St. Maurice to Sierre: Riding through the valley

September 30, 2017

The breakfast at the monastery had croissants and house made jam among other things, so the day started well. It was a great place to stay. Reasonably priced by Swiss standards and we really liked our room.

We stopped for groceries to enhance our picnic lunch on the way out of town. I found the necessities (chocolate and grapes) while Keith visited Tourist Information, which was closed, despite the sign that said it should be open. He did find a couple of good bike maps on an outdoor display, and we were off.

It was another beautiful ride. Mountains on either side of the valley made for incredible views and the bike path was paved and easy to follow. It was gently uphill all day. It seems that we always ride up the river. I am not sure why, but we do. We were in the town of Martigny before we knew it.

This was on the wall of the grocery store. What a great idea.

The sun was out and it was a short sleeve kind of morning. We knew that the forecast was for clouds in the afternoon, so we enjoyed it while it lasted.

Unexpected sight of the day. This is a sculpture on a bridge just off the bike path. I wondered if it was a body - I really did. Keith went to check it out, thought perhaps the guy was sleeping and took a picture. It wasn't until we zoomed in on that that we realized it was a sculpture. Weird place for it. Our guess is a comment on homelessness?

Trailside companions. Aren't they the best?

After Martigny came a surprise to us. The valley was lined with vineyards that went on and on and on. We weren't expecting that in the mountains and it got me to thinking...these mountains look a lot like the Rockies, but we certainly don't have vineyards there (setting aside for the moment the fact that vast swathes of the Rockies are National Parks). Once I had wifi I checked it out. In Sierre the elevation is 538 m. Lake Louise, as a comparison, is 1600 m. So that explains that. Regardless, it made the riding beautiful.

We came around a corner and boom, back in the vineyards.

I promise to keep the vineyard pictures to a minimum after yesterday.

We thought we were done with vineyards. Happy we weren't. We had a Sierre wine with dinner tonight. A Gamay.

This fellow motored by us just before lunch. He was serious and fast. Look at those thighs. Pretty cool to watch him. He had a speed skating type of action, taking up the whole width of the path. He narrowed it up so I could get past, and believe me I had slowed down and squeezed over for him. Besides, that gave me longer to admire 😜.

We stopped for a picnic lunch in a park just outside of Sion at the edge of a lake. We had the usual cheese and Tuc crackers (I don't know if we can get them at home, but we will be looking), enhanced by the grapes I bought in the morning and chocolate of course. We also discussed where to stop for the day and booked a hotel in Sierre. A little shorter than we would have liked, but the clouds were rolling in and the wind was coming up so it seemed a good decision.

Our lunch spot. Isn't the lake a pretty colour?

This is steep. Almost more terracing than vines.

We found a golf course. Great practise facility.

Oh look. A big rock. Let's put a vineyard on it!

We have had a wander into town and a great dinner in the hotel restaurant. It has started to rain but the CN says the forecast is for sun in the morning. We'll see. Here is the Relive for today:
https://www.relive.cc/view/1208650458

Today's ride: 64 km (40 miles)
Total: 1,705 km (1,059 miles)

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