Somewhere between Paris and Venice

[j44ke]

I miss Henry IV.

[j44ke]

Jorn that route is probably awesome but I don't plan on 100 milers. I'll definitely explore the area on ridewgps though....

Yeah it was too much for me and I made the route. By the time I got up to the Abetone ski area, I was done. Fortunately it was mostly downhill on the reverse trip.

There's always Bormio Italy. I've never been but friends in Europe frequently stay in and around that town to hike, ride, ski etc. depending on the seasons. Not sure what it is like in October though.

[clunk]

There's always Bormio Italy. I've never been but friends in Europe frequently stay in and around that town to hike, ride, ski etc. depending on the seasons. Not sure what it is like in October though.

Some riding pals and I spent a week riding out of Bormio a few years ago. Great place.

[Chik]

Yep, Bormio is a good base. Decent food, Stelvio, Mortirolo, et al, but depending on how quickly the temp drops this autumn, it's not inconceivable that the famous passes might be closed already although it's unlikely.

Descending Stelvio in June one year, I had on my full winter kit, and I was still shivering (more like violently shaking). People were skiing at the summit.

[Mabouya]

I miss Henry IV.

To say nothing of Henry V

[rec head]

Re: Bormio - I have thought about going somewhere and renting an MTB instead of lugging the S&S bike.

[echelon_john]

Just spent a couple of weeks in the Dolomites and have never seen so many e-MTBs. I was e-skeptical before but am definitely e-curious now. We stayed at an amazing hotel with virtually unlimited riding in the area. Www.moseralm.com. Truly lovely. We just hiked, but I imagine you could easily entertain yourself on a bike there.

[rec head]

Old riding buddy ghosted me. Tickets booked to Lausanne. Direct train from Paris and then flying from GVA to VCE. While waiting for responses from the ghost I missed out on the Saturday direct flight to Venice. It sucks but now I'll be there a night earlier than my wife and we can meet up right away.

Lausanne gravel routes. Watcha got?

Now I have to find a place to stay. I'm tempted to be cheap and get an airBNB room in a shared space.

[sk_tle]

Old riding buddy ghosted me. Tickets booked to Lausanne. Direct train from Paris and then flying from GVA to VCE. While waiting for responses from the ghost I missed out on the Saturday direct flight to Venice. It sucks but now I'll be there a night earlier than my wife and we can meet up right away.

Lausanne gravel routes. Watcha got?

Now I have to find a place to stay. I'm tempted to be cheap and get an airBNB room in a shared space.

There aren't many gravel routes around Lausanne tbh but you can find some dirt roads in the Chalet a Gobet / Mont Pelerin area, as well as some dirt path in the direction of Yverdon. But there is some great road riding to be done starting from Lausanne. For example you can climb the col du Marchairuz, ride in the Vallée de joux area, then climb the Mollendruz to go back to Lausanne. Other idea, from Lausanne going to Chexbres through the vineyards of the riviera, then Forel, Oron-la-Ville, Châtel Saint Denis, you can climb to Les Paccots then descend back on the riviera via Blonay, Vevey. The period should be perfect with the changing colors of the leaves in the vineyards, it is kind of the perfect time to be in Switzerland.

Or you can easily take the bike in a train to different areas in Switzerland and go riding in different places. One glorious ride if the mountain passes are still open is to go by train to Ulrichen, then climb the Nufenenpass to Italy, then climb back to Switzerland via the Gothard using the old cobbled Tremola pass road then the Furka. And if you didn't have enough after the Furka you can climb the Grimselpass as well. Pretty much this ride but starting from Nufenen instead:
https://switchback.alpsinsight.com/c...thard-tremola/

There are also one magical place you can visit by bicycle from the city of Sion, (1h from Lausanne by train) which is called Derborence. Sadly it is a one way road so you climb there and you have to go back. But then after Derborence you can head up to Col du Sanetsch which starts very close. It is also a one way road but at the top there is a cable car you can take to go down to Gsteig by Gstaad. In a way it is kind of a shortcut across the mountain to go down to Lausanne. Then from Gsteid by Gstaad you can either head north to Gstaad, Saanen, Zweisimmen area and go back to Lausanne by train, or you can ride back to Lausanne by the Col du Pillon (it is quite easy), Aigle, Montreux.

Many mountain passes close only in the second part of october but you can hit this page to know the status of the different swiss alpine passes:
https://www.tcs.ch/fr/tools/inforout...-en-suisse.php

[j44ke]

There aren't many gravel routes around Lausanne tbh but you can find some dirt roads in the Chalet a Gobet / Mont Pelerin area, as well as some dirt path in the direction of Yverdon. But there is some great road riding to be done starting from Lausanne. For example you can climb the col du Marchairuz, ride in the Vallée de joux area, then climb the Mollendruz to go back to Lausanne. Other idea, from Lausanne going to Chexbres through the vineyards of the riviera, then Forel, Oron-la-Ville, Châtel Saint Denis, you can climb to Les Paccots then descend back on the riviera via Blonay, Vevey. The period should be perfect with the changing colors of the leaves in the vineyards, it is kind of the perfect time to be in Switzerland.

Or you can easily take the bike in a train to different areas in Switzerland and go riding in different places. One glorious ride if the mountain passes are still open is to go by train to Ulrichen, then climb the Nufenenpass to Italy, then climb back to Switzerland via the Gothard using the old cobbled Tremola pass road then the Furka. And if you didn't have enough after the Furka you can climb the Grimselpass as well. Pretty much this ride but starting from Nufenen instead:
https://switchback.alpsinsight.com/c...thard-tremola/

There are also one magical place you can visit by bicycle from the city of Sion, (1h from Lausanne by train) which is called Derborence. Sadly it is a one way road so you climb there and you have to go back. But then after Derborence you can head up to Col du Sanetsch which starts very close. It is also a one way road but at the top there is a cable car you can take to go down to Gsteig by Gstaad. In a way it is kind of a shortcut across the mountain to go down to Lausanne. Then from Gsteid by Gstaad you can either head north to Gstaad, Saanen, Zweisimmen area and go back to Lausanne by train, or you can ride back to Lausanne by the Col du Pillon (it is quite easy), Aigle, Montreux.

Many mountain passes close only in the second part of october but you can hit this page to know the status of the different swiss alpine passes:
https://www.tcs.ch/fr/tools/inforout...-en-suisse.php

Okay, let's all go to Switzerland.

[rec head]

Lausanne was great. Thanks for all the help. I found some great routes on Strava. The biggest problem was following the routes when I got into singletrack. The Wahoo's compass is just too slow when there are back to back turns and Y's in the path. When I chose gravel routes they were mostly road rides through the beautiful back country then would randomly throw in some techie singletrack. Overall those techie routes were fun but would have been more fun with others. The weather was perfect and it was some of the best back to back riding days I've ever had.

I got to ride 2 days in Pisa while my wife was at her conference. The first day had crappy weather and predicted rain. I chose a route based on it looking easy to navigate right out my door. I wouldn't go so far as to say it sucked but it was a really lame route. Not what I pictured riding in Italy to be. So that afternoon I headed to the LBS and they set me straight. The next ride was more like it, even with the same weather.