Watch this space for more details...

Okay, this event has been moved to Thursday 17th, as I don't know anyone who probably wouldn't need a rest day in between two triple-pass rides.

Anyone who RSVP'd will have to RSVP again.

Hmmmm. It's looking a bit cold and wet for Thursday (high of 12 and rain in Andermatt, which could mean snow at the top of the passes). When will you make the executive decision on this ride? I could do it Wednesday instead, but I have the feeling the Tuesday group won't be feeling up for it.

Heather

(Oh, and by the way, I'm aiming for 2 out of 3 passes, then heading home by train from Oberwald. I'm crazy, but not that crazy.)

Hey Heather, I am leaning more and more toward riding Wednesday instead of Thursday anyway, due to the weather forecast as well as it would just be easier for my schedule. So if it ends up looking like you might go Wed. too that'd be great. But if not it's ok - It's so hard to tell with these forecasts anyway.

Now we'll just see if my ol' body cooperates with this plan!

THIS EVENT IS CANCELLED!

All the "yes" people were in Andermatt today and decided to seize the day ahead Thursday's bad weather forecast.

By all accounts it was another epic ride with some sore bodies the result.

"Epic" is a great and appropriate description! Thank you, Litespeed, for organizing this event - It was a very memorable experience, and wonderful to share it with such great people.

Thanks so much for the great ride, everyone! <wishes we had a cyclist smiley to insert here>.

Am I glad we bumped this ahead by a day! We had almost perfect weather yesterday, but it was grey and rather miserable in Andermatt this morning.

I'm pleased to report that I'm not quite as dead as I thought I'd be today (especially seeing as I ended up pulling a PTKate and doing all three passes after planning on doing only two!). I'm so glad I was riding with such a supportive group of people who helped inspire me to 'go the extra mile'. As I said at the top of the Furka yesterday evening, I didn't think I could do it, but decided I'd just have to prove myself wrong! And I have deeeeeep respect for my riding companions, all of whom completed the entire Roadie Adventure Day 1, and still managed to beat me to the top of every pass on day 2 with only a few hour's sleep and a bit of rosti to keep them going.

Arrived back home this afternoon and have alternated napping with watching tour highlights and looking at litespeed's and hillseeker's photos. Thanks so much litespeed for organising an event that I'll remember forever, and also for your persistence and dedication in finding late-night apfelstrudel in Andermatt. Hillseeker, you are such an amazing rider and person. Can't wait until we ride together again. And ChrisW, thanks for everything.

Bring on the next one!

Heather

PS-

<wishes there was a 'eat your own words' smiley>.



Heather

Yes Heather, I will quite gladly eat my words! Especially in view of what the Grimsel looked like at 10am on the Thursday (see pics). Although it was still heaps of fun in the WRX! :-)

Hi All

Been interested in these Thursday night rides for a while but a bit worried that my fitness would not be up to mountain passes. Are the riders on this all generally club riders? If not how have you developed the cycling fitness to manage these kind of rides working five days a wee? Looking for tips. I cycle about 13 miles from Wetzikon to Wallisellen but generally flat so not enough hill practice! Keen to improve endurance perhaps before I join the Thursday rides.

Thanks

DJC

Hi DJC,

We don't do this sort of thing every Thursday! Normally TNRs are a total of about 900m climbing, and around 50-60km. We normally average about 25km/h for this sort of ride. Not sure if there are any club riders in the group, but there is a reasonable level of fitness.

As for developing cycling fitness, the only way is to put in the hours and miles in the saddle, and preferably keep adding longer and steeper hills to your training. You need hills to really improve.Make use of lower gears and maintaining a good cadence. Increase your distance OR intensity by about 10% each time, and you'll gain the endurance in no time :-)

Come and give it a go. Very few of us are club riders (as far as I know), we simply like to ride our bikes. Some of the participants are quite fit, and are probably not giving it loads on the Thursday night rides, more of us (me for one) are going quite hard to stay with the fitter of the people on the rides.

I would imagine if you are doing that commute you should not have a problem keeping up, all climbing is is a matter of winding your way up the hill, and having the perseverance to keep those pedals turning. If you are the kind of person that is willing to put a little effort in and keep going on the climbs then it does not matter a whole lot if your name is Lance or not.

I see you live in Wetzikon, you have many hills close by that are quite good for training. I use Bachtel and Pfanensteil myself fairly often but I have ridden Sternenberg with another forum member once. Test your legs on these, don't expect to be a Tour de France climber on your first go, just get uesd to the constant effort required to keep the pedals turning on a climb and then come along on Thirsday night.

Pfanensteil is actually one of the climbs we used on the first Thursday night rides before Hillseeker introduced us to her route on the other side of the lake. Hopefully I get to ride it again next week!

I rarely think about a bike ride as a 'training' ride. I view cycling much more as the perfect way to get out and explore places and enjoy the outdoors, and within the city as a good way of getting around.

When riding in Switzerland, the scenery really helps to take your mind off of tired legs. Just got out for some fun rides, and you'll be surprised how quickly you can build up your endurance.

Ride: EF Alpine Roadie Adventure Day 2 - Andermatt - Susten - Grimsel - Furka - Andermatt

Distance: Approx. 120 km.

Ascent: approx. 3600m

Start time: 9.00am
Finish time: 7.30pm

Rating: Difficult





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We were left with little choice but to proceed with Day 2 on the Wednesday, as the weather forecast for the Thursday was looking grim. So with some stiffness still in my legs, I met up with Hillseeker, HeatherM and ChrisW at 9am outside my Hotel in Andermatt. We chose to meet a little earlier today, as this route was longer and more difficult than Day 2.

So close enough to 9am we set off down through the cold morning shadows through Göschenen and down to Wassen. Another glorious sunny day was already hard at work warming up the air, as we began to tackle the 1300m altitude difference that stood between us and the Sustenpass.

Unfortunately, the battery in my camera was fading, so I had to be be frugal with my photography. This was unfortunate, as again the fabulous weather and awesome landscape came together in such a way that we were cycling through 3-dimensional postcard.

With pain from Day 1 still present in my legs, I was already having doubts of making today's ride. But with the others in the group full of positive energy and motivation, it made it easy to press on up the "easy" side of the Susten. From about the half-way you can see practically to the top of the pass, and it just seems so far away! But with a few quick breaks we maintained a steady pace, making it to the top by approx. 11.30am.

After the obligatory group pic we scooted off down the long, long grade to Innenkirchen, a 1700m drop that had us practically back to sea level. The Sun was high and the day was at its warmest, so we settled in for lunch and re-applied much needed sunscreen whilst waiting for our Rösti. The portions were big and tasted great, but possibly not the best meal to attack the Grimsel with. Even on this weekday, the restaurant here was busy and service was bit slow, so it was only at 2pm that we were able to pay our bill and get underway, bellies full of native cuisine.

Heading South again, we got a few flat km's to settle back into the saddle before the road tilted upwards once again. This time the tilt was going to last for a while…more than1500m over 26km averaging 6.5%. Not steep per se, but most of the last 10km is 8% or more, meaning a conservative pace was required.

With temperatures around 27 degrees, hydration was again a concern as we took breaks about every 30-40 min along the climb which just never seemed to end. As I ground my way up in 39-27, the aches and pains, especially in my legs, were growing ever louder. But the determination of the others, the laughs and smiles, were more than enough to drown these out and press on to the top.

We arrived at the top of the Grimsel around 5.30pm, and congratulated each other on what we had just achieved….2900m of climbing in 2 passes, almost as much as the previous day. We could also see the first signs of the changing weather were evident..a growing bank of clouds and some strong gusts confirmed tomorrow would be a miserable day. So we didn't hang around at the top long, and descended the short but windy 400m to Gletsch, a site familiar to us from the day before. The sidewalk table where we sat the day before was deserted, like most of the town, as Gletsch succumbed to the evening shadows and looming clouds.

All that stood now between us and our finish was the Furkapass. On its own, a relative easy climb of 650m over 11km, but at the end of this epic it was still very daunting. For any of us not up to it, the option existed to run down to Ulrichen and catch the train up through the long Furka tunnel. But like the day before, spirits and motivation were high, so it was one in, all in as we headed back east for the last assault. After a break half-way, ChrisW decided to give the rest of the climb all he, and practically sprinted to the top with Hillseeker not far behind him.

Around 6.45pm we had made it to the top of the Furkapass, and we looked back to see the Grimselpass already covered in cloud as the weather in the Alps was becoming unpleasant. But this couldn't dampen our joy at all having made the 3600m ascent for this ride.

With one last photo, we made the most of our last long descent to Realp and on to the finish at Andermatt. There we said goodbye to Hillseeker, who grabbed the train back to Zürich. HeatherM, ChrisW and myself joined up in Andermatt for a lovely Italian meal at the Hotel Metropol, before scouring the rest of the town for a well-earned apple strudel.

Once again, a perfect day out on two wheels. The weather, the landscape and the group mixing together for an memorable and challenging experience. I really look forward to our next ride!

sounds like a great time, so sad I missed it. And I thought I worked hard going up Ventoux, that is hellish climb but nothing like three passes. wow. I need to do these climbs soon. I think my fitnes has improved, Alpe Huez almost felt easy..

Hi DJC,

the best answer is just to do it, ride up as many hills as you can. I am not a picture of fitness, and am one of the ones hanging on the back of the thursday nite group, usually the very back but the fitness comes and you feel great about it when you see improvement.

It was only a little over 2 years ago and 40 pounds heavier when I caught the cycling bug, and cycling in Switzerland at least to me means going uphill. I remember very much my first climb up Pfannenstiel, I though nothing could be harder than that but I did make it...and it felt great and the beer I had afterwards tasted even better. Slowly, I progressed to bigger hills and an occasional mountain, each one is a struggle but there is nothing like the feeling of accomplishment when you get to the top with the beautiful views and say I did it, wow...

Regarding training, I have limited myself to training only three days a week this year. So usually Tuesday nite for 1.5 hours, Thursday night for 2 hours (the group ride) and then one major ride on the weekend of 5 hours or so usually in the mountains. This is alot of riding but never feel burnt out. It does take the committment of sacrificing one weekend day, but that is a small price, at least for me, as I love to cycle.

Show up for the Thursday ride and give it a go, we will probably have on your side of the lake again soon....and if you want to go out for a 'test' ride in the hills another day, just pm me... as I live on your side of the lake.

The rides you did sound pretty good also. I have to agree with you regarding Alpe d'Huez. Last month, we did the Ventoux climb and then later that week tackled Alpe d'Huez. Both of us commented that we felt that Alpe d'Huez was pretty straightforward and not too bad. It really helps that the steepest part is the first two kms and not the last two. Apparently, even Lance Armstrong has said that Alpe d'Huez is not a particularly hard climb relative to others in the French Alps. It is just famous because of how ideally it is situated to host a stage finish in the Tour de France.

True, Hillseeker's Swiss Apline Adventures(sounds like a company name) are definitely more challenging ...Alpe Huez was great fun to ride though...with the hairpin turns and the dutch and german campers parked in each corner and drunken Dutch fans (getting a weeks head start for the Tour). I am not sure I would ride Ventoux again (I found the first 15k in the forest a bit dull though the top makes up for it) but would definitely ride Alpe Huez again.

Anyway, I need to get to Andermatt soon....not sure if I will do the Alp Brevet or not yet.-

If you can hold off a little (running Sat. and expecting not to be able to walk for a little while after) I'd obviously be up for doing day2, especially if you can fix the weather too.

Also keen to do Fluela and Albula circuit seen as i missed the Engadine race and pretty much anything else that involves hills.