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| Warning: long post
Proposed itinerary:
2 April Thu: Zurich to Lucerne. Approx 50 km
This leg seems manageable. After the first 25 km or so, I enter National Bike Route 9, and just follow it to Lucerne. Overnight halt at Lucerne Youth Hostel. | |
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Don't know it personally but don't see why it would be a problem.
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| 3 April Friday: Lucerne to Interlaken. Approx 65 km. National Bike Route 9.
Overnight halt at Interlaken Youth Hostel. Park the bike there. | |
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I don't know the cycle route, but have driven it many times. I imagine that there is quite a bit of climbing involved. How much you pack for the trip will play a part in how easy/difficult it is to get over the passes. There are some nice lakes along the way so it should be nice and scenic.
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| 4-5 April: Non-biking day
4th morning: Catch train to Chateau de’ Oex. Join a Zurich-based friends’ group which will be reaching there by train. The plan is to celebrate some private event there with snow hiking and relaxation.
5th Evening: catch train back to Interlaken. Overnight halt at Interlaken.
6 April Monday: Depending on body condition, return to Zurich by train, or cycling full or part way. I am not reserving accomodations for return leg, to stay flexible. | |
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Why not take a ride around Thuner or Brienzersee. The scenery around here is stunning and depending on your direction of travel it should be always easy to get a train back to Bern and on to Zurich.
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| So, the route is Zurich-Lucerne-Interlaken-Chateau and back.
I am using the standard Switzerland biking map available from the Swiss Post; I could only briefly make out the altitudes on the route, but not much. As I said this is not a hard core biking trip. I don’t mind stepping off the bike and pushing it for the uphill sections I encounter on the way. Now I have some specific queries/concerns: | |
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I don't use these maps myself, but isn't there countour lines on the map? I also thought there was an indication of how difficult a climb was on those maps, but I don't own any of these maps so can't comment.
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| Is the Lucerne to Interlaken section doable by bike now? I mean, does it have some mountain passes which aren’t open at this time, is it that high, or is it more like our Uetliberg in terms of topography? Will it be more than 5 degrees colder than Zurich? Will the road have snow, in which case cycling may be impossible? | |
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If you go over about 900-1000m on non paved roads in forests you can expect to experience snow. All of the main roads in that region will be open.
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| Can any of you post the altitude-distance graph such as the ones Patrick posted recently, for this route? | |
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Those graphs that Patrick posted he got by doing the ride. Unless someone has done the ride you won't get a height profile. As Salsa said, you might get one online from some mapping software. This might not be as accurate as the ones taken from a well calibrated barometric bike computer though.
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| Given that I won’t be biking steep uphills, and given that I am not too comfortable on my road bike, is it better that I use an upright touring bike? Don’t want to bother myself renting a touring bike unless it is worth it. | |
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I'd be suprised if you didn't have to cope with a steep hill somewhere on the day from Lucern to Interlaken. Bike choice is yours, but if your not used to the race bike then the touring bike might be more comfortbale.
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| And this one is just in case : Suppose me and bike are in good shape; body and soul are willing: does anyone know about the Interlaken-Chateau section on National Bike Route 9? Does it entail mountain passes, or can I attempt it on bike as well?
I would appreciate your suggestions/pointing to aspects which I, coming from a tropical country, may have overlooked. Also I have intentionally not looked at weather forecasts becos it is so hard to predict, and I will plough on in rain or cold (I will have flashing light and flourescent bands, warm clothes and a firm resolve ) | |
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Hopefully your warm clothes are decent technical bike clothes. Trying to ride something like that in jeans and normal everyday warm clothing might lead to a whole world of suffering.
Enjoy.