Day 11 - Some Days Maybe You Shouldn't Ride

 This morning was my turn to drive and I gotta tell you I wasn't excited to be on the road anyway. It was cooler than yesterday and raining more heavily than yesterday. We delayed the start from our typical 9 AM start to noon hoping for the weather to break. but as you can see from the predictions below, the rain was going to be steady all day.

Neverless, at noon, four riders hit the road; Mike, Chris, Chuck and Doug, while myself, Yan and Eduard opted for the van.  We drove ahead to meet them at the lunch stop and they arrived cold and soaked at almost about 2:30 PM.

We had found a cafe just off the bike path, shortly before the climb that you can see in the above graphic.

After a bite to eat Chris and Yan headed out to complete the second half. I opted not to ride as well as the other riders. It turns out the maybe it was a good thing. Later we traveled along the same route as the bikes were going to take and there was a lot of road construction that was difficult for the bikes to navigate.

Shortly after Chris and Yan departed, the sun popped out and it became a beautiful afternoon as the Sun started to dry out the road and unveil an a beautiful countryside as we left Austria an entered Italy.

With all the bikers at the lunch stop, we didn't have room in the van for everyone and our bikes, so we needed to shuttle the non riders in 2 waves. The second shuttle arrived at the hotel just as dinner was being served. It was not to be missed. The most elegant, multi-course meal that we have had on the tour.

Tomorrow promises to the a ride of a different color. Massive downhill, no chance of rain and warm in the low 80's.

Today's Photos

Brian

brian@coxintl.com

Day 10 - Challenge Accepted

 At the end of yesterday's blog entry I had mentioned that the climbing today was going to be a challenge. I just didn't know how much of a challenge it was going to be.

First let's talk about the weather. The Epic Ride Weather was again very accurate at predicting the weather conditions for the ride. looking at the graphic below the temperature was within a degree or so of the prediction. The rain, more like a steady drizzle started shortly before we started, about 9 AM. The wind was almost non-existent.

As you can see in the elevation above we really didn't start climbing until almost half way into the day's ride and in the meantime we were treated to spectacular views of the Alps as we cycled through the valley. 

The day was gloomy as we continued to climb and we were fortunate that the temperatures remained in the upper 50's and low 60's throughout the day and between the warmth of exercising and our gear, we keep fairly comfortable.

Though we passed through small towns occasionally, however we couldn't find an open coffee shop so we pushed on until lunch. This valley is known for it's winter skiing and we often saw signs for Innsbrook, the site of the 1976 Winter Olympics. This must have been their off season. Though there were plenty of restaurants, we had a difficult time finding one that was open.

A bit past the half way point, we did find a small welcoming bakery and restaurant. We piled we all had good hot coffee and a hearty lunch while looking out the large glass windows. We could sense that the rain was just starting to lighten up a bit. 

Back on the road, the rain had let up and almost completely stopped. We continued the climb and soon we could see on our cycle computers the following road shape, switchbacks. We knew that a climb steep climbs was coming and we could see it in the elevation profile from this morning, but when we stood at the foot of the climb staring up, we knew we were going to be in for a real challenge!

As you look at the following 2 photos, you will see a yellow bus making it's way up the serpentine road. First heading left to right, making a tight turn then at the next level, right to left.

Surely this was an optical illusion. We really weren't go up this route were we? There must be an alternate and easier way to the top? Double checking the route, yep that was the way to the top so off we headed.

We slowly climbed the hill. left to right, right to left. Some stretches were steeper than others and occasionally a car or large truck passing us by on the left. But we continued to climb. It was hard climbing but now impossible.

The above photo was shot about halfway up. I had stopped to take it, because after many turns, I thought that I was at the top. Then after the next turn, I discovered that I was only halfway. More climbing ahead!

When reaching the top, the following was the view, From this vantage point it was so steep that you couldn't see the road that we had climbed, only the view back down the valley.

Closer to the top, the road straightened out and continued to climb past a couple of ski resorts and you could see their cable cars and chair lifts reaching up to the edges of the valley on either side.

Above is Chris close to the top of the climb.

And me at the marker at the restaurant at the very top (1802 m / 5912 feet). Were we gathered to celebrate our success with a cup of coffee or two.

We still had a 20 km descent to our hotel that included some fast downhill, a long tunnel and finally some beautiful bike paths. A wonderful way to end a ride!

Tomorrow, we head into Italy. The weather is expected to be similar to today and the climbing will be significant, but maybe not as challenging as today. It's going to be another challenging day I expect.

Today's Photos

Brian

brian@coxintl.com

Day 9 - It's Like Riding On Butter

As a ride progresses, I'm often pondering what to tile the daily ride blog. Today it was pretty simple. Switzerland has the finest infrastructure that I have ever experienced, even better than the Netherlands. Every place you look, everything is designed well, works well and is maintained well.  Today while riding, many of the paved roads, even the paved back roads, were so smooth that it was like riding on butter. Just a pleasure to ride. You might also say that it was like being on velvet as you rolled on.

I'm told that the cost of living is expensive in Switzerland, but I guess you get what you pay for.

Oh let's talk about today's ride. Again the Epic Ride Weather made very accurate predictions of the ride conditions. Overcast and cool in the morning and as we made some climbs out of town, it started to warm up nicely. The high clouds hung around all day keeping the sun at bay. The amazing part of the predictions (check the lower left quadrant below) was the direction of the wind. It correctly predicted the direction of the wind that closely matched our route so that all day long the wind was pretty much to our backs.

As you can see in the elevation profile, the first half of the ride is where the primary climbing occurred. In particular, there were two short sections that peaked out at 13% and 15%. Needless to say, we were huffing and puffing at the end of each of the climbs.

We came across an unexpected wooden covered bride on one of the back roads. Though the route didn't go through the bridge, we just had to take a short diversion and ride back and forth through the bridge. We didn't measure the length of the bridge, but it could have easily been the length of 2 football fields long.

The last 20 miles we had a ball! looking at the above route, we were heading south, the wind to our backs and a flat well paved bike trail in front of us and we were just blasting!! We would spot slower riders in front of us and go sailing by them as if they were standing still. Under these conditions, you just don't want to ride to end.

Our stop tonight is in Feldkirch Austria, our fourth country on this tour. A great walking town that if we didn't have plans for tomorrow, it would be interesting to spend time exploring.

Tomorrow's ride will be the most challenging of the trip. Whereas, the most climbing we've done in a day so far is a bit over 3,000 ft, tomorrow will be over 5,000 ft. and some of that will be on gravel. I'm looking forward to reporting on the results. Until then, keep the shiny side up and the rubber side down.

Today's Photos

Brian

Brian@coxint.com

Day 8 - Mid-Ride Summary

As a mid trip summary, this has been a wonderful trip. Eduard has done a superb job for trip routing. Except for one rainy day, the weather conditions have been great. Cool  mornings with temperatures in the upper 60's to low 70's F. it would be hard to hope for better conditions.

The ride lengths are averaging close to 100 km / 62 mi which allows us to enjoy the day without being stressed for time.

Today was Sunday and a duff day. A day without any scheduled riding when you can get your clothes washed, bikes cleaned and for me, a chance to catch up on my blogging. I've been a bit slow with my daily updates, but that's mainly due to bad internet conditions. So today I've had the entire day to catch up on the blog. 

Some of the other riders went off to see a nearby monastery. While Chuck, Jan, Eduard and myself wandered off to a local cafe where we had a round of cappuccinos and pastries and watched the traffic go by. There must have been a car show in the vicinity, because every couple of minutes a classic American muscle car or European vintage sports car would come rolling through the circle and we would share stories of cars that we had owned, driven or wished that we had owned. 

After sunning ourselves for a while, we decided to have another round of cappuccinos and watch the traffic parade a bit longer as we chatted and solved all the world's problems. A real pleasurable way of spending and afternoon.

At 5 PM we were even able to take in a pipe organ concert at a nearby Catholic church, before taking off for dinner.

Doug washing his bike

I gotta tell you about the hotel that we're staying at, it's California themed with the rooms that have names that feel like home. Room names such as: Newport Beach, Santa Monica, Sierra Madre, Long Beach and Malibu.

You really don't recognize that while you are living in California and the United States the outsized influence on the world's couture, both good and bad. 

Oh well, tomorrow we're back on the road after an 8 AM breakfast and then it's off to what promises to be a great day of riding.

Today's Photos

Brian

 

Day 7 - All Together Now

 The final member of our team arrived last evening. Chris arrival was delayed until last evening. His mother was celebrating her 102nd birthday. So he arrived yesterday morning at CDG airport and after issues with his baggage, he took a train from Paris to Colmar. Jan picked him up and they arrived last night in Rheinfelden just in time for dinner.

This morning we departed in very chilly temperatures under blue skies. It was going to be the longest day of the tour (120 km) and the most climbing so far (3,795 ft / 1157 m).  After an 8 AM breakfast, we were on the road shortly after 9AM. We crossed the Rhine and took a group photo.

A bunch of happy cyclists off on our next adventure!

Left to Right: Eduard, Chuck, Brian, Jan, Doug and Chris

Crossing the Rhine, we left Germany behind and reentered Switzerland. Shortly after crossing the Rhine we encountered a challenging gravel road within view of the Rhine that required us to shift into our lowest gears and we climbed the short steep climbs occasionally kicking up gravel on the way.  We then worked our way through industrial sections and then found the Rhine again and started to follow the river.

We found our coffee stop at about 27 km into the ride when Jan spotted it just as we were zipping by. We were off again in about 30 minutes, crossing the Rhine into a fairy tail town with breathtaking views of the river. Exiting the town, we encountered some very steep climbs that left us breathless.

What another coffee stop? Don't these guys ever ride?

The entire day we pretty much followed our way along the Rhine with the goal of reaching the Rheinfall, a spectacular location of the a waterfall in the Rhine. A very popular tourist attraction. On the way our route required some cross country riding that included carrying our bikes and riding on some very rough ground before finding our way to the Rheinfall.

Not exactly what we had planned

Gotta take a photo after all the effort

Epic Ride Weather correctly predicted the riding conditions today including the headwinds, temperature and cloud cover.

Today's Photos

Brian

Day 6 - Three Countries In One Day

 Today was my opportunity to try out my new REI rain jacket that I had purchased specifically for this trip. In Los Angeles there really is much of a need for rain gear but I didn't want to get caught unprepared and as we left the hotel there was a light shower.  Today was going to be a metric century so off we went winding our way through Colmar. 

As you can see from Epic Ride Weather below, showers were predicted tapering off through the day. Light winds in the morning increasing through the day. Almost direct head winds and as our route shifted, turning into tailwinds at the end of the day.

We followed the city streets of Colmar for about 4 km until we landed on a tree lined crushed gravel bike path. Before too long, the rain stopped, clouds parted and the sun came out. Time for a clothing change. Removed my rain jacket, rolled it up tightly and stiffed it into one of the three rear pockets of my cycling jersey. 

About 17 km we crossed a drawbridge into the town of Neuf-Brisach, a fortified town surrounded by a now dry moat protected by fictitious characters.

Crossing into Neuf-Brisach

Protected by a bison

As well as a huge monkey

Our perfect cycling day cycling day consists of coffee, lunch, ice cream and finally beer. Today our coffee stop was 34 km miles into the ride at the small town of Fessenheim where we found a bakery. We munched on pastries and coffee on the street side tables and enjoyed the beautiful weather. What started out dreary and cool had now turned into a cycling day to remember.

Our route for today was taking us near the borders of 2 other countries in addition to the one that we are currently in, France. As we neared the city of Basel, we crossed into Switzerland and across the Rhine.

We followed the banks of the Rhine through Basel and stopped to enjoy the view, along with many of the residents of the city, of the wide fast moving river as it made it's way the the North Sea all the way in the Netherlands.

Viewing the Rhine from the banks in Basel

As enjoyable as the scene was and perhaps another coffee or a beer may have been, we decided that with 16 km remaining, we push on to our destination and third country, Rheinfelden Germany. As Epic Ride Weather has correctly predicted, we would experience a tail wind for the final stretch. Nothing is so nice as having the final set of miles to the destination as having either a tail wind or a downhill to finish your ride, and on the way, we crossed into the last country of the day Germany.

Final stretch home

In the United States, on occasion, you can travel three states in a single day, but to touch 3 countries is a rare treat.

We did have our beer after arriving at the hotel as we waited until Jan to arrive with our bags, but more about that tomorrow.

Today's Photos

Brian

Day 5 - Today, I'm Driving the Van

 No biking for me today. The rest of the team is heading to Colmar from Baccarat today and I've taken the van back to our hotel in Baccarat. I left my toiletry bag in Neufchateau and only discovered it after cycling to Baccarat. We had considered having the bag shipped to one of our future locations and discussed the difficulties of where to ship it to and such, when Mike suggested that I should just drive back today and meet the group in Colmar. It made sense. The group would get to Colmar, I would retrieve the bag and we would move the van forward to Colmar. As an added bonus, I would get a chance to drive for several hours in France.

Below is the weather forecast of the ride from Epic Ride Weather. As I had mentioned in a previous blog, The Epic Ride Weather app attempts to predict the ride conditions based on the ride route, as drawn from the RideWithGPS cycle routes plus weather forecast information in order to predict what you will experience during the ride.

The important part of the graphic today is in the upper right hand quadrant titled Precipitation and Cloud Cover. It has 3 trends shown: Cloud Cover %, Level of Intensity and finally Probability %. It shows that with the assumption that the group starts at 8 AM, there will be 90% cloud cover, a small probability of Precipitation and Intensity of Precipitation to be very light. So far, so good. But you move to 9:49 AM and you can see that the probability of Precipitation has increased to about 20% of light Precipitation. Finally moving to 11:39 AM the probability of Precipitation has increased to close to 40 with an intensity of moderate.

As the group left the hotel at 8 AM the sky was blue with some clouds, however as I was driving west to Neufchateau the rain was starting to hit the van by 8:45 AM and as I continued to drive the rain was increasing. I could imagine the effect the rain was on the riders.

The weather conditions did not dampen the spirits of the riders however. When they arrived at the hotel in Colmar at about 3PM they all commented how much they enjoyed the ride including the lunch stops at the peak of the climb and how exciting the long descent in to Colmar was.

Tomorrow we may have similar conditions so I'll be able to report first-hand this time tomorrow. 

Today's Photos (Courtesy of Eduard)

Brian

Day 4 - Gloomy Morning, Sunny Afternoon

 Woke up this morning to gloomy skies. The Epic Ride Weather app below had predicted that though there would be clouds, the chance of rain was zero and it was going be cool in the morning (low 50's) and warming up to the low 70's in the afternoon. With hopes that the app was correct, we headed out. Just in case, I brought my rain jacket along.

As you can see in the ride profile below, the ride started with a steep climb that quickly warm us up and off came the jackets. As we neared the top of the climb we could start to make out a bit of blue sky starting to appear. Maybe today was not going to be so bad. 

The down hill dropped us into a beautiful green valley with winding roads and small arched bridges that crossed streams that crisscrossed the valley. The valley was lightly populated with small family farms and seemed to be raising cows and sheep and occasionally some farming. 

It was on the valley floor that we could start to feel the wind. Heading directly East, the wind was giving us a very nice push and on occasion when a bend in the road would head us South, you could notice the difficulty of going against the wind.

We typically like to stop for a coffee about a quarter through the ride, but it was so lightly populated that we couldn't find a place to stop.

Jan was driving today and found a nice place in the small town of Charmes. It was likely the big city in the middle of the valley and we navigated to the center of town by following the reverse direction of the buses.

Following lunch we continued East and though there was still some climbing, the prevailing winds continued to sweep us along as the temperatures continued to rise as predicted by the weather app this morning.

We rolled into our destination, Baccarat, about 4PM and found the hotel. It's not much to look at, but the rooms are nice and as we found out later, the restaurant was way above average. We ate and lounged talking until 9:30 ish. A wonderful end to a great day on the bike.

Today's Photo

Brian

Day 3 - What a nice day to ride

A rain storm rolled through late last night leaving the air cool and crisp this morning. Cool enough, upper 50's, that many of the riders opted for jackets at the start. The sun felt good as we started to roll out. We quickly got on a canal bike path and followed it for miles and miles. The bike path was wide enough for riding 2 abreast and the surface was smooth asphalt and was a pleasure to ride as we went in and out of alternating sun and shadows under the overhanging trees.

Earlier this year we rode the Erie Canal in New York State and the ride was reminiscent of that tour. The width of the canal and construction of the locks was very similar to the earlier ride. If you look at the elevation profile you can see that the first 50 km (31 mile) followed the canal as it slowly gained elevation as we headed west.

As about 41 km (25 miles) it we came across a town that looked perfect for a coffee stop and we asked a local for a recommendation. We then head off to find the shop. The town, Saint Dizer, was the ticket. Excellent coffee and danish. Just what we were looking for. After the short break we continue on the bike path until our route left the canal and we started a long pleasant climb to a plateau where Chuck had scouted a restaurant with the van for lunch.

After lunch, the remaining ride along the plateau added to the elevation gain for the ride and occasionally the strong cross wind challenged us a bit, but the long downhill into town was an enjoyable way to end the day. 

Today's Photos

Brian 

Day 2 - Short Day For Me

 For this tour, our cycling group is pretty small, only 6 people. We have a six person van to move our equipment from location to location, so one of us needs to drive each day. Sometimes, one person will drive from the start of the ride to the end and some days we'll split the driving, one person in the morning and one person after lunch in the afternoon. We want everyone to get equal riding time, so depending on day we'll decide who will take the wheel. Today Mike volunteered to drive in the morning to lunch and I drove from lunch to the hotel.

The morning section of the ride was pretty fun. As we started out, we descended into a valley with vineyards stretching to the horizon. I just hope that my photos have captured the beauty of the views. As we were descending into the valley the laborers were just starting their day. Was pasted on group that were playing recorded music as they worked. So strange to be in this beautiful French countryside while hearing Jamaican reggae music in the fields. It just brightened my day.

The ride to the halfway point of 25 miles was fairly nice. Mostly on country roads and some other roads with a bit of traffic. The weather, unlike yesterday showed no indication of rain and the temperatures we in the low 70's for the most part.

After lunch, I took my turn at the wheel and drove the van to our hotel in Vitry-Le-Francois. 

The following chart is generated by a program called Epic Ride Weather. The phone app uses the route information generated by the routing program, RideWithGPS, and combines it with other information to predict the ride conditions of the day. As you can see, it shows the ride conditions (temperature, precipitation, wind direction and wind speed) for the ride. The information is pretty accurate.

Today's Photos

Brian

Day 1 - Biking Is Like A Box Of Chocolates

 You just never know what you are going to get on these bike trips. This morning we woke up to gray skies and while having breakfast a we noticed a drizzle outside. When the drizzle turned into a light shower, we decided to push off our start from 9 AM to 10ish hoping the precipitation would pass. Fortunately about 10 the showers did slow down and finally stopped.

We wanted to take advantage of the opportunity and by 10:30 we were out the door and on the road. Eduard had routed the ride along some very quiet roads and excellent bike paths. Our hotel was west of Paris by 10 to 20 miles and out in the country. The temperatures were great for cycling about 65 degrees (18 degrees celsius), some riders with jackets and others without. Even the wind was going the right direction.

On these cycling tours, each night we'll have reservations in a new location, so good weather or bad, we're going to ride or figure out some alternate way to get to the new location. Each breakfast is a discussion of the weather with each rider pulling out their cell phone all scanning the many weather apps to try to divine the conditions.

About 30 minutes into the ride the drizzle caught up with us. The drizzle was surprising pleasant. It was warmish and dried almost as quickly as it landed on you. You might even call it refreshing. The drizzle passed fairly quickly but the heavy cloud cover remained with at the edge of the horizon, it brightened a bit to with a promise of sunny skies that taunted us all day but never materializing.

As I said earlier, Eduard had routed the ride and sent the files to us to load into our GPS devices but we still got off course. Still, we were roughly heading in the correct direction but not actually following the planned course.

We rolled into our planned lunch stop in Montmirail. During lunch, after consulting the weather app, it announced that an incoming storm was arriving soon and bringing heavy rains with it. We had a decision to make, either to bolt out of lunch, pick up our pace and race the 27 miles to Gionges where our hotel was waiting or for the 6 of us to pile into the van, load 4 bikes into the van and 2 more bikes on the bike rack.

Four of us, decided to go for it and race to the motel. The route was fairly fast and we stayed on course. Along the way, we started to see signs indicating "champagne". A couple of more signs and we started to realize that we were heading directly into the Champagne region of France. First a couple of buildings with Champagne on the signs and then with out realizing it, we were in the middle of massive vineyard, as far as the eye could see. As an added bonus, it was picking season. You could see a large number of laborers in the fields and small white vans scurrying about. Take a look at the photo album link at the end of the blog entry.

Though we had slowed down to view the activity, we could sense the rain was on its way and we picked up our pace, it was only a couple of miles to the hotel and the race was on. As we turned into the hotel driveway, the raindrops were already hitting our faces. We stored our bikes away and the rain started to pour.

At the start of the day, we had anticipated a long cold wet slog. Instead, we enjoy a beautiful day on the bikes. Great roads, views galore and  to find ourselves in the middle of massive vineyards at the peak of picking season was not what we had expected of the ride while we were eating breakfast this morning. We were almost dreading a long cold day of dreary rain. How wrong we were. I guess biking is like a box of chocolates, you just never know what you are going to get.

Today's Photos

Brian

Almost Ready

This has been a great summer for cycling. This will be the third tour of 2025. 

In May / June I had taken a tour from Buffalo NY to Manhattan (tour blog), following the Erie Canal to Albany NY then South following the Hudson River on the Empire State Trail to Manhattan. A total of 10 days and covering 619 miles.

July, I joined the Lafayette Cavaliers to tour the Pacific Northwest (tour blog), starting and ending in Seattle. The tour was 13 riding days touring Bainbridge Island,  Olympic Peninsula and the San Juan Islands

Both of the above tours were leading up to this more ambitious tour. 

By the numbers

• 5 Countries
• 16 Cities
• 15 cycling days
• 876 miles total miles
• 58 miles daily average
• 75 miles longest day
• 46 miles shortest day

We'll be touring through France, Germany, Austria, Swaziland and Italy.   Friday (8/29/25) I will be flying from Los Angeles to Paris on Air Tahiti Nui direct to Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG) in Paris, arriving Saturday morning (8/30/25).

We'll be departing from our hotel in Sancy. The 4 star Château de Sancy hotel looks very inviting. 

Sunday will be our first day of riding. Below is the tour route. The tour itinerary is located in the this spreadsheet.

		Distance	El Gain
Day	Place of arrival	Mi	ft
A	Sancy (F)	-	-
B	Gionges (F)	58	2,597
C	Vitry-le-Francois (F)	46	1,066
D	Neufchateau (F)	68	2,911
E	Baccarat (F)	60	3,355
F	Colmar (F)	55	3,368
G	Rheinfelden(G)	60	1,293
H	Frauenfeld (Sw)	75	3,847
I	Feldkirch(A)	67	2,478
J	Strengen am Arlberg (A)	50	5,089
K	Glurns(I)	51	4,202
L	Bozen (I)	53	1,187
M	Rovereto (I)	54	2,200
N	Caselle di Sommacampagna	57	2,995
O	Montichiari (I)	54	2,524
P	Milano (I)	69	1,342
		876 Mi	40,454 Ft