Cycling Sattelegg & Etzel - October
With a lovely warm autumn day forecast, and in lieu of a barbecue by the lake, Tom and I headed off to squeeze in a loop of Sattelegg and Etzel on Sunday morning.
I had a gentle run down to Rapperswil where Tom and I met up. We then we headed over the lake and up the hill, following Tom’s flawless memory of the route [cough]. We took the quieter route up Sattelegg via Stalden, before joining the main road at Sonne. The main climb is still very pleasant - fairly steady but not too steep and with quite a lot of shade on a very warm autumn morning. Unfortunately yours truly forgot the the climb continues for quite a while past the switchbacks, so the last 3km & 250m of ascent were a bit tougher than I expected. Don't catch yourself out by being too enthusiastic!
From the peak it's the usual cracking descent, with the usual and noticeable chill in the shaded bowl. We continued along the side of the Sihlsee, then via Egg and climbed over Etzelpass before dropping down to Pfäffikon and back over to Rapperswil. I took a gentle ride back along the lake-side to finish off a lovely day. Overall it was about 110km with 1,200m of ascent/descent. A good stretch of the legs on a Sunday morning...
Cycling Aarau - August
Many thanks to Luis for hosting another great lad's night. The weather forecast was good, so I took the opportunity to cycle there and back.
I took the same route as in 2021, and managed to fix most of the minor navigational errors this time. The forecast turned out pretty reliable, and the weather was kind to me. I caught a bit of rain leaving Wohlen, but it only lasted 10 minutes and I was dry by the time I reached Lenzburg.
I took it fairly easy on the ride. My bike was heavily loaded and I wasn't in any particular rush. The 60-ish kms and 600m of climbing took me about 3 hours, at a steady and gentle pace.
On Sunday I cycled back the same way in better weather - bright sunshine the whole way, but not too hot in the early Autumn conditions. My bike was lighter, but I wasn't any quicker, owing to an excellent lad’s night...
Cycling Greifensee with Sevi - June
It was a lovely day - bright and sunny - so Sevi and I decided fairly spontaneously to head out for a spin to see if the legs still worked.
We met in Küsnacht and decided to go see the Greifensee. We headed along the lake front until Meilen then headed over the hill and via Mönchaltorf to the Greifensee. We decided to go the long way round the lake, and all the way back to Maur, then heading up the hill to Hinteregg and further on up the Forch rampe, through Zumikon then finally dropping back down to Küsnacht.
We were treated to great views over the Zurisee on the way up from Meilen, and then lovely views over the Greifensee on the way down from Egg and up from Maur. It was a lovely route on an awesome day, and great to get out cycling.
Overall it was about 50km for the loop with 565m of ascent / descent and took us about 2 hrs 10, without really stopping except to fill up water bottles. A really good route that we must remember for the future.
Buchenegg & Albispass - May
Trying to convince myself that summer was here, I headed out for a cycle ride on Ascension. The chosen route was a variation on the classic Buchenegg & Albispass route that Shep showed me two years ago.
The weather wasn't quite as warm as had been forecast, but it stayed dry all the way albeit a little chilly on the descents. The roads were pretty quiet for the public holiday, with only a few pleasure riders out - in particular the motorbikes enjoying the passes. I made good progress up Buchenegg and scared myself a little on the descent (oops), and then continued up to Aeugsterberg. Unfortunately the Rigi and Pilatus were not visible, but fortunately Shep wasn't there to make me to do the loop again! From Aeugsterberg I headed down and then up over Albispasshöhe and then took a slightly longer route back to town.
For me this is one of the good rides in easy distance from Zürich centre without getting on public transport, and I'm very grateful to Shep for introducing me to the area. The ride up Buchenegg is very nice (as climbs go) - a steady gradient all the way, not too much traffic and a bit of a mix of shade and views. Overall it was about 45km with 760m of ascent & descent and took me about 2 hours 15 going at a pretty enthusiastic pace.