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Background/preparations
The club tour of the Free-Bikers Sonthofen is an integral part of the annual activities. Every year we have to think about it anew: Where to?
Since for me personally Switzerland - in its entirety - is the most beautiful thing there is in the Alps, I have always had the desire to plan a club tour to Switzerland. But unfortunately Switzerland is also known for the fact that it is quite expensive there!
So I started a search in the various Swiss motorcycle forums for a cheap place to stay in Switzerland. I found it in the Töff-Forum (http://www.toeff-forum.ch). Already after 2 hours I got the decisive answer:
"With the forum I have been several times in Meiringe ide Jugi gsii. Häsch Brünig, Grimsel and Suschte just around de Egge and the hostel is great. Netti lüüt where there is a real mega fill of tire with wetness etc.http://www.simons-herberge.ch/ the isch dHomepage... 32nd - with breakfast, hand it is a super buffet. Znacht choschtet 13th, is just as good as in the Reschti eifach chasch naaschöpfe"
Since Meiringen is simply ideal as a starting point, I immediately sent an e-mail and promptly received a confirmation - BINGO!!!
So off to Switzerland!
More precisely: To the Bernese Oberland! (For me the most beautiful region of the whole Alps!)
Date 7 - 10 June 2007 (the Corpus Christi weekend - as usual!)
Finally 8 riders (Karin and Gü, Mäggi and Toni, as well as Werner, Remo, Reinhard and Stefan) contacted the club, who wanted to ride with Petra and me. 14 days before departure Reinhard dropped out for professional reasons and we started with 6 motorcycles and 9 persons - sorry 7 motorcycles and 10 persons to Switzerland, because Hannes wanted to accompany us to Meiringen and then to the Lake Geneva.
The weather forecast was very mixed! Sunshine, thunderstorm, rain etc. - take your pick! What the heck - let's go!
Start was - as always - at 9 o'clock.
The weather was dry, but the clouds covered the mountains.
First we went via Altstädten to Fischen and up to the Riedbergpass (1420 m) via Hittisau and Lingenau to Alberschwende and Dornbirn. From there to Au in Switzerland. Here we had to stop for gas and made a short arrangement whether we should take the planned route through the valley to Altstätten and then to Appenzell, or the somewhat longer but much more beautiful one via St. Anton, the Ruppenpass (1003 m) and Trogen. The more beautiful variant was chosen and we also went up to Oberegg and on to Appenzell in a wonderful rush of curves.
From there finally via Urnäsch to Bächli and Hemberg, where lunch was served in the restaurant Hörnli (highly recommended because of the price/performance ratio!).
Then we went on to Wattwil. Over the Rickenpass (794 m) we reached the lake of Zurich in Rap-perswil. After the lake, we turned right and then left again and the path led us up to the saddle (932 m). As we wanted to go to Arth am Zuger-See I followed the signs to Zug and was promptly wrong! After 3 km we reached the Ägerisee and turned back. Via Steinerberg (with wonderful views down to the left onto Lake Lauerzer) we reached Lake Zuger, which we drove along the southern shore and then reached Lake Lucerne at Küssnacht. At the entrance to Lucerne a short photo stop and we were ready to go on. But as my passengers expressed the wish for a coffee break I turned off directly after the Reuss bridge and we parked the motorcycles. The old wooden bridge over the Reuss, which burned down years ago and was rebuilt, is simply beautiful! We crossed it and sat down on the other side of the river for a coffee.
At the entrance to Lucerne a short photo stop and we were ready to go on. But as my passengers expressed the wish for a coffee break I turned off directly after the Reuss bridge and we parked the motorcycles. The old wooden bridge over the Reuss, which burned down years ago and was rebuilt, is simply beautiful! We crossed it and sat down on the other side of the river for a coffee.
After this pause, we should continue. Everyone got on their machines and was ready to go. Unfortunately not Stefan! Nobody knew what was going on and we stood 10, 15, 20 min in the heat and "sweated away". It turned out that Stefan had lost the key for his helmet lock! He went back and searched again, but in vain.
Hannes said goodbye to us here, because it took him too long. He drove directly (via the motorway) to Lake Geneva to meet some friends.
But we had no choice but to drive to the next gas station (which was not reached until Hergiswil) and look for suitable tools to "free" the helmet. Fortunately he has a flip-up helmet and a small Allen key solved the problem.
Then we went on, along the Vierwaldstätter See, in the direction of Sarnen. Although it looked a lot like rain, fortunately it didn't fall! Via Sarnen and the Sarnen lake we reached the Lungern lake and the Brünig pass (1008 m) and finally Meiringen our destination.
The Simons-Hostel was quickly found and the rooms could be occupied. The rooms are simple and rustic and offer little comfort, but are - by Swiss standards - very affordable!
Here we still met Fred from Frechen (near Cologne), who wanted to go on the two day trips with us (I had arranged this with him beforehand, after he had contacted me via my homepage).
For dinner (13 Francs, that's almost 9 €) we had sliced meat, rösti and salad, as well as a small dessert - everything tasted very good. In addition, Stefan returned the favour for the "sauna" in Lucerne with a "cool round".
Here are more photos of the 1st day
After breakfast we could start at 9:15 am.
4 passes with more than 2000 meters altitude were on the program and the weather was playing along! From Meiringen we went first to Innertkirchen and then up the wonderful route to the Grimsel Pass (2165 m). Past the Räterichsbodensee and Grimselsee we went up to the top of the pass - simply a wonderful motorcycle route!
At the top we wanted to go further up to Oberaarsee, but unfortunately the small road was closed due to construction work! The 6 km long private road (toll-free) is open from the pass summit on the hour for 10 min and the return trip is also possible on the half hour for 10 min - so it is necessary to adjust the schedule accordingly (we had done so - that's why the tour starts at 9:15 am!) in order to be able to enjoy this charming side trip with wonderful views of the Oberaar glacier, the Finsteraarhorn (4274 m) and the Lauteraarhorn (4042 m).
Since we could not treat ourselves to this delicacy, we went straight down to Gletsch. The clouds in the north closed up a little bit and we made our way further.
The way downhill offers great views to the Rhône glacier and the Furka pass road. Arrived in Gletsch we turned right and reached Ulrichen.
There the road branches off up to the Nufenenpass (2478 m). As usual on my tours, "free driving" was the order of the day again. This has proved to be very successful, because then everybody can decide for himself whether he wants to drive up comfortably or quickly. Everybody gets his money's worth and doesn't have to wait for others or be rushed (depending on that).
After the photo stop at the top of the pass we went down to Airolo - also here "free riding". I myself took it easy and enjoyed the scenic impressions.
In the valley I met the others again and we could go up to the St. Gotthard pass (2108 m). For this we used the old Tremola route, which with its 24 tightly superimposed hairpin bends - mostly cobbled - demands good riding skills! However, the route is simply a MUST if you are travelling in Central Switzerland!
After the stop at the top of the pass we went down to Andermatt.
Here I had a "special" experience even then:
I had to fill up the tank and stopped at the gas station at the entrance of the village. A few bikers from Austria were still in line and then I wanted to refuel. I took the nozzle and wanted to fill up - nothing happened. Then the young gas station attendant came, took the nozzle away from me again and filled up with another Austrian who belonged to the other group. Then I - again nothing. He asked whether I wanted to pay in cash or by credit card - credit card my wish. "Then you must enter your PIN here". "But you can't do that with a German card!" "The Germans are always causing problems!"
A lot of back and forth and I suddenly wanted to pay cash! Petra asked him if he didn't like Germans - NO he didn't like! "We'll go back on Sunday" "Yes, but the Germans are always here!" Here we go. He looked strange when I tried to fill it up myself, but he let me go. 41,20 francs had to be paid (the Pan-European has a big tank!) He took the change from the cash register and wanted to give it to me. Thereby (intentionally?) a part fell on the floor. I picked it up and he gave me the rest, no not quite(!), he wanted to keep the tip! But as I didn't agree with that, he reluctantly gave me the rest of the money as well.
Okay, I will avoid this gas station on my future tours in Switzerland, by the way, I can advise all other German motorcyclists to do the same! Because if someone doesn't want my money, I don't want to force it on him!
From Andermatt we went down to Göschenen (1106 m). Here the small but fine road branches off up to Göscheneralp (1797 m). A detour that can only be recommended to everybody. Also the others enjoyed the beautiful - lonely - ride up and with a cup of cappuccino the previous impressions could be processed. Afterwards we went up to the Göscheneralpsee for a short while - a wonderful view in a magnificent high mountain landscape!
Back to Göschenen we continued our trip to Wassen. Here the road branches off to the Sustenpass (2224 m). Also - like the other passes of Central Switzerland - a wonderful mo-torcycle track, on which it is simply fun to "surf curves"!
After a short stop at the top of the pass we went downhill again. Passing the Steingletscher and over great curve combinations we arrived back in Innertkirchen.
From there we didn't go back to Meiringen directly, but shortly before we turned left into the Reichenbachtal to the Schwarzwaldalpe / Rosenlaui. At the end point (Schwarzwaldalpe) we decided to visit the Rosenlaui glacier gorge. A path of about 500 meters over steep steps, wet from the spray, leads through the narrow gorge, where the meltwater from the Rosenlaui Glacier flows and where the walls are partly 70 to 80 meters high. Simply gigantic! An impressive natural spectacle!
After this detour we finally went back to Meiringen and a nice day came to an end in a comfortable round!
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