We’re not in Kansas anymore – guest blog.

Posted on August 22, 2014

I consider myself very fortunate to have customers spread out all over the world and that they often share photos with me of what the riding in their area looks like. I always enjoy seeing where others ride the bikes I made for them and get some pretty cool photos………..and sometimes the landscapes are so stunning, and the photos so well done, that I find myself looking at them time and time again.

Recently customer and friend of the business Thomas, who lives and rides in Switzerland, shared a few photos with me that were so beautiful I asked him to share them with everyone here. So here is Thomas’ ride report along with a good number of wonderful photos. Thanks for sharing Thomas — I expect we’ll all want to pay a visit to you very soon.

Be sure to click on the photos to get the large version.

Dave

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Dave was kind enough to invite me to send a post about a recent trip in the Alps, aboard a Kirk Frameworks bicycle. I decided to tell you about some side trips into tucked away Swiss valleys, easy to miss if you only focus on the big passes. So here are my 3 top recommendations:

3) Val Tuors in Grisons/GraubÃ¼nden

This little valley is on the way to/from the Albula Pass. (I came from the South, the Engadin valley)

You reach the village of Bravuogn, with its traditionnal painted houses

Then you turn East, through a narrow gorge

and go up the val

You see some remote villages

2) Binntal
This valley is in the Goms valley, or Haut-valais/Oberwallis, and the trip starts in Ernen.
I have come over the Furka pass (it means fork, or pass, just like Forcola or Forclaz…) from Andermatt. This is the view East from Furka where I was headed; you see the Furka road, Gletsch and the RhÃ´ne river (the glacier/Gletscher used to reach all the way down there), and the road to Grimsel Pass.

It’s a popular biking route

Below Oberwald it’s best to leave the main road and pick up the cycling route to Ernen

Ernen is a well preserved village. There are some faÃ§ades that date back centuries; here the Gemeindehaus

Cyclists must take a dirt road to bypass a mile-long tunnel, which is a definite bonus

It’s real canyon, with waterfalls crossing the road

There was a roadside art show which included a spiked tunnel

The Binntal itself is great hiking country; again, quiet and beautiful

1) Zwischbergen and passo Furggu
This side-trip starts in Gondo, South of the Simplon pass, just short of the Italian border. Simplon has plenty of traffic, viaducts, galleries; if you ride it be sure to take the old road out of Brig, and leave the new one and its overpasses to cars.

In Gondo you take a right into Zwischbergen (“betwen the mountains”; not a very imaginative name). This is a complete opposite of the Simplon: quiet road, no traffic, little-disturbed nature. I saw a woman with a bucket full of wild strawberries, and farmers making hay.