July 23, 2023
Grindelwald -> Andermatt
Meeting the Canyon Grizl 6 Fan Club
I woke up in my bed at Monchsjochhuette at 3:00am. Some of the mountain climbers headed to the Jungfrau were already getting up and shining their headlamps around the room. I tossed and turned until around 5, when I finally decided to get up, eat some breakfast, and watch the sunrise from the warmth of the hut.
When I stumbled downstairs, the cabin crew had already been up for 2 hours serving breakfast (starting at 3) to the mountain climbers. I grabbed a slice of stale bread (what can you really expect at 12000 feet), some yogurt, some delicious local cheese, and a cup of herbal tea. Thankfully, today was a perfectly clear day, and I could watch the Northeastern horizon grow brighter as the sun was about to rise.
Some members from the Zurich group joined me while we watched the sun climb over the mountain ridge to our East. It started as a red sliver, before enveloping the room in an orange glow as the entire disc of the sun became visible.
Some members of the Zurich group went outside to take pictures. I cracked open the window and snapped a photo from the hut.
I then packed up my stuff, and headed out of the hut with the Zurich group. We were both trying to catch the first train/cable car down the mountain at 8:17. We left the hut at 7:30 and it only took us 20 minutes to descend the glacier thanks to some sled racing on plastic garbage bags. On the train ride down to Eiger Glacier, I exchanged instagrams with Liam so we could share photos of the morning. We then parted ways. They had work tomorrow, I was continuing East toward Vienna.
I first walked from the train station back to the hostel where I had stashed my bike. I then went to a Coop grocery store to get some brunch. I got a ham sandwich and a container of pomegranate seeds.
I started ascending Grosse Scheidegg pass, and stopped a few minutes up at a public WC. I was planning on taking a bus up the next pass: Susten Pass, in order to avoid the high traffic, narrow road, 11 tunnel ascent. However, I realized that on Sunday, there was only one bus from Interkirchen to the pass summit. It left at 1:30 from Interkirchen, and it was currently 11:00. Google maps and komoot were saying Interkirchen was about 2 hours away, which meant I could make it, but I wouldn't be able to take any long stops.
I put my head down and chain right up to the top of Grosse Scheidegg. It was a perfect cycling road: scenic and low traffic. There were even cows hanging out in the road at some sections. There were these peculiar spring loaded metal bars hanging into the road. I found out the hard way that they are electric cattle guards. The trick to not getting zapped is to stay on your bike. As soon as you walk on the ground with your metal bike shoe cleats grounding you, you can get zapped.
At the top of the pass was a restaurant with biergarten where many cyclists were hanging out. I blew past as I was trying to make my bus up Susten Pass. I make the fun descent and got to Interkirchen about 20 minutes early. I stopped at an apricot stand and bought a half kilo. When the bus came, I was smart enough to remove my bags from my bike. This made it much easier to hoist onto the vertical racks.
I navigated my way through the bus ticket purchasing process in German, until the bus driver asked me if I had a "insert gibberish". Thankfully a good Samaritan in the front of the bus piped up in english "he's asking if you have a half price fare card". My total was 41 Francs without it, still worth it in my opinion. The man on the bus that I sat next to was a mountain climber, and he pointed out the window at a glacier covered peak and said he had climbed that mountain, starting at 4 am (I am pretty sure the mountain is the Sustenhorn).
When I got off the bus at the pass summit, I was hungry and saw a sign that said "gunstiges essen, 300 meter ->" . Naturally I followed the sign's arrow. It led me to a Hospiz on the pass summit serving, to my surprise, actually inexpensive food and drinks. I got a half liter of beer, a bratwurst with salad and bread, and a slice of pear cake for 20 Francs. I ate lunch sitting next to a group of Swiss motorcyclists. They took interest in me, and said they hadn't come across many americans riding bikes in the Alps. They helped me interpret the waitress, who spoke a form of Schweitzerdeutsch that was unintelligible even to the swiss. "She is from a different part of switzerland than me, even I can't understand a lot of what she's saying", one of the motorcyclists told me. The waitress seemed like she was having a good time. Speaking loud and sing-songy as she shuffled around barefoot delivering food and drinks to the patrons.
The descent down Sustan pass was fast and fun. I was going the speed of traffic, so no sketchy car passes. The climb up from the bottom of Sustan pass to Andermatt took me about an hour, during which I passed by the cool looking Teufel's Bruecke. When I arrived at the campsite, I found a couple from Amsterdam bike touring on the exact bike I have: The Canyon grizl 6! They were on a week long bike tour, and had a heavier pannier setup than me. They remarked about how the paint on mine looked darker (probably from all the dirt and bike grease), and how the welds on my frame were sloppier looking (a known issue with Canyon's American bikes). From what I've researched, the sloppy looking welds are only cosmetically unpleasing though.
I pitched my tent, did my daily chores, called my parents to give them an update, and went to bed exhausted.
Today's ride: 38 miles (61 km)
Total: 1,417 miles (2,280 km)
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