As the summer continues on so did the adventures. Ian and I had spent a few days in recovery from the riding in France and were primed for another big day. Laura and Tyler had rolled back into town and also were both looking for some big miles and big hills. I had just the ride for them. The Col du Sanetsch is the last possible road that will allow you to connect from the Rhone valley back to the Gstaad (North of the Bernese Alps) until The Grimsel Pass nearly 70 km further. The ride starts out pleasant enough. The usual 16 km descent into Aigle is followed by 50 km of flat Rhone Valley riding. The best part is that there is almost always a tail wind allowing you to pedal along at 35 km/hr pace with seemingly minimal effort. It makes you feel like superman (or superwoman.)
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| Tyler on the downhill from Leysin |
So down the valley we sped. Stopping for lunch and having just a great time. In the town of Saxon we stopped at a Denner for a snack. Ian and Tyler, both battling aches and injuries, wanted some Ibuprofen. We couldn’t find any in the store but there was a pharmacy across the street. Laura went over there to ask for some. Her conversation started in French but soon switched to English. She simply stated that she wanted some ibuprofen for a headache. Upon hearing this the girl at the counter ran back to get her supervisor, who proceeded to interrogate Laura. How did she know about this drug? What was she going to do with it? It was like she was trying to buy the ingredients for meth. Flustered and confused Laura quickly left.
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| Hairpin Turn |
We rolled on to Sion the good times continuing. The flat riding prompted many a manly displays of sprint challenges, where one of us would try and run away from the others by suddenly accelerating. The others would give chase and then the game would as quickly end. For Laura I am sure it was like hanging out with three rabid bull moose. After a few exciting traffic circle mishaps in the heavily commercialized outskirts of Sion we left the flats and the fun and started up the hill climb.
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| Hill Climb |
The two features of the Sanetsch Hill climb that make it particularly tough is that it is long (even by Swiss standards) and steep. It is many little climbs stretched out into one massive 28 km stretch. It starts off with a long winding ascent past the towns of Sensine and Saviase that over look Sion. The traffic was light but noticeable. At the 10 km mark the Route de Sanetsch begins. It is a great cycling route since it is a dead end road, just leading to the top of the Col. The only traffic is tourists and the few residents of the sparse valley, so it is occasional and light.
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| Tyler and Ian on the other side of a 0.8 km tunnel on the ride. |
This was Tyler’s first time riding in Switzerland, but he showed remarkable strength in the mountains. While most people’s first ride in the Alps ends with them past out on the road halfway up the climb, Tyler was going strong. Of course I fancy myself a good climber and was determined not to let him out ride me. Much like the valley sprinting below there would be some unseen signal and I would turn on the climbing jets. Tyler would then ride with me and I could tell (or I just made it up) that the competition was on. I remember in one stretch when I was really proud of myself because I thought that I had dusted him severely only to turn around and see him a few seconds behind me. This game played out over the course of the climb probably a half dozen times. In the end it is true I was probably the stronger climber, but given that I lived and trained in these mountains it would not have taken Tyler long to claim that title from me if he lived here too.
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| Tyler looking too happy for just having ridden 28 km uphill. |
Ian had been traumatized by the climbing. A very strong rider in the flats, low grade inclines, and an excellent sprinter, he had met his match in the mountains. Being a large and strong rider is great until you start doing long climbs. I am pretty sure that Ian spent a large amount of the 3 hour climb wishing for a quick and sudden death. That being said he had acquitted himself well on a group ride a few days earlier with me, Steve, Mike, and Tom but those where on the shorter more manageable climbs of the Forclaz and Voettes, but a 5 km climb is very different from this long slog. Long climbs are so mental. You go from hope and confidence, to fatigue and pain, to dread and fear, finally ending up in complete misery the only solace is believing that the at next bend the end of the climb will appear, but sadly that never seems to happen.
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| The face says it all. |
Laura would claim that it is crazy to ride with me. I am the master at underestimating, case in point I thought that this climb was about 20 km it turned out to be 28. Also I tend to quickly forget steepness and suffering. None the less she continues to agree to riding with me making me wonder if she is really the crazy one. Even though she complains, threatens and curses, she grinds her way up these monsters as apt as anyone else I ride with. At one point we were riding together and she had just discovered that my 20 km was not true. I think it was when 23km into the climb we passed a sign saying 6km to the top. Laura likes to know how far she needs to go uses that goal to get her to the top. Having her hopes dashed on nearly being finished by the sign was too much for her. After a few furious “I hate you” I rode on ahead deciding it was probably better for someone else to keep her company.
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| Laura. Probably thinking about horrible things she wanted to do to me. |
The top of the Col de Sanetsch is non descript. The first time I did the ride I rode right past the summit. It is a sign and a small three sided roofed structure. At over 2200 meters it is freezing cold and I got there and stopped to wait for the others. Quickly they arrived for a brief celebration / sigh of relief. From there you ride down the other side of the col for 3 km round a lake to a small tourist area. It is all downhill or slightly level. I had taken off first but I soon spied Ian in back of me. Back on the flats I knew that he was gunning for a stage victory in the last stretch. I recklessly pedaled down the twisting road and did my best to pound on the flats. Ian was gaining on me, but I was undaunted. The last 500 meters are a super steep hill and upon reaching this I zipped up it as quick as I could. Ian was no match and had to settle for second.
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| Laura on the steep finish. |
Getting back down to the Gstaad valley is one of the most unique features of this ride. On top of a hill there is a metal shack. Inside this shack is the other end of a telecabine. We stood awkwardly at the door. A phone rang. I answered in German, and a man told us to go in the lift was ready. We put our bikes on hooks in the back of the lift and got in. This lift is about the most outrageous one I have been on (and I live in Europe.) It swoops down two huge drops where it looks like the lift wire is vertically below you. Usually sitting in a lift is a mellow experience but this was more exciting than many amusement park rides. The lift brings you to the tiny town of Gsteig. When we exited the operator speaking German, French, and English simultaneously barked commands at us about where to put our bikes and ushered us to the cashier window. There the same guy gave us our tickets. I tried to just walk out the gate to get my bike after I had paid, but he freaked out and insisted that I walk around through the whole turnstile system, swiping my ticket to exit. It was very bizarre and confusing but so is the land of the Swiss (see pharmacy incident a few paragraphs before.)
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| Our bikes suspended many hundreds of feet above the ground. |
At Gsteig we found a small grocery store. The col du Sanetsch ride is devoid of snack shops and stopping midway up the climb for a long restaurant meal is not a good option. So we had pushed through our hunger to this point. There, like a flash flood destroying a town, we descended into the store buying many francs worth of meat, cheese, bread, chips, chocolate, and fruits. Lounging on the warm pavement outside of the shop we had a glorious picnic, gorging ourselves to regain the many calories lost on the climb. Still to come though was the 6km climb up the Col du Pillion, a formidable climb in its own right. Our tired legs slowly churned their way up to the top. Then down again to Les Diableret and back to Sepey.
The final climb to Leysin was all that remained. It is such a challenge after every ride to have to finish with the Sepey - Leysin hill climb. At 4 km long it amounts to a serious climb in nearly every cyclist book but for us it was the rite of passage that finished most rides we do. Of course it is steep. The only salvation is that in having done it so many times you can play the landmark game with yourself. Ticking off each mini sections makes the whole seem more bearable. At the top we arrived at the Lower Sporting section. We missed the cog by about 2 minutes to use the village station to go back to the belle epoche. This means another 3 km of steep climbing to home at the very top of the village of Leysin, but in the end it was a fitting finish to the day.
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| Paul. Hero or Villian? |
