I am planning a moderately long ride tomorrow (100-120km). I am considering riding from Zurich to Andermatt. Has anyone ridden this route?

• I am looking at this route from bikely.com.
• It looks like I can ride Route 3 from Schweiz to Andermatt. I notice though it says 2km are "unsurfaced". Does this mean gravel? I will be on my road bike.
• Can you recommend a better ride from Zurich?

Has anyone ridden this route, any comments to add. I will post a write-up afterwards.

Thanks,

--Paul

I don't know quite what you mean by 'Schweiz to Andermatt'. Schweiz is simply the German name for Switzerland. Schwyz is a Canton through which part of the Zürich to Andermatt routes goes. (please wave to my daughter when riding through Goldau)
What exactly do you mean by road bike?

Zürich to Andermatt.
Had a look at this route with my husband. He can see no part which is unsurfaced, but he says that if such a part is on the route, there is a way round it. Apart from that he has, with his racing bike, never, ever had a puncture on 'unsurfaced' routes which are basically simply not tarmac. Could be gravel, could be hard-packed earth.
It is difficult to give 'advice' when we know nothing about your wishes or ability and experience. My husband says that Göschenen to Andermatt nach 100Km is narrow, steep, busy, (when the Gotthard is open, but it isn't), hot and tough but perhaps you're much younger and super fit. Kurt says he would opt for train for that last bit.
If you do go, have a good day!
From Zürich there are 100km runs in all directions, also things which are better from a traffic point of view than the Axenstrasse. (Lies on your route) There are bicycle maps for racing bikes and mountain bikes which show gradient, busy roads and unsurfaced roads too. Bookshops stock them.

Thanks for the response.

I think road bike = racing bike; road-bike is generally the term in the US. Is race bike the consistent term here for a lightweight bike? Happy to learn the correct/local term, fwiw my bike is here (although from a few years ago).

My goals are:

• 100+ km
• At least one really solid climb (10km or so of consistent steep climbing), two is better.
• Less traffic is a plus
• Ends somewhere beautiful with hiking trails as my family will meet me there

Any recommendations are appreciated, I am training for a big ride (174km) later this summer. Sounds like Zurich-->Andermatt fits the bill.

If no-one else in the Forum can give you advice more quickly, perhaps my husband can help for other trips - he is now over at Bülach (swimming coach - competition).
I am very much out of date with biking terms - for me a racing bike is tyres with no profile and drop handelbars and no junk such as lights, luggage rack.... My heavier bike is called a city-bike here but it also goes on the road...
I'll give Kurt your post this evening, then perhaps he has an idea for another time. He often goes towards eastern Switzerland a bit (we live in Wädenswil on Lake Zürich) but although he is pretty fit, he is nearing retiring age and carries too much weight so not quite in your league with the 20 Km steep climbing.
His comments in the first post about taking the train were in light of his experience with other folk who come here from flatter countries and who really aren't used to distance plus steep climbing.
Hope all goes well tomorrow.

Not sure if you have seen it but the Bikely page has a "show" button above the maps left top corner. Though there is something flaky giving 3200m climbing, that last 1000m climb from Fluelen to Andermatt is not to be underestimated. I've done it several times and it wouldnt be my choice for the last 30kms of 120km ride.

As the major passes are still closed I cant offer many suggestions, but maybe some loops around Zurich's western hills to get some km's together. eg
http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path...o-Pfaffikon-SZ

I managed the ride, but it was pretty tough. Some quick comments:

• The signage is good, but not universally so. There were a few moments when I lost the route and had to navigate with a general sense of direction.
• There are sections on Route 51 that are gravel. Not terrible but on a race bike I slipped a bit.
• Riding on a quiet Sunday morning was ideal. No traffic on the roads until around 10 am.
• The final 40 km was into a stiff headwind. Check the weather forecast and see if the wind is coming down the pass or not (no idea how to check for wind direction and speed in the pass, but I will look around). Climbing was hard but it was much worse with that wind blowing.

Otherwise the ride was gorgeous. The landscape is stunning pretty much the entire distance changing from rolling farmland to high Alpine insanity (gorges, waterfalls, river).

Glad you enjoyed it!
Bad luck about the wind. In some valleys it turns round at midday so you can be biking against it when you go 'up' and again when you came back 'down'!

Here are two places to check the wind.
NZZ Windforecast Check the wind for Urnersee if it says S3 or more then you will have a stiff headwind on the way to Andermatt.

Current wind in Altdorf or many other areas can be found here. Just go to the drop down menu and select windspeed.

If you are looking for more passes before the bigguns are opened later this month, the Sörenberg south of Lucerne was nice yesterday. We did a full route from Thun to Lucerne on the touring bikes, climbed around 1600m and covered 118km. We were above the snow line for the pass itself, but the road is cleared.
http://www.mapmyrun.com/ride/switzer...n/251151124068

Warning - section betwen Schangnau and Südelhöhe has offroad/gravel track sections and is unsuitable for road/racing bikes. Route 4 provides a suitable detour to avoid this.