Eurovelo 15 - Day 1 - Oberalpass to Carrera

First day nerves kept me awake most of the night plus the Swiss penchant for soft pillows! Actually no, not pillows, more like mini donnas for your head.

I packed and repacked my panniers for the 12th and 13th times this trip and I was yet to pedal. It was 8.00am by the time I got away ... I had hoped to get away early in case any of the Sunday drivers were actually unemployed, and instead of being back at their desks on this Monday morning, thought they'd have another crack at the F1.

As I gained speed down the chicane finding its way down the valley I remembered that I, not known for my mechanical skills, had reassembled the bike out of a cardboard box that had travelled halfway around the world only two days earlier ... and I hadn't yet been for a test ride. Brakes don't fail me now! I quickly pulled back on my trusty (hopefully) steed and began a more sedate pace while listening for creaks or cracks.

 

I was to follow Mike Wells Rhine River Route from his book of the same name. It also enabled me to download his GPX files to my Komoot app and then onto my GPS. Most of the trip was meant to be downhill or flat ... however, I did happen to find hills (certainly more than I'd hoped for). I rode through the picturesque villages of Sedrun and Tujetsch searching for a bakery or coffee shop only to find many shops closed on Mondays after the weekend trade ... poor planning on my part.

 

Although a beautiful day it obviously gets very cold in winter. A spring pastime seems to be cutting wood for winter heating. Some go to a lot of trouble to disguise wood piles.

 

 

When I arrived at Disentis Muster, Mr Wells, in his wisdom, took the reader/rider off-piste all the way to the end of my first day's planned stop of Ilanz. The route followed close to the Rhine through the foothills and generally on the opposite side to the busy roads and traffic. Most of the route is gravel and mostly well-formed however after the rain of the previous days it was a bit muddy in places. You wouldn't ride this with a normal road bike ... my hybrid went well however fully loaded with panniers made it challenging in places. A heavy load and loose gravel make a bad combination ... I came to a sudden stop when a lost rider stopped suddenly in front of me and to miss him I braked hard. Too hard it seemed as I took a spill at all of about 5 kms an hour. The bike and rider are fine with a slightly grazed knee. I was about to ask for insurance details when off he rode .... bloody tourist.

 

The ride, other than for its challenges, was a great first day. The Swiss scenery was limitless ... we don't have real mountains in Australia (yes you included Kosciuszko at 2,200 metres).

 

 

I do need to admit that I did push my bike up a hill at one stage. I wasn't alone ... although I did get overtaken by e-bikes. Just when I felt dispirited, a fellow pusher noted in broken English (as his English was better than my Swiss and I'd already used my Guete Morge on him) ... 'bah, powered not good, pedal is for man'. He pedalled off never to be seen again.

When I finally arrived in Ilanz and had lunch I looked for a campingplatz for the night.  I have a big day tomorrow - while only 35 km it will be the most climbing of the tour. Sadly the camping grounds didn't review too well. In fact, one was a parking area that mobile homes overnight in and had no amenities. I needed to ride a further 9 km, however the ride was quite steep in places at the end of a long day's ride, while leg weary from a hike yesterday, and still affected by jet lag (or so I was convincing myself).

 

Just as I was about to ride I noticed a split in one of my Ortlieb rear panniers. The whole heat-welded seam had come apart. Disaster. With 30 days of riding ahead of me I knew taping would not be enough.  I went to a nearby bike shop and purchased another pannier (not Ortlieb). (Edited note: my second rear Ortlieb pannier had the same issue a couple of days later and this time I used gaffer tape to hold things together. Upon my return to Australia, Ortlieb replaced both panniers at no cost ... apparently, they had a batch with this same issue).

 

 

I can't describe the next 9 km as I've blocked out the pain ... but I made it to Camp Carrera. Great spot for the night.

 

I'm doing this ride to raise funds for Blue Dragon Children's Foundation. I'm self-supported so all donations go directly to Blue Dragon. If you can give please do at ...   https://au-bluedragon.givecloud.co/fundraisers/pedalling-for-a-purpose. Alternatively, go to Blue Dragon's website at bluedragon.org