My first European Bike trip. The Lake District to Switzerland.
Here’s my bike fully kitted out for a week in the Alps.
Not even out of the UK and we have a problem. Luckily this was the only problem following being hit at 80mph and my side pannier being torn from the bike on the M20. The traffic was really bad on the way down with the M6 closed and we got diverted down the M40. The M25 was like a car park, especially as it was a Friday afternoon. We squeezed through traffic for a couple of hours, then when we met the M20 and the road cleared my Brother ran into me. Luckily no physical damage was done to either of us and a bit of improvising got us back on the road.
We were late for the ferry after the earlier drama so opted for the Train, we wanted to get as far into France as possible whilst it was still light as we didn’t have anywhere booked to sleep.
After dumping the pannier in the UK, we used a stuff sack in its place. Surprisingly I didn’t notice any off balance effects of being a pannier down.
Greeted in Switzerland by this colourful chap.
And this one. What a machine, it sounded awesome.
A well deserved drink after 2 days of solid riding.
The Garmin says 539 miles riden today.
The Tom Tom disagrees. It’s still a long way whoever’s right.
I know which bike I’d rather be on. These cyclist are everywhere and must be super fit to cycle up hill round here.
The view from the Furka Pass. You never forget the first time you see this view in real life. Amazing.
Pictures taken on my iPhone 3GS hence the quality.
Some Digital SLR shots, much better quality. Still an amazing view.
Zooming in. That’s where we are heading.
Our hotel in Andermatt. Hotel Altkirch.
The cobbled main street of Andermatt.
Lots of different types of Bikes around this area.
You just can’t take in the scale of this place.
Stitched Panorama from my iPhone.
A welcome cooling down. The weather is Amazing. No rain so far.
The Susten Pass on our way to Interlaken.
Limping on.
Proper Rain, like you’ve never seen before and such a powerful thunderstorm. Luckily we spotted a metal roofed garage and took shelter while the storm passed.
Hanging up his Bow’s after the fight.
The trip was cut short the next day. However we’ll be back next year.
