Day 4 (Switzerland): Zurich - Igis

today’s distance: 125 km
total distance: 401 km
riding time: +/- 6 h

It was a glorious day … to say the least. After bidding farewell to fantastic couchsurfing.org host Regula and bemoaning the fact that their cute buildings will be demolished to be replaced with nondescript apartment buildings, I headed out along the southern shore of Lake Zurich.

First stop - the Lindt chocolate factory to take a peek. No guided tours however and the store had the regular chocolates only. So on I went with one bar in my bag and soon in my tummy, yum, yum!

The road had quite a bit of traffic and after dodging a couple of cars I was soon on bike paths that led me from Lake Zurich to Lake Walen. The scenery was dramatic from the start out though. The peaks started moving in closer and closer and once between the two lakes I took a wrong turn for a few minutes and entered another valley, which got even better. Back on track I went along Lake Walen on a nice bike trail along the shore, climbing at up to 26% though made for some tough climbing. The views were well worth it though. I will post a video in the next days.

With bucolic and dramatic scenery abounding and a tailwind to boot riding was great. I turned into the Rhine valley and biked along the river for a while until I hit the town of Landquart and proceeded to couchsurfing hosts Helen & Peter. Their son Roman who is out and about touring South America had hooked me up with them or rather twisted their hands a bit. The house is at the uppermost top of the village in a startlingly beautiful valley, with a bit of grunting up to do. Helen & Peter were great hosts and a big thank you to both of them!!! And to Roman for setting this up. Delicious food and conversations about all things Swiss and particulars of this area made for a great meal.