Today I went for an impulsive bike ride in the mountains. Well, actually I can better say hills, because the lake here is surrounded by mountains, and these were more of the smaller versions of that. In super flat Holland we would call them mountains, in this region they are like speed bumps ;)
If I would be making gigantic bike tours, I would have made every rookie mistake there is.
Because I decided to go out late in the afternoon, I was carrying only a liter of water some nuts, half a bread and a beer. Not exactly your survival style food, but for this kind of cycling this was not necessary.
Also I wasn’t really prepared on the distances, I was more like an observational tour. And for this behalf that was perfectly fine. See what is cool here in Switzerland, is that you are allowed in the train and in the bus with your bike. That really does make your choices a lot easier, because IF you are too far and your get tired or whatever you just go over to public transportation.
That is not the deal if you are in the far, far mountains of course, but in the city region this works perfect. So that was my reasoning also a bit for not preparing anything and just seeing how far I would reach.
Some art in Lucerne in the park
More art in Kussnacht
Now I know you all find me a pussy
But I have an E-bike. Yes, one of those battery things that make your life easy. And I can tell you I was more than happy with it today. So in general I am biking with the battery not activated or in the lowest mode. But when I have to go uphill I crank it up a bit, and all of a sudden uphill is not such a disaster anymore. Yes, you still have to have those legs rolling, and especially uphill you feel that you are being helped but you still have to do it by yourself.
What route did I take?
It was not exactly this, but at least you have an idea of the lap
I followed the North coastline of the Vierwaldstattersee, that is the lake where Lucerne or Luzern is also based at. Going past Meggen I ended up in Kussnacht. This is an idyllic small town in the corner of the lake as well. I saw some nice boat rental thingies and chill spots so I relaxed a bit deciding on what to do next. Either I could go way further and take a train back, or I could cycle back. Also there in where choices: going back the same way or going more into the land. I decided to head home but take the new route.
And here is where the love for an E-bike comes in. Because the road was steep up! And google maps doesn’t tell you that. Yes there are apps and mapps that DO tell you that, but I didn’t check those. I just went.
So this ended up being a super nice route home between the fruit fields, and small villages and if I had taken this one with a normal bike without a battery I really would have died along the way, hahaa. So hurray for batteries!
Pears on the trees!! In a couple weeks ready to pluck
I really liked this bike trip
A totally different scenery in the hills, the wind was different as well
Back in the days in Holland I would have a tremendous hatred for cycling, because it was always against the wind and in rain. But actually when the weather is nice and you have a battery as a back-up for when the going gets tough, it is really a nice thing to do as an activity.
Next time, the south side of the lake!
Since I have this E-bike now, I will be writing more about my cycling journeys. That is why this blog is called part 1. More will follow!
