Switzerland has an impressive bike route network. There are well-established and numbered National, Regional, and Local routes. There are paper and on-line maps of these routes, as well as, a phone app that allows you to zoom into street level. I have ridden in Switzerland on three different bicycle tours and each time I used, sought out really, Swiss National Bike Routes. In addition, many roads in Switzerland have bike lanes, especially those in cities. I also found Swiss drivers to be courteous, willing to wait behind a slow moving bicyclist until it is safe to pass. The National bike routes are very well marked, often on separated and paved paths, and well used. This is the good news. The bad news is that the main emphasis of the routes seems to be avoiding car traffic, even roads with bike lanes. This often means climbing steep hills on narrow roads through farmland, zooming down past a wheat field, only to face another steep climb to a vista of yet another farm plot. The routes also make liberal use of dirt paths or car tracks, avoiding any possibility of passing a restaurant or food store. Getting Dirty On a ride from Lungren up the Brunig Pass on Swiss National Bike Route 8, I found myself on a rocky dirt road that was so steep that my back wheel couldn't maintain traction when I pedaled. I had to walk. To get up to Lungren, I had to ride on a paved path that went directly up a grade that had me stopping every few hundred feet to rest. The hill to the right is the one I rode up It was in Switzerland that I learned that not every road (or National Bike Route) is one I am able to ride! On another tour, between Lucarno and Lugano in Ticino, Switzerland, I didn't bother researching a route, assuming that National Bike Route 3 would be a good way to ride. I was sorely disappointed when I discovered miles of rocky dirt. Later this day, I found myself on a bike lane on a main road going down a steep hill in the rain. It is one of the few times I thought about dying while on a bike tour! What's another steep hill? On the tour described in this journal, I rode from Lausanne to Fribourg. It was a last minute addition to my tour and I hadn't planned a route in advance. Even with my previous experiences, I figured I could handle the climbs and that the path would be well marked. But, I was surprised on both counts. First, I arrived in Lausanne via ferry and had to find the route I wanted from there. It was here I discovered that finding a Swiss bike route requires getting to a turn in the bike route, as that is the only place they are signed. Also, the signs are not placed in consistent places. They are never on the road. They are small red arrows affixed to existing poles somewhere at an intersection. I meandered back and forth through Lausanne before eventually finding the route I wanted. Once on the route, getting to intersections without an obvious sign usually meant stopping, firing up my phone to find out where I was, and then trying to determine the correct direction. The hills behind Lausanne are steep. But, the route I was following seemed to specialize on roads that went straight up them. Often, I would get to the top of one, only to zoom down to the bottom, and start up yet another steep hill. The views along these routes usually weren't particularly interesting. I rode through neighborhoods where I got good looks at suburban Swiss homes and farms where I saw lots of wheat. Toward the end of the day, as I was climbing up toward Fribourg, the route took me through farm fields that had been converted into housing where I encountered lots of traffic on narrow roads. After losing the route one too many times, I gave up finding it and simply rode to the nearest direct road to Fribourg. It was rush hour and the road was busy and had no bike path. But, the cars were careful around me and I wasn't all that worried. Eventually, a bike lane appeared. Whose definition of a route worth biking? I spent much of my last day's riding on this tour musing (and cursing) about the choices that were made when designing Swiss bike routes. What would I prefer? Riding on steep hills, dirt tracks, narrow streets, or busy roads with bike lanes? I don't mind hard grinding up hills. Neither am I afraid of riding on roads without bike lanes. I tried to create a priority of factors to choose from when creating a route. It took some thinking, which, coincidentally helped keep my mind off my thighs. My list looked like this: Pretty Views Quiet roads/separated bike paths Well-signed (on poles and the road) Paved surface Bike lanes on roads shared with cars Moderate Elevation Gain Avoiding the Steepest Roads that don't offer a pretty view/go by an interesting place By my reckoning, the Swiss bike route designers seemed to have it wrong. Their choices seemed to ignore, or even value, steepness if it meant less traffic. In addition, road condition took a distant second place to being separated from traffic. Views didn't seem to be considered at all. That said, I have ridden on fabulous paved, flat roads with wonderful vistas on well-signed routes throughout Switzerland. But, I now know that the things I desire in a bike route are not necessarily what Swiss bike routes offer. Roads or Bike Routes? Switzerland is a prosperous (this means lots of cars), lightly populated, mountainous country. No matter where one rides, there will be steep roads. On direct highways, there will be much traffic. These are givens. Should I ride in Switzerland again, I will not automatically default to following a bike route without first taking a good look at its elevation gain and the on-road alternatives. Second, check the roads using Google Streetview on it maps (Switzerland recently allowed Google to do this). While the satellite view can help, it doesn't always provide the resolution needed. I am not suggesting that people ignore the world-class bike route network developed and maintained by the Swiss. Not only is it a beautiful country, but the routes offer a good way to travel from one place to another. What I am suggesting is to take a close look at the actual roads and paths used by your chosen bike route to insure that your priorities are taken into account. In my experience, blindly following an established Swiss bike route doesn't always mean an enjoyable bike ride.

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