Yet Another Cycling Forum
General Category => Rides and Touring => Topic started by: quixoticgeek on 24 October, 2017, 10:35:19 am
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Lovely tho cycling in the Netherlands is, I'm feeling the lack of hills. I'm planning a few weekends in Limburg and the Ardenne to get some hill training in, but I'm also pondering the idea of a long weekend in the mountains to really get some good hills in. I can get to Basel with a bike quite easily by train from Amsterdam. I'm wondering if anyone has some good recommendations for routes in the Swiss Alps where one can get the hang of this 'ole uphill thing...
Are there any Perm Audaxes down that way?
J
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While I have no doubt there will be hills to climb, why not go to Geneva? Far more options regarding hills.
Regards Perms, you can always DIY a route.
I cycled from Basel to Geneva and do recall quite a few hills on the route. Nothing in the league of grand passes visited by TdF or TdS, but sufficient to get the heart and head pumping. If you want routes in the Swiss Alps, you need to visit them and venture somewhat south of Basel.
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While I have no doubt there will be hills to climb, why not go to Geneva? Far more options regarding hills.
Because in terms of trains you can take a bike on, Basel is a lot easier to get to...
Regards Perms, you can always DIY a route.
I cycled from Basel to Geneva and do recall quite a few hills on the route. Nothing in the league of grand passes visited by TdF or TdS, but sufficient to get the heart and head pumping. If you want routes in the Swiss Alps, you need to visit them and venture somewhat south of Basel.
Shall Ponder the map some more.
J
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Can't you just time trial into the wind? That's the accepted alpine training in Essex as I understand it... none of this hill reps stuff as there is to long a cooldown between the start of the decent and the start of the climb...
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From Basel your best bet would be to go to the Schwarzwald. Not quite Alpine in scale, but there are still roads over 1000m and some long climbs up to them. If you really want to try an Alpine pass, you could probably ride to the Sustenpass and back in a long weekend, but there's a surprising amount of flat riding before you get there.
It's a good idea to try the Ardennen first, though. There are some excellent climbs there.
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My only experience of Swiss riding is 2 days of the marvellous Eiger Sanction perm, but:
Basel is right on the doorstep of the Jura.
(http://swiss-animals-plants-vegetation.all-about-switzerland.info/zones/map_swiss_alps_jura_mittelland.gif)
Very pretty area, obvs not as high as the Alps but some challenging climbs (Passwang!). Cheaper than the Alps, generally? (and many of the really high alpine passes are closed for half of the year anyway).
Nice to have options :)
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Can't you just time trial into the wind? That's the accepted alpine training in Essex as I understand it... none of this hill reps stuff as there is to long a cooldown between the start of the decent and the start of the climb...
I agree.
Riding into a stong headwind replicates the grind up a climb like Alpe D'Huez or the Galibier.
I did a lot of riding in Denmark while I was training for the Marmotte doing this.
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I agree.
Riding into a stong headwind replicates the grind up a climb like Alpe D'Huez or the Galibier.
I did a lot of riding in Denmark while I was training for the Marmotte doing this.
Given that this is the Netherlands, the idea of riding into anything other than a head wind is something of a foreign concept...
But for all the riding into the wind I do, sometimes it's nice to be able to actually go up a hill rather than just swear at the weather... Hence my thoughts of the odd weekend somewhere with contours...
J
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FWIW, I'm contemplating a jaunt to the Bernese Oberland, part an "all our yesterdays" visit (I spent some very pleasant time in Switzerland in years gone by), part the memory of the scenery, away for the stars (high up in da sky) like the jungfraujoch and Eiger. Away from the tourist zones there are some amazing places. Valleys, too.
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Your Basel train continues to Zürich. I quite enjoyed my weekend trip to Liechtenstein (https://www.strava.com/activities/239936593) from there a couple of years ago - there are some photos here (https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10100332542526134.1073741856.222305309&type=1&l=9d32c1f4b9), starting with 'Bad Egg'. I took the main road for the way back, which wasn't exactly exciting but it was winter and I wanted to get home - I'm sure you could work out a better way.
Seat61.com says you could change at Cologne and get the sleeper from there to Innsbruck. That's nicely in the high alps, so another potential option? Alternatively it's about 300 km from Zürich so I'd be tempted to do a linear weekend tour between the two cities.