July 17, 2023
Martigny -> Zermatt
Climbing route 150
Phew what a day! I woke up early at a campground in Martigny. About 6:45am. By the time I packed everything up, showered, stopped at a gas station, ate breakfast, and hit the road it was about 8:30. I had a very filling meal at the gas station: A chicken house salad, a package of sliced up mangoes, a ham and cheese baguette, and a Lindt chocolate bar.
I then hit the road going upstream alongside the Rhone River. The river itself was milky in color from all the glacal sediment. The water must have been barely above freezing, because anytime the path dipped down close to the water, I would get a blast of refrigerator temperature air on an otherwise warm day.
I kept riding on the levee way until the town of Sierre. The path was partially paved, partially packed gravel, but it was flat and there was no wind so I made good time. Around Siere I had to find a bathroom (which in Europe is a non-trivial task). I rode into town away from the bike route, and found a cafe. I tried to order in broken french, and the waitress did her best in broken english. In the end I was happy with what I got: A coffee, a glass of orange juice, and a chocolate croissant for 6 Francs.
I did some quick googling on things to do in Zermatt, then headed out. By now, a strong tailwind had picked up. I was easily making 40kph on the flat paved sections of the bike path. I then came across an apricot stand on the side of the road. The Rhone valley is known as one of the best apricot growing regions in switserland. A few miles earlier I had ridden through orchards of apricots, and had contemplated stealing one. Now was my oprotunity to leagally acquire some. I bought 6 apricots for 5 Francs. A little steep, but whatever. I don't know what the Swiss do to their apricot trees, but American farmers need to take some notes. The apricots had a texture that was closer to a firm plum, but all the sweetness and flavor you would expect from a soft, ripe one. They were amazing. After eating 3 of them, and stashing the other 3 for later, I had to turn up the valley to Zermatt.
The first few miles up the valley were great. The bike way followed a gravel path along the river, then a frontage road with very light traffic. I stopped in the town of Stalden to fill up my water in a fountain (the fountains in the alps have drinkable water in them, I asked a grocery store worker and googled it). Side note, at this point, I was back in the German speaking region of Switezereland, which was a huge relief to me. I am by no means fluent in German, but I know enough phrases to carry out basic conversations. This takes so much stress and confusion out of so many mundane interactions. At the gorcery store I got some raspberries and yogurt to fuel my climb.
This is where things got dicey. My nice frontage road merged with the main highway going to Zermatt, and I was now on a sidewalk shoulder. Huge logging trucks, dump trucks, and lots of car traffic went flying by at high speeds. Things were still ok because I had by sidewalk shoulder to ride on. However, this shoulder ended a few kilometers past town. I stopped and refused to ride any further. I have a pretty high threshold for sketchy road riding. I have ridden on the shoulders of freeways, I have ridden on narrow bridges with traffic, but this was too much. I stood on the shoulder dumbfounded that a town like Zermatt, that prides itself on being pedestrian friendly and car free does not have a good way to get there by bike. I looked on google maps for an alternate route: Nothing, komoot: nothing, trailforks: nothing. I felt defeated, and would have to resort to taking the train.
I googled the nearest train station, and found it was in Klapetran. I rode downhill from the main highway towards the train station. However, as I was descending, I saw a single track trail veer to the left, with a sign that said "Cycle route 150: Visp - Zermatt". I googled it, and found it mentioned on the swiss government website. Apparently the now mountain bike trail follows an old mule trail. The original stone pavers and retaining walls are still visible on the trail today. I figured I would give it a shot. I did have a gravel bike afterall.
The grades were steep, but the trail wasn't too rocky. With a few sections of hike-a-bike, I was able to slowly make my way up. Around the town of Randa, I got hungry again. I still had another hour to Zermatt via sketchy single track trail, and needed to fuel up again. I found a food truck with outdoor seating. I had saved money by not taking the train to Zermatt, so I decided to buy the most expensive thing on their menu: The Innenschweitz taffel. A giant chacuterie board of sliced meats and sausages, along with pickled vegetable fixings and fresh bread. It was amazing. I ordered a radler with it, and got a hazelnut pastry for dessert. Perfection.
I then realized at 7:00pm that I should probably figure out where I was staying that night. To my dissapointment, all the campground receptions had already closed, so I booked a bed at the youth hostel. It ended up being about the same price as a campsite anyway. When I got to the youth hostel and checked in, my roommate happened to be an avid bike tourer himself. He was from Leipzig, and his english wasn't great so I tried to speak with him in German. He had done three big bike tours: Iceland, Norway, and Italy. He told me Norway was his favorite, and I told him I could see why. He had gone to a different part of Norway than I had, While I stayed inland in Southeast Norway, he went north along the atlantic coast all the way to Nordkapp. He said the weather is terrible and rainy on the coast. He also said Iceland has horrific weather and really bad wind. He wasn't selling me on either of them to be honest. He said Italy was interesting, but very hot and very hilly. He said on his trip to Nordkapp, he had his friend meet him at the Cape and drive him back to Germany on a boat. His friend had planned a fishing trip there that had coincided with his bike tour. It was cool to finally meet another crazy guy on a bike that understood what I am doing.
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Today's ride: 78 miles (126 km)
Total: 1,211 miles (1,949 km)
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