Biasca - Luzern

Did I say Summer had ended? Not quite yet, its been a great week weatherwise and today was an excellent forecast for 1st October. So another opportunity to head to the big mountain passes!

This was an optimistic ride, 2 high passes then a loop of Lake Luzern. Again I took the early 6:03 train and this time got off 2 stops after Airolo, down the valley in Biasca. Early thoughts of getting off in Airolo then descending to Biasca would have been a waste of time, better to start as soon as possible with the long ascent of Lukmanier pass, or Lucomagna as all the signs are in Italian here. Even the train announcements switch solely to Italian in Ticino, no German translation here.
It was chilly starting off, but as its uphill for 42km from the station, I soon warmed up. Lots of vineries here, up houses, covering garden areas and even covering private car parking areas.
The whole climb was outstanding, lower down was incredibly green and I pass through several picturesque villages all with Italian architecture. As to be expected, the churches are highly decorated in these parts.

The mountains grew steeper around me, but this climb stayed a very friendly gradient and several km before the summit relaxed down to around 3-4% I guess so it was easy to speed through the scenery and really enjoy it. This was the first pass to have a non-obvious summit. Theres a parking area, restaurant and sign before the lake, but the road still rises to a summit within a tunnel by the lake, so not a place to stop for photos. The descent was outstanding, as gentle a gradient as the way up so no need to use the brakes much all the way to Disentis. Really enjoyed this pass, scenic, very little traffic, gentle gradient both sides.

Biggest cheesy fondue so far

In Disentis I turn right towards Andermat over the Oberalp pass. The Glacier express train is just leaving when I pass through, it twists away to the right then we meet again further up the road. At the ski station of Sedrun, I catch up with the train again, it is moving a glacial pace. It is waiting for a train to pass in the opposite direction, so must have been waiting in Sedrun several minutes. Must be the best way to get to these ski stations, travelling from Zermatt to St Moritz stopping at ski stations along the way sounds like a great idea to me.

Again, this pass is outstandingly beautiful. Theres an incredibly scenic golf course below Tcshamat, and near here is a small lake which is the source of the river Rhine. But its a short walk from the road, I'm not interested in seeing this this time. Might return to the source another day.

The road becomes the usual series of hairpin loops towards the top, but up to this point again the gradient has been forgiving. A more significant summit here, then its another fantastic descent down to Andermat, then the heavy traffic section down to Wassen.

Old and new Devils bridg

But today theres far less traffic than the day of AlpenBrevet, so I can freewheel down at ease. This time I make a stop at the Teufelsbrücke, the Devils Bridge, apparently built by the devil himself. Must have taken timeout from chasing the tour de France, so thanks to him for creating this wonderful cycle route.

The descent takes me to the start of Sustenpass, today I have no intention of turning left here and continue down, and down and down to Altdorf and then Fluela by Lake Luzern.

It would take a couple of energy gels to power me round what I originally thought would be 40km became just over 50 for the next leg of the journey to Luzern. Of course its mostly flat, but there are sections where the road climbs up 200m or so above the lake for a spectaular view. Cycle track all the way to Brunnen (apart from the narrow pavement sections that is) so nice to be out of the traffic here. Beyond Brunnen you can enjoy quiet(ish) roads again, really close to the blue water and enjoy the lakeside views all the way to Luzern.

There are many impressive places along the lake here, several marinas, several places to catch the ferries or boats across the lake and I imagine incredibly expensive houses and hotels. The water looked so amazing, I saw several swimmers, but I didnt have time to stop here and managed to get the help of one local rider up to Kussnacht, my sole riding partner for the day.

In the end, quite a monster ride of 188km at 24.4km/h with the 2 high passes and fantastic lakeside ride. I've now cycled over the 5 passes in the platinum category of AlpenBrevet, over 4 rides, and I'm more convinced than before that this is beyond my capabilities to ride the 5 passes in a day!
Another scenic ride from start to finish, I can't believe this is my Saturday ride, I really am lucky to live here and be able to cycle in scenery like this so easily.

Route on Mapmyride