Up and through the Brünig Pass

August 29, 2023

Another rainy day

Today was all about climbing and careful descents on wet pavement. We tried to conserve our power early on riding easy because we knew we were coming to a 7 mile climb of 2,000 feet at about mile 18. We all conserved enough power to make it over the Brünig pass pretty comfortably. But some of us did a lot of flat and downhill riding without power in order to make sure the charge would last to the very last uphill to the hotel. We don’t have many pictures of the uphills as we don’t want to stop and lose momentum, and of course, there is getting started again on a steep hill. Today the ride was on a mix of surfaces mostly pavement and some gravel and the pavement ranged from one lane country roads to busy two lane roads (only for a short distance).

Cresting the very top of the hill ready for the downhill to come!

Up some more… you might think by looking at it that this is a bike trail. Maybe even a quite narrow bike trail. But no, this is a road with traffic that goes both directions….

It was another day of fabulous views, bright green farmland, craggy mountains, lots and lots of waterfalls streaming down the sheer face of the mountains, and the Gleissbach falls a huge powerful tiered waterfall.

The Gleissbach waterfalls were amazing. They thundered down with so much power. The pictures can’t really capture how large and powerful they are.

The Gleissbach falls plunge down 14 steps on its way to the turquoise waters of Lake Brienz

Today we rode by three lakes, Lake Brienz, the Lungerersee, and the Sarnersee. After all this is the Swiss Lakes bike tour. We have seen lots of lakes.

We would ride around this lake and through the town on the shore.

The Sarnersee as seen from our hotel room

Travelers tip: Train stations are a great place to find a WC when you need one.

The second and main part of our route today including our big climb.

After a chilly wet ish ride the hotel’s warm pools felt wonderful, especially the indoor pool that was the warmest. We took full advantage of the lovely warm water.

Tomorrow we head for Lucerne, the last stop on our Swiss Lakes tour. We have an extra day in Lucerne and then it is on to Innsbruck and our next tour.

Today's ride: 37 miles (60 km)
Total: 576 miles (927 km)

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