Mountain Biking Again!

The big news of the week was getting my cast off! I went down to the hospital on Tuesday for another marathon visit. I initially got my cast cut off by an old guy with very steady hands and mini power saw. Next I got an x-ray and then had a tense wait as all the people in front of me emerged back out with new casts put back on bones that obviously hadn’t healed enough. To the doctor’s surprise I was all fixed and headed out quickly before the eager guys with the plaster got near me.

To celebrate we decided to go mountain biking in the Swiss Alps – but at a different spot this time. We left on Friday afternoon and headed up through the absolutely hideous San Gottardo Tunnel – 16km long! This dropped us into central Switzerland and some beautiful lake scenery.

We camped in Ennetburgen on the shore of Vierwalk-Statter See. We put the tent up, grabbed some tasty local beers (we are in the German part of Switzerland after all) and cooked dinner. Next day we drove 15mins to Stans and started the ride. Initially we ran along the valley through dairy farms then started to climb the valley wall. We climbed up through incredibly bright green pastures until we were 850m above the valley floor. Around us cows with huge bells grazed, farmers harvested the grass for winter and a great view opened up down the valley. The cowbell’s have different notes for each farmer to they can recognise their animals from a distance. We were amazed to see the enormous bells at one farm that featured a very deep, bass cowbell.

At the top of the climb we traversed across on some nice singletrack that wound in and out of forest all while looking down on the valley far below. We then went through a small town of Niederrickenbach and started a long descent back to the valley floor. A short ride back along returned us to Stans. It was a good ride to start back on – beautiful sunny day, nice trails, good scenery and no super technical trails. I wore a brace and had no trouble with my wrist. Also the hours on the wind trainer had paid off as my legs felt strong on the climb.

We grabbed some cheese and bread and sat overlooking the town square for a late lunch. That night we camped higher up the valley at Endelberg as we were thinking about a ride up there on Sunday. However, Kath’s background cold got worse overnight so we skipped the ride and instead took a scenic route home via Andermatt, Brigel, Thun and the San Bernardino Pass. Rather than take the tunnel we drove up and I rode down the other side with Kath following in the car. It was a nice way to appreciate the scenery without much pedaling!