hotel breakfast included prosecco, which I couldn’t resist but had only a few sips of. Otherwise the day would have gone downhill immediately. We started by retracing our steps last night a few miles back to Bonarduz, in light rain. There…

After a day off yesterday, today’s challenge was the enjoyable ascent of Oberalppass, one of the few alpine cols to sport a lighthouse. Yes, it’s 230 miles from the nearest sea, at Genoa, but as you know the Swiss are very keen on safety. It was another lovely sunny day, with memories of earlier torrential…

Q: What name is given to a cyclable road that crosses a mountain saddle at high altitude? A: Pass! Yes, today it was down to real business: two of the four big passes between us and the End of the End to End, namely Grimselpass and Furkapass. After those will come Oberalppass and Albulapass, but…

No progress on our End to End today, by design: we’re staying in Interlaken again tonight and did the Grosse Scheidegg loop, one of Switzerland’s best day rides. Central to its appeal is the middle eight miles over the 1960m / 6,440ft col between Schwarzhorn and Wetterhorn, which is car-, but not postbus- or horn-,…

A day short on miles (51), modest on elevation (3,600ft), but long on precipitation (6.5 cats and 4.3 dogs). Yes: rain had been forecast for the whole day, and for once the forecast was spot-on. Still, we at least kept positive, if not at all dry. My Ortlieb panniers, like me, are old, battered and…

UEFA, WTO, IOC: this French, western part of Switzerland is home to the HQs of various globally important abbreviations. Something, no doubt, to do with its stability, neutrality, and ability to satisfy expense accounts. Yesterday we passed the Union of European Football Associations, sporting a giant football alerting us to the current Euros, and the…

We’re cycling across Switzerland, land of milk and money, from west to east. That is, from the French border, at the splendidly-named Chancy near Geneva, across its mountainscapes right across to where it meets Austria at Martina. We’ll have the chancy to use our French, German, Italian and Romansh, and to spend ten days and…