Friday 15 October 2010

Day 26 Switzerland/Germany 14/10/2010 Basel–Rheinfelden–Bad Sackingen–Zurzach. 46.84miles/75.67km, ride time 4hr28minutes, averaging 10.4mph.

Lovely, waking up in a warm apartment and getting a cup of tea without having to light the stove! It was with something of a comfort hangover that we set off once again along the Rhein.

The weather has really turned and it feels like winter is around the corner. Let's hope it lasts a little longer otherwise it is going to be pretty miserable. Especially as we have to head north for a while to join the Danube.

Today's journey was spent flitting between Switzerland and Germany. The border seems to take on a slightly random shape along the Rhein. For a while we stuck to the German side until the path turned to gravel. We then swapped over to Switzerland for the remainder of the trip. Most of this was spent along a road, which admittedly had a cycle lane, but when lorries are flying close past you it isn't much fun.

I think it's safe to say that the hills that were absent during the first part of the route have now arrived with a vengeance. Sorry to any of our friends living in Switzerland who basically regard these roads as flat, to us flatland Norfolk dwellers they are very steep. The German side of the route gave us an indication of the terrain when we had to climb up into the many pretty villages as the path took us away from the Rhein. Most of these detours were because of train lines that we seemingly had to go over or under at a regular frequency. These short but steep climbs were almost always followed by short but steep descents. In Switzerland however the road just seemed to go up and up.

It was with quite tired legs that we finally arrived in Zurzach and found our camp-site. Passing a nice thermal baths, with no time to visit didn't help much either! Oh well life on the road, an early night is called for I think!

1 comment:

  1. Ha Ha, No offence taken about the hills, they do take a little getting used to!! Good luck with the weather the next days.

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