September 21, 2023
To Furka or not to Furka?
that is the question....
It was tough getting up this morning. Not enough sleep + jetlag = attactive bed! But we did it, checking the weather the very first thing. No change - rain, rain, rain. Andermatt was 94%, and Urlichen (our destination) was 99%. Ouch. Marjory says "even if it was safe riding in the rain, what would you see?". The devil on my shoulder talking. Nonetheless, we get up and packed and went to breakfast with plan D (or E). We would put on rain gear and start biking up the pass, stopping when the rain got really bad and come back to Andermatt, taking the train to Ulrichen (tail between our legs).
Andermatt is small, and cute.
Quite a bit of interesting street art.
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So we leave most of our bags in the hotel, and start riding towards Realp (10 km) which is the true start of the ascent. Its not raining hard (as you can see in the photos), but is spitting ranging to mist at times. Quite a bit of traffic, which Marjory does not like at all. Big trucks and tourist buses abound. We make the turn...
... and I have to admit I get a bit of a charge out of just seeing the name. It is cold, windy, and rainy but I have such a big smile on my face. At least we can do part of it!
Marjory however, was having none of it. Vehicles whizzing by, and I think the bridge with no shoulders and a 30m drop on the side did her in. She decided the hotel would be a nice place to wait till I came to my senses. I went on, just passing this fellow you see above on his S-Works road bike.
I started climbing, and saw the sign I was looking for.
Well, if that isn't encouraging, what is? The clouds looked forboding, and it was still raining (ref. see atmospheric evidence above), but I still had that silly grin pasted on. And then I saw the beginning switchbacks of the pass way in the distance....
It as at this point that I thought I might do it. At least till it started pouring, right? After a couple of switchbacks, I saw a roadside pullout with a plaque.
Looking out over the town of Realp, there is a tribute to James Bond who helped make the Furka Pass so famous to us modern folk. From the movie Goldfinger, where Connery races up and down the road.
4 minutes excerpt from Goldfinger
I called Marjory to tell her I was going for the top. If Sean can do it, damn it, so can I. Oh wait, didn't he have a car? So all those hairpin turns in the movie? Yep.
About this time I caught up with that young fellow on the S-works bike, and we biked together all the way to the top.
We still had to see "the Belvedere", a storied hotel which has not been open for many years, but it is a milestone anyway. Dennis (my fellow biker) and I stopped for a coffee, as the wind whipping up here had us rather chilled.
We are drinking the coffee when he casually mentions he still has 120km and 2 more passes to do today. I almost spit up my drink.
Then its a pic of the famous hotel, and continue our descent.
Its at this point where you get a good look at the way down. Roughly similar to the ascent in nature, it is, however, orders of magnitude easier to go down than to climb! My bike doesn't really get going too fast, so I mainly had to brake only for the turns. It seemed to take as long to go down as it did to go up!
Finally I make it to Ulrichen, check in to the hotel, then train back to Andermatt to pick up Marjory and the panniers and bring them all to this stop. A nice dinner and local wine went down way too easily. We will be forced (!) to sleep in tomorrow as it is going to rain until 11 am. Sound good to me! And I still have that smile as I go to sleep.
Today's ride: 44 km (27 miles)
Total: 45 km (28 miles)
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Great picture, Marjory, of the 2 AM moonlight. How can you both stay awake that late???
7 months ago
It sounds like you are off to a very good start. I love the way you are roughing it with the food and wine.
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