Bike tour report Bassano-Zurich June 2008

(Suimasen, Anne !)

Total km: 1049,25

Average km per day: 174,88

Path in GPS eXchange file format (gpx): path.gpx (Bassano-Trento missing because of out of memory )

All elevation in a OpenOffice Draw file

From Bassano I take a small street on the right side of the Brenta with a very little traffic. After about 20 km, it becomes a mixture ordinary street/bike way which is very nice and which goes up to Levico Lake.

As there is no existing bikeway between Levico and Trento, I take in ordinary street (however with only a few traffic).

There is a very nice bike way between Trento and Bolzano (100% asphalt, 99,9% separated from normal streets) which I recommend you to take.

As about 6 km north to Trento there is a strange deviation which makes you to waste 6 km (while the theoretical direct way would be less than 1 km), you may be tempted to take the ordinary street and find a short cut. Well... there is no short cut! I have been trying for years to find one, but no success ! So, just follow the bike way ! :-)

If you look at my gpx file or at my google map, be warned that in the Trento area I used the ordinary street (until Masetto village).

As in Trento THERE IS NO SING indicating where the bike way is, have a good map with you.

Between Bolzano and Merano, there is a bike way about 95% separated from ordinary streets, and 100% asphalt.

In Merano I take the ordinay street.

Between Merano and Laas, you can probably go all the way on bike way, but sometime I take the ordinary street.

Between Göflan and Laas the bike way is without asphalt!

At the end of the wood, I take a break to get some water, and I find those 2 guys going to celebrate the end of school day. The tree trunk is full of beer cans :-)

This is my first picture in Switzerland:

In Switzerland I never found a lot of traffic on the street (except between Davos and Fideris) and the cars passing by keep a large room to the bikes.

I have seen also that many bus lines give you the possibility to load the bike externally on the rear.

This is going up to Ofenpass (meter 2149):

... and going down:

Going up to Flüelapass (m. 2383):

At the beginning of the day, I have a look at the map and I see I am going to go trough some mountains, but I do not notice that the second pass is a 2383 meters... So I just keep going and going, hoping that is going to finish... This pass gave me the proof that even in June it can be VERY COLD :-) (especially at 2383 meter....)

The street between Davos and Fideris has really a lot of traffic (pretty unusual in Switzerland) and I can not find any bike way. Maybe there are some, but you can use them only if you have a mountain bike. With my sport bike they are not very nice to go :-/

From Fideris to Landquart there is possibility to avoid the street 28, so the way is nicer to go. :-)

From Landquart to the Walen lake there is not much traffic (everybody seems to take the express way)

Along the Walen lake bikes have have even a dedicated lane or when not, there is a bike way.

There are unfortunately some kilometers (not many) where the bike way has some very rough asphalt.

A chocolate factory just out of Zurich (you can imagine how the air was tasty-smelling !!!):

At 13:48 I am in Zurich !!! :-)

Streets are full of strange drunk people wearing in a funny way, maybe does it have anything to do with the soccer match Italy-Romania for the European championship ? :-D

Typical Zurich inhabitants:

After making some attempts to find an hotel in Zurich, I decide to leave the city and start the return. It is a little bit a pity, because it would be funny to spend the night with all those crazy Italian fans, but all Hotels seem to be full :-/

As today I am passing by very close to the little state of Liechtenstein, I decide to make a little deviation and to go there. I am a little bit afraid because of the passport (I have only the identity card with my self). I do not know if at the border the officers will give me some troubles to enter into the stat. But I think this picture explain how complicated is to pass the border between Switzerland and Liechtenstein:

If for some reason the picture is not clear enough, at the border there is simply no control !

But just after the mountains, around the corner, there are some swiss armored cars ready in case of a Liechtensteinian attack !!!

Once arrived in Landquart, I take again the street 28 to Davos, but I notice that even if this time it is Saturday, there is a lot of traffic, so I prefer to take another way trough Chur and Parpan. Longer, but safer. ;-)

Arrived in Schmitten and headed to Davos (see google map of day 4), I notice that putting Zernez as destination in the navigation system, it tells me the the shortest way is not trough Davos and Flüelapass, but another one. I do not care to check if there are other higher passes trough this alternative way, so I just turn around the bike and I take new direction. Which I found later to be trough Albulapass... (meters 2312). Well, 71 metes less !!! What a big difference (ironic). However, my paper map says that a few km after turning around, I would have found a long tunnel. I am not sure if I could have avoided it going to Davos using some secondary street.

The street is again up hills:

Bergün:

Here I meet some children who sell my a biscuit for 7 Franks with the excuse of some animal event. As it is more 4 Euro, I think it was pretty expensive ....

My journey goes on (up, in this case...)

I do not know if it is normal, but here I could hear the noise of the electricity :-|

Photo at the Albulapass (2315 meter):

And 3 hours 20 minutes later at the Ofenpass (or Pass dal Fourn) at 2149 meters:

This is the first call box after you are back to Italy, just after the border:

The call box is there to make you to realize what a strange country Italy is. As it contains NO PHONE, it makes the message totally clear: YES, YOU ARE AGAIN IN ITALY !!! NO ESCAPE :-)

Very good example showing how nice are the bike ways west from Merano:

Thomas Driemeyer (maintainer of www.trentobike.org), in his “ITALY SURVIVAL GUIDE” complains that “Some villages post maps, but the voi siete qui (you are here) arrow is typically missing, or there is more than one (!).”

Well, as italian, I can only say he is right... This one is an example token very close to Trento. One the map here below, there is no “you are here” sign.

Some other unusual users of the bike way (I hate when they leave their s**t on the street...):

Hey, this is pretty interesting. The sign says “Antico cippo confine di stato” (= ancient state boundary stone). This stone used to mark the border between the Reign of Italy and and the Austrian Empire in the past. Today is simply located very close to the border between the two italian regions “Veneto” and “Trentino-Alto Adige”. The navigation system says I am at N 45°58.164' E011°41.056'

Various notes :

On the bike is mounted a navigation system

The most complicated area to go trough is Trento (as always...). Well, there is a bike way (in yellow), but coming from north that strange left-right-left makes you willing to find a safe short cut (which does not exit! I can assure). Instead, coming from south east, as in Trento there are not signs AT ALL telling you where the bike way is, you have really a lot of troubles to figure out how to go trough.

Click on the map to enlarge it in a separated window

The worst paved 20 kilometers are the ones from Bassano on to north. As coming back I was still used to the perfect swiss paved roads, and as the way is lightly down hill, it made me a little bit frustrated to go back home

The table at the top of the page contains links to some google maps and to altitude profile images of the trip. I am happy that I have made them. So please have a loot at them :-)

18-June-2008

back to main page