Arbon to Bern and back to Geneva - 9/18/2016

Yesterday was our last day of riding and now it is time to head back to Geneva. This morning we gathered at breakfast to thank our van driver Fred for all he had done for us along the trip. He always got to the hotel ahead of us and in many places had our bags waiting for us in our rooms. He helped with repairs and transport and always seemed to be there when we needed him. Thanks Fred!

We also awarded the coveted "wing nut" to  Wendy, the one rider who rode the most total miles on our adventure. All of the recipients that received this award along the way posed together for a group photo.

Then it was time to hop on the train for Bern where we had a few hours to tour the historic district. Bern is the capital of Switzerland and this area is filled with cobblestone streets and a series of fountains and colorful sculptures. 

The clock in the middle of the city may be in need of some repair as it did not live up to the description in the tour guide. But it is a beautiful clock! Perhaps the clock master was on vacation?

Because it was Sunday most of the shops were closed but several folks were out strolling through the area. Here's David and Ginger Wheat - nice beret David!

We also visited the Bear Park located along the river Aare. One can observe live bears right in the heart of the Swiss capital. The BearPark is home to Finn, Björk, and their daughter Ursina. The animals live right in the heart of the Swiss capital along the bank of the river Aare in the BearPark which provides a landscape where the brown bears can climb, fish and play, but also just retreat and relax. We were lucky to find Finn enjoying a stalk of celery when we passed by.

 A few of us ladies also took a moment for a group photo. 

Before we got back on the train we stopped at this wonderful chocolate where several of us purchased a few items to bring home to family and friends. Yummy stuff. 

Back on the train and on to Geneva!

Sandy and I fly home tomorrow and others of our group will stay here in Geneva or head to explore other parts of Europe. Overall this has been a grand adventure with dear and treasured friends. Most of us have far exceeded what we thought to be our physical limits and found that we had more strength, fortitude and stamina than we ever knew. 

We have been blessed by sunshine and overall beautiful weather - the rain was minor and only came much later in the day than predicted. 

Because of this shared adventures and hours spent together touring  we have created lasting memories. Thank you for following along. 

Day 7 - Feldkirch, Austria to Arbon, Switzerland - 9/17/2016 - RAIN in the forecast!

We geared up in the morning in full rain attire, ready to ride in the storm. Were we finally going to get soaked?

Leaving Feldkirch was a bit dicey as we had lots of traffic for the first 5-7 miles and light rain. We were on a narrow two lane highway with cars zipping by us, thankfully most of the drivers were pretty gracious. 

I still am amazed how anyone could do these routes with just paper maps without a Garmin. My hat is off to friends  Carol and Ron who toured like that just a few short years ago. As it was, we only had a few glitches. 

We were grateful to finally get to the lovely country roads, gravel or paved. Today was our last day and promised to be a flat and easy ride. This allowed us to savor our experiences and just meander along, have coffee and stop when we saw something interesting. We rode approximately 61km/45 miles on mostly paved roads, we still had some gravel, but is was pretty hard packed and in pretty decent condition.

 

And did I mention it stopped raining? When we arrived in the small town of Alstatten we were treated to a local bike race with cycling events for tiny racers in training, They certainly could possibly be future Tour de France competitors. We were amazed at their skill and determination as they worked the course.

We then found a cafe that had coffee AND gelato. All of us coffee except Sandy who indulged in a 10:00 am snack of mocha gelato - way to go Sandy! 

More pics in Alstatten, what a storybook looking town. While we are still wearing our rain gear, it had pretty much tapered off.

We got a great photo of farmer Steve with his beloved corn. He sad this was some of the tallest corn he had ever seen. Note the fashionable shower cap on his head - definitely helped to ward off the rain. 

We crossed the border from Austria back to Switzerland and even though the crossing stations are closed the buildings are still there. Note the flags on the glass with Austria on one side and Switzerland on the other. 

As we got closer to Arbon our route took us along picturesque Lake Constance where we spotted these very cool sculptures. YEP another photo moment. Hey, I said we were meandering! Note the sunny skies.

This road took us right to the front door of the hotel and we were at the end of our riding journey - and what an adventure it was. We watched fellow riders as they arrived, and of course had a celebratory beer.

Time for a group photo and then we had to take all of our belongings off the bikes and walk them across the street to the train station. Steve and Stu were quite the troopers as they helped with the packing and wrapping duties for transport back to Geneva.

It did start raining around 5:30 this evening, how lucky we were to skirt the storm once again. Many of us opted to have dinner at the hotel. I had the local fish - absolutely delicious! I also had a well earned slice of Black Forest cake, but I ate it all before I even thought of taking a photo.

Tomorrow we take the train back to Geneva, with a three hour stop over in Bern to do a bit of shopping. Big rain is forecasted for tomorrow. We all feel blessed and lucky that we had such clear skies for most of our tour. 

I will post one more Blog, so I hope you check back. Thank you all for following along on our journey. 

Day 6 - Rapperswil to Feldkirch - What Rain? 9/16/2016

Because I did not have much time to walk around Rapperswil last night I got up early this morning and took a walk around this lovely medieval town. I walked up to the St. John's church located high above the town and was surprised it was open at such an early hour. I loved the two spiral staircases climbing up to the choir loft and organ. Sitting in the church for just that short period of time was a serene and charming respite. 

After leaving the church I was treated to a lovely sunrise and early morning panoramic views of the bridge to the modern city of Rapperswil across Lake Zurich. Turning the other direction I overlooked the town square as they were getting ready for a small farmers market. What a contrast!

I also took a few other photos of the town and the early morning farmer's market from my high perch.

The forecast was pretty grim and called for rain in the early part of the day and afternoon so we were all motivated to get going. Our ride today was very pleasant along country roads, still riding gravel paths for about 35-40% of the day, thank goodness it was mostly a pretty flat ride, but the gravel roads are really a challenge. Today they were mostly in decent shape. We still were blessed with some pretty spectacular scenery. We rode around 100 km/60 miles (+/-)

We were greeted, and delayed, along our journey by these lovely ladies. The road was closed as they were moved to a new pasture. 

The rain was still threatening as we continued the day and we could see the impending storm ahead.

We had a few issues along the way as Wendy broke a spoke in her back wheel. Lots of guys were there to help. We also took time to put on some of our rain gear. 

We rode through a few tunnels, beautiful valleys and alongside some lakes. We also encountered a 25% grade that I wish I could say I climbed. I could not get into my low gear and was too far up the hill to stop and restart. However several of my fellow riders did and a few of us walked. All of us got there safely.

We also encountered a detour that took us up a very steep flight of cement stairs and down a very difficult descent. We had to carry our bikes up and over. The good news is that it led us right to a lovely stop for coffee. 

We continued along the lake riding through several tunnels and alongside bridges.

We were lucky to see a few old castles along the way and eventually met up with the Rhine River following it northward until we crossed into Liechtenstein and Austria. 

Farmer Steve was also in his element today as we rode through the many cornfields. He explained all about the growing and cultivating of corn. We loved it! Thank you Steve!

We arrived at our nights lodging just as it started to rain - we were so very lucky! We celebrated our day with a light Italian meal near the hotel. Yummmmmm! We so earned this! Tomorrow is our last day of riding and we have a high increase in the chance of rain - so carb up and get ready.