training
gotthard
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The way we had planned the
whole thing, it looked like we would be on the road for about 16 hours
including breaks. If all went well, we where supposed to reach Lugano at
9 PM.
François lives near Lugano. He came to my place in Zurich the night before, and so did Cristoforo. Adrian decided to start from Boppelsen an hour before on the very day. On July 21, at 5 AM, we where ready. The previous days had been cool and rainy, but the forecast for this Friday was good. We had to put on our jackets for the first few hours. |
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We got to Brunnen around 8 AM and took a breakfeast break. Adrian found the speed much too high and asked us to ride on, while he would try to find his own rythm, and maybe take the train in Airolo. He hadn't had any bike training in the spring, although he was generally in good shape (mostly running). Since we where afraid to run too much behind schedule, we agreed, and left him behind. |
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After Amsteg the road started going uphill. Cristoforo needed to adjust his bagpack on his special bike. During the break this required, Adrian passed by. We soon passed him again, but it looked like he might manage. François reached Göschenen about 15 minutes before the rest of us, and Adrian was last... but not least. We had spaghetti for dinner and left at 12:30, still exactly according to the plan. I had some problems with my knee, and they didn't disappear during the break. |
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The Schöllenen between Göschenen and Andermatt was rather steep, and Cristoforo soon fell behind. It looked like that special kind of bike was great for flat and downhill, but had some serious drawbacks uphill. Adrian, François and I quickly pulled ahead, each at his own pace. I stuck with François for a long time, he rode just like in the last tour: Constant high speed. A few miles before the Gotthard I couldn't stand the pain any longer and decided to speed up, so I would be able to take a longer break at the top. I reached Gotthard at 12:35, the others came in by and by. Cristoforo was last at 15:00 sharp, which was the exact time we had planned. |
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The weather was absolutely great. Not too hot, but sunny and blue sky. We enjoyed the break. There was a bit of party atmosphere, with music and an outdoor sausage stand. The guy eating his sausage at the table beside ours showed up to be Adrian's doctor, they only recognised each other after sun glasses were taken off. |
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Jump on the bikes - and here comes the knee pain again. Well, at least it didn't hurt more when I rode faster, so I could as well go for it. Cristoforo pointed out that we should never leave the new road down to Airolo. The pavement of the old road would inevitably kill our super light race bikes. But of course Cristoforo quickly left us behind. We passed the first exit, although the continuing road carried a freeway sign. The second exit was more explicit: No bicycles allowed to continue. But we had Cristoforos words in our ears, and rode on. After a few hundred meters it was clear that this road was not going to lead us to Airolo. As a matter of fact, we were on the freeway (Autobahn) now. Our only choice was to stop and climb over the 2.50 m high fence and find the road to Airolo. |
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François set the pace again, and it was pretty high. My knee was hurting bad, and I was thinking of taking the train in Bellinzona instad of climbing Monte Ceneri. After Biasca we took a break, and that helped some. There was a lot of traffic on the old Ceneri road, because of an accident on the freeway. A little after half way up I stepped on the pedals to find out how much reserves I still had. I raced to the top, which allowed for a longer rest on Ceneri. Once again Cristoforo had to fight gravity lying on his sofa (see below :-), but he made it alright. |
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We reached François' office in Bioggio (near Lugano) at 9:15, only 15 minutes after the original planning. We were glad to be there, but to be true, not quite bottomed out. After a shower we dined and wined in the beautiful house of Catherine and François until way past midnight. To all the participants, thanx a lot! It was great fun riding with you! A special thank you goes to Catherine and François for expressing their hospitality once more and thus facilitating one of our crazy adventures. |
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