Day 17: Ilanz to Feldkirch, Austria
(63.7 miles, 1939 ft of gain, Strava map)
Our stealthy campsite worked out! No one bothered us all night, and we all had a sound night of sleeping in our little forest nook on the edge of Ilanz. It’s always satisfying when little insects are pinging off your tent net, but you are safely protected.
Around 8 AM, we tried out the other popular grocery chain, Migros (sorry, COOP!). It was awesome, and I’m totally a convert. There were way more options compared to the COOPs we went to, and there was an attached café where Uri and I could grab a coffee and some fresh breakfast. I could have eaten multiple of the gourmet little egg salad sandwiches they had there.
Part of traveling through new countries is that you have to figure out grocery store etiquette. It has been an anxiety-inducing learning curve for me because I always feel embarrassed when I do something wrong. Such as: choosing the wrong bread bag for the loaf I wanted and a store employee quickly coming over to correct me. Or, not weighing my produce and putting a price tag on them before getting to the cash register (and the check out lady getting up in a huff to do it herself.) Or, walking through the wrong sliding glass door and having everybody in the check out lines turning to look at me, laughing at my confusion, and then pointing a different direction.
We did a quick little ditty out of town, bopping around turns until we got to the “big hill“ that a few cyclists warned us about. Having just cycled over the Alps, I was skeptical of these comments. How hard could it be? (Ok maybe I was feeling like hot shit, just a little bit). But, when we finally reached it, it made sense. While not necessarily hard, it was very long. Around every bend, I thought it was the last uphill, but it kept going. As it turned out, we were routing around a notable canyon. I’m grateful for when challenging things are at least beautiful.
A particularly unexpected challenge were the strong headwinds that we fought throughout the day. Even in the easiest gear, pushing against wind can be extremely difficult. Uri and Claire were having a hard time with it. Comparatively, my brain was on autopilot, and I was fairly disassociated from the present moment, just cranking out the windy miles with no love or hate for the experience. Proper zombie-mode.
As we progressed, the area started to get a little more industrial, a contrast from the adorable towns with church bells and livestock that we were fond of. There were factories and businesses behind fences, and the roads were less bike friendly. But, we could see mountains in the distance! Mountains that eventually surrounded us and directed us into an impressive valley.
Here in the valley, there were so many varieties of agricultural products. We passed corn fields, wheat, apples orchards, vineyards, and (my personal favorite) strawberries! The smell hit us before we realized what the fields were even growing. It was like the freshest of homemade strawberry jam, but x10 in fragrance and strength. I wanted to remember this scent juxtaposed with the mountains and vineyards.
We happily followed the valley until we were interrupted by a short construction zone that we weren’t allowed to pass. Some annoyed/angry German words redirected us back to the construction stop sign. As a result, we routed up a very steep hill that involved hike-a-biking gravel and a lot of sweating. We were rewarded with a quiet, sleepy road that was breezy, rolling through vineyards and even giving us some treasured downhills. I was feeling pretty tired from the effort, but it was so uplifting to be in this beautiful place overlooking this valley.
When we returned to the main route, we continued winding through more tiny towns with tight alleyways and cute houses and fountains. Everywhere, there were fountains. Unless otherwise noted, the fountain water was good for drinking, and it was relieving to always have this accessible. The little spouts would pour into a larger pool, often quite large and deep, begging for a quick full body submerge (though we had never done this). Instead, we dipped our helmets, bandanas, and shirts (mainly mine) in the water to cool off. They’re dry within a half hour in the heat/sun.
All the unexpected climbing was suddenly behind us when we ended on more buttery perfect cycleway. We remained here for 20 speedy miles next to the river before arriving at a bridge crossing. With the Swiss flag on one side, we crossed over and were welcomed by the Liechtenstein flag. We were excited to camp out in this little country (the 4th smallest in Europe)! Except, it’s very easy to accidentally bike across the whole country since it’s about 4 miles wide and 15 miles long. And, that’s what we did. It wasn’t until I looked at Strava a few days later that I found we had camped out in Austria by accident instead!
On our way to the camping spot, we did a hard U-turn when we saw a smattering of people eating gelato. Having survived through a gelato desert across mid to northern Switzerland, this was heavily welcomed by all of us. With so many glorious flavors, the server ended up choosing for us: I was given a cherry gelato, Claire a poppyseed, and Uri had something mysterious but tasty- we aren’t quite sure what it was.
The campground was a little more bougie than we had anticipated. We arrived too late to check in, but we were allowed to camp and then pay in the morning. We pitched next to a fenced soccer field near other tenters. What sets this campground apart from all others is that it had a washer! And a dryer! It was the first dryer we’ve seen accompanied with a washer, so we were all extremely excited to finally wash our clothes (as I’m sure everyone else was who was within smell shot of us). After all, it had been a week since my clothing had been washed.
The other best part of this campground was that it came with an enormous swimming pool and water slides. While it closed at 8 PM, Uri and I made the most of it for the last 20 mins. It felt amazing to step away from planning and navigating and surviving to act like a child. I only wish we could’ve played longer. During this time, Claire opted to catch up on some phone calls, and we rejoined together for some dinner.
Today was an important day for the group. This was our first long day after the Alps, so our mileage ramped up/ doubled. We had also been camping for a few straight days now, and we hadn’t had a Warmshowers host or the ability to just sleep off the ground with a roof over our heads.
One of the tough things about being in a group is that challenging conversations come up and it can be uncomfortable to navigate. We are all doing this difficult thing together, and it’s important for us to be in sync with each other and our needs. So, we had a group check-in to touch base on where we’re at, how we’re feeling, and what our expectations are moving forward. It was a valuable conversation, and I’m so happy with our openness to discuss what was working for us and what wasn’t.
Day 18: Feldkirch, Austria to Eschenz, Switzerland
(78 miles, 732 ft of gain, Strava map)
This was one of the easiest days we had in a while, in terms of elevation gain. We were on a cycleway for almost the whole day. It was sunny, slightly breezy, and all of us were tuned into either music, podcast, or audiobook to pass the time. I was listening to a book suggested by Claire called Revolutions, which is about the history of women and the bicycle. This has been an amazing book to listen so far, inspiring me to push hard and to celebrate the hard work that women had to do to be able to use this “freedom machine”. This machine that I am using so simply now. Conversely, Claire was listening to a multi-episode podcast about the quest for the perfect pasta design. What makes the perfect pasta, you may ask yourself? Well, it is defined by three criteria: its forkability (how well you can stick a fork in it), sauceability (how well it retains sauce), and some kind of metric for how well your teeth can bite into it. Super important stuff! Uri, however, jammed out to music and listened to episodes from the Moth podcast, one of our personal favorites.
We were sidetracked today by a vending machine in the middle of nowhere next to a farm. After doing a strong U-turn to check it out, we decided it was a good opportunity to buy something for our Warmshowers host that evening. We ended up choosing a wine-like bottle with an apple logo, assuming it was apple cider. A German-speaking man came out from the farm, and we showed him what we bought, displaying our excitement and mimicking drinking it. He immediately said “No! Salad!” It turned out we had bought a whole bottle of apple vinegar. He phone called a younger man who spoke English to help us, which turned into a mini tour of the buffalo/cow farm. Uri and I were convinced to buy some buffalo milk ice cream in the hopes of trying this extra fatty, exponentially rich milk, but we accidentally chose a lemon sorbet container instead. We are pretty sad about our two failed attempts at reading German labels.
The afternoon was spent cycling alongside Lake Obersee. It’s incredibly popular to cycle around this lake with its cute shops, towns, and boat and bicycle rentals. Again, it reminded us much of the Finger Lakes in New York that we are so used to riding. Along this lake, we needed to do an emergency espresso stop since I was falling asleep on my bike. What welcomed us was an airy, hip, beach-y, outdoor deck seating space with swings that overlooked the lake. Uri and I ordered coffee, Claire a tea, and the three of us did some minor route planning and messaging of future Warmshowers hosts.
To get to our host’s house for the night required a 77 mile day. After our group conversation yesterday about doing manageable distances of roughly 60 miles a day, the 77 goal was outside our group’s comfort range. Thankfully, our host suggested that we could train any mileage to the town, and he would pick us up. Hoorah!
When 60 miles rolled around, Claire chose to try out the train system while Uri and I were still feeling pretty good and wanted to push the last 16 miles to the town of Eschenz. Part of this drive is because Uri is heavily motivated to bike every mile of this trip if possible. Unfortunately, rain was incoming so we only had 1.5hr to get there. With much weaving and rolling up and down hills, we burst into an endurance sprint for as long as we could hold. I could feel the lactic acid in my quads and my energy levels depleting as we raced to beat the storm. There is always a level of excitement and hidden energy that gets unlocked when you are racing something. Kind of like the hidden extra stomach that opens for dessert.
In the meantime, Claire bought her train ticket, but someone misdirected her, advising her to take the eastbound train heading the opposite direction. After getting off at the next station and biking back to the station she started at, she finally was able to re-board the correct train and head towards town. Because the train only comes every half hour, she arrived at the station just five minutes after Uri and I arrived, both sweat-covered and physically exhausted. All of us happy though since this was fortunately moments before the heavy downpour began.
When we heard that our host’s name was Robin, Claire and I assumed that it would be a really cool cyclist lady. When we found out he was a male farmer, we assumed he was going to be an older gentleman. Instead, a very tall, thin, fit guy our age stepped out of a car. He had tattooed outlines of all the countries of the world on his calves and quads. In the pouring rain, he strapped our bikes to the back of his car and did two trips up a very long hill to get us all to his house. In addition to being so sweet and kind, he was also incredibly well traveled and cultured, having spent time in Asia and Africa. It was very clear that he cared about global issues. After all, the focus of his social work career is on international conflict.
Robin showed us to our humble yet absolutely awesome abode for that night: a small trailer that his brother and his friends built for a place to drink and party. For the handiwork of some older teenagers, it was stunning. It was all wood on the inside with a little wooden table and benches and very wide bunk beds where two adults could sleep comfortably next to each other. It was perfect for us!
After washing up, we met Robin and his mother in the main house where we were served pasta and salad. We were so hungry that the vat of pasta had mere strands remaining. Robin’s sister came to the table and was comically taken aback by the lack of food remaining. We all chatted until fairly late in the evening.
One of the things that I really enjoyed about this visit was the banter between Robin and his mom. His mom was learning English and was doing a really wonderful job trying to communicate her thoughts and ideas to us. It was adorable to see Robin support her and patiently wait for her to communicate her opinions, teasing her every now and then when she would say something incorrect (and she would tease him back). It was very clear that between their relationship and the interactions with the two young granddaughters (twins!), that there was just a lot of love, care, and kindness in this house. And that was further exemplified by the fact that they took in three strangers, fed them, and saw them along on their journey. We will always be grateful.
Day 19: Eschenz to Zürich
(29.7 miles, 1526 ft of gain, Strava map)
We woke up in the morning to a very large spread of cereals, breads, jams, coffee, and tea. Our slow-ish breakfast was accompanied by Robin, the two granddaughters, and his mom. One of the twins started to cry and say something heartbreaking in German, which was translated for us as “But I don’t want coffee!” Uri had accidentally taken her mug and was pouring coffee for himself into it.
After our many goodbyes and group photo, we started the morning off with some very steep and curving downhills that branched into different pathways like veins through tight village roads. With little hesitation, we would launch down one of the veins, zipping along it before the path branched again. It was an exciting morning.
As we approached Zürich, the countryside started to melt away, and their urban area soon began. Navigating through the town was fairly simple, but traffic picked up and we had to merge with vehicles on the road a number of times. Our goal was to approach the city from the top to get to our hosts’ houses for the night.
Zürich had many Warmshowers, but most couldn’t host us. Two people responded positively, but the sleeping arrangements weren’t the best for three people. So, we split up, only a few minutes ride from each other. Claire would be staying in a private room, and Uri and I would be in a small 4-room flat on a pullout couch while the host was away for the weekend.
When we arrived to Claire’s place, Andrea (the host) left a key in the mailbox with Claire‘s name on it. We went up to the apartment to see an explosion. There were kids’ items strewn across the floor: children’s games, toys, and clothing. While the mess was obvious, the closer you looked the more fascinating it became. The infinite crafts hanging from the ceilings and walls were all nature-themed. World maps were on the walls and dried herbs were hanging in the windows. It was very clear that this woman was very involved with her children and prioritized their outdoor education. We are very excited to learn more about her when she would come home that evening.
Uri and I went to meet our host, Milosh, nearby.
A guy much like Robin showed up on a bicycle to let us into his flat. When he told us that he was from Winterthrup, we made the connection that he also knew Robin: It turned out that Milosh’s girlfriend has a friend who is Robin’s roommate!
We were very impressed with Milosh’s flat. It was very modern, down-to-earth, and minimalist. There were beautiful hanging lights covered in birch bark, and the tables were simple and wooden. It was an open, airy place with no AC but it had a lovely cross breeze with the open windows. A wonderful place to have a rest day. Even in the city, there was environmental consciousness: compost and recycling bins on the balcony, washer/dryer sheets that don’t come in plastic, no AC. It was the standard.
After unloading all of our things into the living room, we joined Milosh at his girlfriend’s house for some socializing and summer rolls. "Aparo": the appetizers and socializing element before dinner. I wish we had this designated time in the United States. During this time, we learned more about Milosh and how he had an electrician apprenticeship followed by his career in maintaining solar panels. The organization he works for encourages 3-4 day work weeks and no hierarchal positions; everyone is on the same level and makes decisions together. It sounded incredibly healthy and well balanced, and it must pay enough for him to afford a 2000e/ month flat in Zürich. While we chatted, we stuffed rice paper with veggies and sauce- delicious!
We met with Claire in our flat for a spaetzle dinner, and then Uri and I walked downtown to explore a music festival that was happening on the river. Multiple smoke machines were filling the crowded space as two different stages played music. Edgy and fashion-forward people lounged on the grass and by the river drinking. We heard many languages: French, German, English, Spanish, Arabic. It was so packed it was hard to move around. Afterwards, we walked around the city a little more, appreciating the nightlife and the fact that people were still recreating in the parks at 11 PM.
Day 20: Rest Day in Zürich!
(8 miles of walking, including 2 miles to coffee! Map)
Uri and I had a lazy morning in our flat until 10 AM when we walked along the river towards Lake Zürich. There was a lot of graffiti on the walls (almost encouraged), but this wasn’t associated with a run-down, crappy-maintained, urine smelling city that I was used to. People of all ages were already recreating outside: playing volleyball, cycling, swimming, lounging.
We routed fairly quickly to Old Town, which was closer to the lake. it was such a fun morning exploring all the side streets and shops, getting coffee, and aimlessly walking around. We ate more gelato and perused an extensive outdoor market with many knick-knacks, clothes, paintings, rugs, and antiques. There was a pianist in the center, filling the market with such lovely music. While there were hundreds of people, it still felt calm and quiet.
We met Claire in the afternoon to route plan and delegate tasks for the following days to Amsterdam. We had intentions of going swimming in the river, which was crowded with people sun bathing and jumping off the bridges into the water. But, when Uri and I returned to the flat to drop off our bags/money/passports, we were so exhausted that we just couldn’t bring ourselves to leave again.
Besides going to the grocery store, tidying the flat, and making dinner, we were properly couched for the rest of the night.
Claire, in the meantime, had a slower morning, not leaving her house until after noon. She went to the park to meet her host Andrea and her acrobatic friend. Claire, who teaches circus lessons, had a great time with this friend and practiced some partner acrobatics in the park! In the evening, she had an extensive grocery shopping trip for the upcoming days and ate dinner with Andrea and the three tiny, cute terrors.
Day 21: Zürich to Weil am Rein, Germany
(60.7 miles, 1,890 ft of gain, Strava map)
This morning, Uri and I met Claire at a crisp 8 AM to have enough time to tackle the 60 mile day. Out of the second floor window were three blond little heads: the children of Claire’s host, Andrea.
“Hello goodbye! Hello goodbye!” were the only words they could say in English, and they shouted them over and over until we biked away down the road.
The first 20 miles were super speedy out of Zürich. For a Sunday morning, the city was sleepy and lazy, so we had little issues leaving. Most of the riding was also downhill, and so the miles passed faster than any other day on the tour so far. We rode alongside more corn, fields of lettuce, kale, and to our excitement, strawberries! The land looked like a patchwork quilt, all yellow squares stitched with various shades of green and brown. Cycling along the edges of the patches felt as if we were the thread and needle.
We had two larger hills today, and it was one of our hottest days yet. The heat and cloudless sky was mixed with heavy, sticky humidity, causing my forearms to even sweat. Pairing this with the isolated elevation gains meant for drained water bottles and soaked clothing. A perfect transfer of liquid.
We had one minor repair on route. Uri’s brake was rubbing on his tire, and his chain fell off into his back derailleur, causing the plastic shield to pop off. Claire’s Repairs was immediately on scene (servicing internationally now and within seconds of tragedy striking, wow!) and helped Uri fix these issues. Meanwhile, the homeowners next door kept finding excuses to look at things on their balcony, turning away quickly when I would catch them peeking at us. Regardless, we were back on the road, sweating again and moving at a fast and steady pace. When you sweat a lot, the downhills make your sweat have a cooling effect.
A small town with an inviting water fountain and clock tower had us stopped for a period of time. We dunked our helmets, washed our faces, filled our bottles, and admired the surrounding buildings. Our bikes, propped against the fountain in the baking sun, stared at us as we stared at them from the shade. We idled, killing time before we finally built the urge to get back on the saddle.
This effort was immediately thwarted when a few minutes later we passed a gelato stand. We dismounted and ate our 4th gelato (Claire’s third) in more shade. It was a great afternoon! This town was all cobblestones with flowing flags from many of the buildings. It was quiet yet drew many visitors. A quaint place to be on a Sunday afternoon.
For the next 8 miles or so, we entered the outskirts of Basel and then went further into the city. We didn’t stop here since our host was north of the town, and our bike trail led us most of the way to the house, past the river, under overpasses, and to a suburban area with pastel painted houses with rose gardens.
A white and gray bearded man in his early 60s opened the door as we loitered outside wondering if it was the right house. He wore a green polo with an Africa Organic logo and was very smiley. We were welcomed inside and shown to our two separate rooms on the third floor. They were toasty bedrooms with stagnant air and some flies buzzing around, but there were beds nonetheless. The house was a little in disarray as Chris said he had just moved in a year ago, so we brushed it off.
As we sat around the kitchen table with a variety of cold juices, water, and flavored syrup, we chatted with Chris about the usuals: why he was on Warmshowers, what he did for work, general bike touring things. Shortly into the conversation, he mentioned the “plandemic”. As in, the conspiracy that the COVID-19 pandemic was planned the whole time and the government couldn’t be trusted. He also found it questionable to support Ukraine with artillery, and he not so subtlety mentioned his disdain for the United States tech industry, some of which was kinda legit. He actually disliked much of the US, and we hoped that didn’t extend to us. His stance about the National Democratic Party of Germany not being neo-nazis started to concern us (I have no idea how this came up). FYI, this group is an established neo-nazi group, having tried to nominate Rudolph Hess, a notorious nazi, for the Nobel Peace Prize.
After these comments, we exchanged some glances before disbanding, agreeing to meet up for dinner with Chris in the evening. His ideologies were concerning, but he was still kind towards us. There wasn’t anything overtly pushing us out the door, so we decided to stay and leave extra early the following morning. With him seemingly agreeing with neo-nazi views, we decided to call Uri “Dan” for the evening, an abbreviation of his middle name, and definitely did not mention he or Claire are Jewish.
While Uri and Claire worked on Uri’s bike, I took a shower in a jacuzzi with a shower head nozzle and no curtain, kneeling on the tub floor to not get water everywhere. The toilet was filled with gray water, and dead bugs floated on the surface of the water. A hole was in the wall behind the toilet. Behind the dirty exterior, however, Chris provided all the things we needed with a gentle laugh and smile. Fluffy towels, sheets, extra pillows and blankets, two beds. For dinner, he cooked us pasta, a meat dish, and made us salad. For dessert, he served us ice cream. The whole time, we bombarded him with questions about everything that wasn’t remotely political (grocery stores, food, traveling). Claire recounted her entire 6 episode podcast on the perfect pasta noodle to which Chris got up and left multiple times. A true success.
I am conflicted. Chris believes things that we sincerely disagree with, things that threaten our comfort and feelings of safety, yet I also feel like a poor guest. A stranger welcomed us into his house, fed us, gave us beds and a place to sleep, and I have not been as equally gracious. I do feel guilty whispering about him when he’s not around and exchanging glances about him. It’s not our best interaction, but I think we need to accept that hosts are a mixed bag. The next one will be better, and I just need to be grateful for the time being.
Day 22: Weil am Rein to Allmannsweier, Germany
(75.11 miles, 226 ft of gain, Strava map)
Our alarms went off at 6 AM. While Chris didn’t do anything weird, we just felt better leaving early. Plus, we could try to beat the heat and get to a coffee shop. So, I navigated us (accidentally the wrong direction) to a café that was also unfortunately closed. Double fail. Uri found a nearby alternate that was open, so we gratefully filled up on coffee, tea, and chocolate croissants.
When back on route, the road was back to being flat and straight, so we resumed listening to our podcasts, music, and audiobooks again. Shortly into the day, we crossed a circus tent and beelined to it. Claire teaches circus in Ithaca, so meeting other circus people abroad is very important to her. As we entered, there were a couple people practicing different things from juggling to handstands to simply stretching. All of them were really friendly, and they offered us iced coffee. As it turned out, this company was the only pre-professional school in Germany! While Uri and I drank more caffeine, we watched Claire juggle with some of the other girls.
While following the monotonous road alongside the Rhine, I continued to listen to Revolutions: How women changed the world on two wheels. There were a lot of wonderful things to come out of this book from the original fight to be able to ride a bike (it used to not be lady-like, and women were seen as too weak and incapable to do it) to women actually competing and winning races. The book also talked generally about how women’s adventures will often be feminized in an Eat, Pray, Love fashion; there’s an association with running from or escaping from something. Contrarily, men will go on adventures simply for the sake of having the adventure. Likewise, when women plan solo traveling, they are often met with interrogations on plans for safety and defense while solo trips for men seemed more as a rite of passage. Interesting viewpoints for the day. Either way, this book was incredibly inspiring.
The day was pretty uneventful. Much of the road was a mix of gravel and pavement, and it turned into mostly gravel towards the end of the day. We were alongside the Rhine for many miles, dipping into the woods to ride single track and double track before returning back to the Rhine. We kept up at a brisk pace of 13 mph at the beginning, allowing us to feel a breeze. When we stopped for breaks, the mugginess and swampy air closed in, along with buzzing mosquitoes.
We paused for lunch in Breisach. Here, there were Viking cruises that were all docked as tourists unloaded to explore the town. There was a large plaza surrounded by pastel colored shops, a castle on the nearby hill, ice cream, and water fountains. I enjoyed biking through the mini geysers that would pop out of the ground like a whack-a-mole while Claire was getting a sim card to use in Europe (Switzerland had their own special Sim card). With 30 miles left to go, we were stalling.
We arrived at the Warmshowers house for the evening around 6 PM. A Daniel Craig-looking man opened the door and broke into a large smile, welcoming us and inviting us to store our bikes inside his garage. He led us in to the backyard which was filled with raised garden beds, potted plants, outdoor seating, and a large open grassy area for tenting. His wife brought out cold, lemon water for us and later beer. After showering, we relaxed, ate dinner, and route planned.
A young neighbor boy came over to the house, and the host informed us that the boy had told his teacher that we were staying for the night. The boy wanted to know our names and where we were from so that he could tell his class about us tomorrow. It was so heartwarming! I hope that it convinces more people to join Warmshowers!
Awesome writing Erin! It‘a so fun to read! y’all are killin it