...kick some ass, make our muscles burn and our tires smoulder...!!! Of course we neglected to make the calculations with the weather conditions and the Swiss mountains...
Sveny during the first tour through the mountains.

On Saturday around 4:30pm on our way to Switzerland... it was dry the entire time and it was a smooth ride! We had barely arrived in Oberaegeri, in the Aegerital (valley) and the Aegerisee (lake) at 2460ft/750m, when it started to rain!! Fantastic!! Oh well, whatever! We can run one lap around the lake in the rain!!!
And then on Sunday we'll start riding our bikes, we're in no rush! The rain and the wind were pretty cold when we ran and so Sveny caught a bad cold right away. The next morning the clouds still looked suspiciously dark, but at first it was dry. So, we jumped on our bikes and rode a lap around the Zuger Lake. A really lovely region!

Sveny at the Zuger Lake.

The lap was 37m/60km long, which was shorter than we thought it would be, so we decided to ride another little loop. We kept going steadily uphill and so Sveny requested a change in route, we consulted the map and we turned off the street onto a side trail.
And then it really started going uphill, ascending so far that we couldn't even see the top! It seemed to go on for4ever, after every turn there was more trail and not an end in sight. Luckily the trail was asphalt and after about 9m/15km we had finally made it. We reached a restaurant on the Raten at 3740ft/1140m! From then on it was all downhill toward home and we came directly out onto the Oberägeri main street.
Unfortunately the next few days came hand in hand with some pretty harsh rain showers, so that long tours were not really possible and we had to hop onto our bikes spontaneously in every "dry phase". The area and countryside were still amazing. There was hardly any level riding. It always alternated between uphill and downhill, typically Swiss, but that's part of it!
On the 3rd day we wanted to ride the Ironman - course around Zürich. The ride there was almost completely descending, so we already knew what the way back would be like. We had no problems finding the beginning of the course at the Zürich Lake. Then we rode along the lake for 12m/20km levelly. However, after that it started to get interesting. 3.7m/6km uphill, a short descent and then uphill again to a place called Egg.
Then it started to rain again, so we took refuge in a cafe hoping that the clouds would quickly drift away from us. This, of course, did not happen, so we began to make our way back. And like I said, from the Zürich Lake on we had 12m/20km to ride uphill... in the rain... with water in our shoes.
The next day was a day of rest for Sveny, who's cold had asserted itself.
So I thought I could fight my way up a few mountains... but the last few days had already proved that we had underestimated the mountains and that our ajustment of 39/25 was not quite correct! I got to Schwyz with an average of 19.5mph/31,5km/h. I was thinking, hardcore legs! Well then it went from 1640ft/500m to 4659ft/1420m over 7.5m/12km! That was nice and steep and so was my average! Up there I zipped up my coat and rode down to the next valley, totally sweaty at a temperature of 43°F/6°C!
The lap was only about 50m/80km long, but with those three passes it felt like it went on eternally and it was really harsh! Next I rode along the Vierwaldstätter Lake. It was beautiful. A calm street with little traffic, finally flat! And a grade A panorama!!!

Captain relaxed at the Vierwaldstätter Lake.

The next morning we had some more rain, so we did some running and in the afternoon we could bike again. The last tour was supposed to be our "master leg", one large loop through the Muotha valley.
But first we went up the Raten pass and then down again, over Einsiedeln and up the Sattelegg. Some steep slopes, but pretty easy biking, with alot of colleagues along the way.

We managed! The Captain on top of the Sattelegg

And then we went back down again. You can see how steeply it went downhill on the sign (photo)...

there are no words!!!

even the captain shows his respect for the upcoming descent

Luckily Sveny didn't see the sign, otherwise she would have walked down instead of ridden!!!

Sveny downhill

About half way down the hill we heard a loud bang. Sveny's back tire had bade farewell... the hose had blown, the tire had popped out, the hose got tangled up in the cassette, the chain popped out, everything was blocked and all this on the downhill pass. Luckily she was able to stop without falling.
After that the route had to be changed for "moral" reasons and concerns ;), but also due to the the geändert werden, aber auch die anziehenden Wolken brachten die Planung durcheinander.
Also neue Route Richtung Heimat auf der Karte rausgesucht, die über den "Etzel" und noch mal den Raten nach Hause führte. Der Etzel entpuppte sich als extrem steiler, langer, nicht enden - wollender Anstieg, ich glaube, dass war die steilste und heftigste Steigung, die wir überhaupt gefahren waren.

ein kurzes flacheres Stück bergauf

Und oben angekommen begann es gewohnheitsgemäß mal wieder zu regnen … aber richtig!!
Aber dass kannten wir, unsere Bikes und unsere Klamotten ja schon zu genüge...! Alles nass, bis auf die Digicam und die Handys!!
Na ja, trotz des miesen Wetters hatten wir eine super Zeit in den Schweizer Bergen und hatten tierisch Spaß, als wir am Pfingstmontag endlich noch mal 100km mit einem 30iger Schnitt rollen konnten...
Einen neuen Team - Van haben wir übrigens auch! Stellen wir demnächst mal vor...

Dieser ist es leider nicht!!!!!!!!!!!!
happy trails and Ride on - ciao Sveny&Captain (jörn)
www.team5spinner.de