What goes up....

... must eventually come down again. In the early morning the lake greets my with chilling serenity.

Stage 21: Col Grand St Bernard to Aosta (36,88 km) 

Down the pass I walk along the road, light traffic, but the steep incline is killing my quads.

Eventually, the valley eases out a bit

while I pass through villages that seem almost forgotten after the construction of the tunnel.

It gets considerably warmer as I am losing altitude.

Aosta city greets me with more beautiful mountain views, small streets and a contrast in accommodation, a  hotel at the autoport, a rest stop on the highway within a shopping mall. Dinner is cheese, salume and  beer from the supermarket. 

Up the col

Stage 20: Bourg-Saint-Pierre to Col Grand St Bernard (14,28 km) 

Straight forward hike today. I just follow the road for 12km up to the St. Bernard pass and then I'm done.

That plan last for about 700m, after which the road becomes some sort of tunnel and pedestrians are not allowed. Great. There is a hiking path, however, it is on the other side of the valley and I don't want to lose my altitude just to have to gain it again on the other side, so I try my luck on a service lake towards the Toules dam. I am in luck, right at the bottom of the dam  i find a little bridge and can continue on the other side.

It is freezing cold (literally) in the morning, but once the sun is out over the reservoir, it becomes warm enough quickly.

Unfortunately, the service road that has taken me up and along the reservoir suddenly takes a turn going to some other valley and I am left staring up a steep single trail incline that I can not possible get the buggy up. So it is unloading, carrying up the bags, pulling up the empty buggy, packing

The single train continues for 3 painful kilometres and 2 hours, twice more I have to repeat the unloading exercise, most of the tome I have to lift rear legs and just steer on the front wheel, which is killing my arms.

Shortly before noon, however, that horrible stretch ends and I get back to the road which here splits between the tunnel going directly to Italy and the pass road which I take.

It is 7 more kilometers with an altitude gain of 700m, so quite steep, but on nice, even, wide, beautiful asphalt :-)

I eventually reach the pass, where I will spend the night in the hospice.

I am greeted my super friendly father Raphael, who - after offering my a cup of tea - shows me the facility, my room, explains when and where to get my meals, and when and where I find the various messes and prayers - "We are an religious organisation" he points out just in cases I overlooked the big black wooden cross hanging around his neck.

On the other side of the lake is Italy, and a nice restaurant that serves me lunch for about the price of a beer in Switzerland. The border, again, is a sign, nothing else.

After lunch I walk back to the Swiss side, enjoy the sun and scenery and am treated with a nice sundown before a simple but yummy dinner. 

Unfortunately the St Bernard dogs that are bread here in the summer have already been moved to lower grounds for the winter, so no dog petting today.

Stretching those claves

Stage 19: Montreux to Bourg-Saint-Pierre (30,98 km) 

 

Todays stage is relatively short in distance, but comes with a solid 1300m in altitude gain.

I start out early in still sleepy Martigny, and am almost immediately treated with a warmup. Up the hill I go.

Along the way I spot the first sign of the via francigena, one of the name-givers of this project.

Still foggy and cloudy I make my way towards the light.

Another sign I find along the way. Is that a small h or a capital R? I decide on the latter and have to smile.

Until I pass the village on Orsieres, I am more or less alone on some side road. Early on, I get passes by a cyclist who askes me where I was going. From then on, every house in every small hamlet I pass, I am greeted by "Vous allez à rome?". Not much entertainment around here, it seems.

The views are majestic, and the pictures don't really capture that properly. The road however, is quite busy. It is a sunny Sunday, and everybody with a car seems to be enjoying driving up and down the curvy mountain road. Judging from only today, I'd say 40% of the Swiss drive Porsches. 

However, this is Switzerland, not Germany, no one feels obliged to educate me that the road is only for motorists, people just pass, the Swiss with a wide margin, the Italians with a not so wide margin, cars even brake when they can't pass. No honking, no obscene gestures, it is just someone slow on the side of the road and everybody is here just for fun. I also get quite a bit of (encouraging) honking and thumbs up from people who appear to realize that I am crossing the Alps on foot.

I reach my destination early, before 15.00 and for a bit contemplate whether I should continue on to the pass, then decide against it.

The hotel is good, dinner even better and once I stop walking I quickly feel how tired I am. Yesterdays bad parts are forgotten, I am content.

Tomorrow I will pet some dogs.

 

Unicorns and tactical reserves

Stage 18: Montreux to Martigny (50,88 km) 

When I woke up this morning, I somehow felt like crap. Maybe the rest day wasn't good for me, maybe it was the pastis. Who knows.

The hike started out along the promenade of lake Genever, which is also part of the Biennale exposition every other year, so there are tons of exhibits to look at.

In Vielleneuve I say goodbye to the overcast lake and start towards the mountains, after having a small breakfast at a bakery.

Where I forget my glasses. Which costs me 3km and half an hour :-(

Todays stage is too long with 45 km planned. It was too long from the beginning, it is too long because I don't feel well, and it has just become longer still. And why? Only because 6 months ago, long before even thinking about this trip, I signed up for the Boston virtual marathon, which means I have to do more than a marathon today to get my "unicorn" medal. Stupid. So instead of hunting the unicorn, I am haunted by it.

The path leads mostly along the rive Rhone, which even here above the lake has considerable size. I pass the  UCI headquarters and am tempted to stop and ask for some dope to keep me going. They must have plenty of the good stuff, right?

They certainly have an awesome bike park.

Anyhow, on top of the forgotten glasses I also encounter two roads blocked due to construction, one I can walk through, the other costs me another 3 km. Bringing the trip to almost 51km in the end. Way to much for my current condition. This is the price you pay for not having a tactical reserve in your planning. Shame on me.

Just before the 40km mark, when I am really beginning to get desperate, a cyclist comes by, we start chatting and the accompanies me (pushing his bike) for the next 2 hours so so. The desperation is gone, the pain forgotten and by the time we say our goodbyes I have only an hour left to go. It gets stormy and cold, but that is ok for such a short piece of the way.

The cyclist passes me again on his way back from Martigny and takes this picture of me. Merci, Alex, merci pour tout. 

I arrive in Martigny which is about the opposite of what you imagine a cozy Swiss mountain village to be, but I don't care, the hotel is good and the Macky D has a double BigMac for me.

Tomorrow I will stretch my calf muscles.

Rest day...

... in Monreux.

The greatest entertainer. In the background a statue of Freddy Mercury.

Tomorrow I'll be hunting a unicorn.

Can I just stay here?

Stage 17: Servion to Montreux (26,46 km) 

The day starts out cold and misty, the first time I put on a long-sleeve shirt.

However, it clears up and becomes an overall sunny and pleasant day as I begin loosing altitude and get nearer to lac leman (lake Genever) along busy roads with no shoulder. My first real - and most spectacular - view of the lake is in Chexbres, rightfully called "Balcon du Léman"

Walking through the vineyards here is just magic.

Down in Vevey I walk the last 10k along the shoreline promenade when I spot this sign

Well, you know me ;-)

Tomorrow is rest day in Montreux.

Changing directions

Stage 16: Estavayer-du-lac to Servion (38,66 km) 

Enough of the three-lake-country, today I start hiking south toward lake Geneva. I pick an early start to get ahead of the announced rain.

And it works most of the time, I see a lot of rain on the horizon most of the day but with two short exceptions manage to stay dry.

Along the way. This is real life, not Zwift.

Unexpectedly, a very nice stage, following a small river for a long time. Finish in a small village in the middle of the road, where I pay 70 Euros for a non-descript dinner. Welcome to Switzerland.

Shortly before arriving there, I can already glimpse between the thick clouds that tomorrow will be spectacular :-)