Bern - Wikartswil - Bern (21 miles / 34 km)

Today I took the precious out for my first ride in CH. I was scared to death as I had no idea where I was going really as well as not really knowing how the roads would be or how I would be treated out there - roads here are pretty narrow.

It also proved that I could disassemble my bike, ship it across the ocean and reassemble it. And it actually worked!

I chose something seemingly easy as my first ride, and tried to make sure I avoided any major traffic areas. Which essentially means heading east from our place.

The route ended up being spectacular and seemingly impossible. CH is a hilly country. 20 miles felt like 50. I had originally intended to do a loop of 30 miles. Seemed pretty simple. Nope! Very hard for my first time out. There was one stretch I had to get off twice and catch my breath (between Metzgerhüsi and Wikartswil).

So here's my route. Looks longer that it is. 20 miles. The small loop off to the east was quite literally straight up then straight down. 1 mile up, 1 down. As steep if not slightly steeper at times as Ramsey Hill in St. Paul. There was a public fountain at the top thank goodness because I was almost out of water. The entire area north of Wikartswil is at the top of the huge Hügel (hill). But it's really a smallish mountain. My next ride will be down in the same area but I'm hoping to go all the way to Utzigen then back down and back to Ostermundigen/Bern.