Oberwald to Gadmen via Grimsel Pass – Cycle Tour day 1

Chapel at the top of the Grimsel Pass

Last year when we cycled over the Furka Pass (twice) I looked across to the Grimsel Pass and thought – wow I really want to go up that on my bike. It is such a beautiful looking road from the approach to Gletch with sinuous hairpin bends, some built out over the mountain slope supported by rock walls. Anyway on our second tour when we cycled from Andermatt down to Goschenen I saw signs for the Susten pass which, when I looked at the map, was the link between the Reuss Valley (which we cycled down to get to Schwtz) and the Aare which we cycled along to get to Bern via Interlaken. At the time I thought “I also really want to go over this pass”.

As another thread. some years back we signed up for a group ski tour which aimed, amongst other things, to summit the Sustenhorn. Unfortunately our timing was off, on the second day of our tour there were huge snowstorms which meant we were trapped in our mountain hut just below the Giglistock for several days! The one good upside was that we made firm friends with our mountain guide (Rick) who we subsequently went on several trips with. So to revisit this area had many happy memories for us.

Back to our tour – Day one 55km just under 1600m. Key memories:

Mike needed to cycle back to the car from the flat first thing to pick up some moisturiser! and drop off a couple of things
Breakfast at the Rhonequelle Hotel worked out really well.
I enjoyed the cycle up the Grimsel (in a perverse way) as much as I had hoped. As it was early there was not too much traffic, the temperature was ideal, the gradient was hard but achievable.
Cycling with overnight paniers takes some getting used to!

Having some (very pretty) ladies climbing the pass on their XC Ski training aids was something to see. We both agreed that surely they must have taken the Post Bus back down! No breaks.
Loved my coffee at the Berghotel at the top of the pass so much we had another, just one piece of apple tart to share though.
So glad we stopped here rather than at the other more crowded cafes. It was relaxing, luxurious and ‘reassuringly expensive’ (CHF25). But so worth it to have a feeling of space and intimacy. (why does this sound like an advert for a German car!).

The ride down from the top was long. 27km and nearly 1,700m. Hard to get my legs working on the uphill section from Innertkirchen
There were some really lovely sections: super hairpins, picnic lunch at the far side of the Raeterichsbodensee Lake, sitting on a stone bridge in the shade munching on chocolate, a great detour round the side of a tunnel which gave us lovely views of the mountain range and river gorge.
Having a much needed ice cream and ice cold coke in a shady cafe on the way up to Gadmen
Me needing to put on some more Crotch Guard oil. Good thing too as Mike realised that he had left his gloves down the hill at our last stop. Fortunately not far for him to go back and get it.

The ride up to Gadmen from Innertkirchen was hot and there was a lot of traffic on the road. Most other users were very good, but Mike did have one near death experience with someone overtaking on the other side into his face. Happened to me twice the following day (all times motorbikes) and it is really horrid.
It was great to get to our hotel, cool down, wash out our kit and then have a lovely beer on the terrace before dinner.

See below for a video of our ride. Note to see the full controls click on the < control on the progress bar. This will allow you to watch the video full screen.