September 5th, 2021

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Right after Eurobike in Friedrichshafen i started my European customer tour beginning in Switzerland. Doing my research to also touch the national Tour de Suisse i landed in the region of Andermatt in the Ursental. I stayed across Oberalppass and found out at my arrival that day the Alpenbrevett took place, a roadbike event with differnt courses and 3000 starters - now it was clear why a hotel was so difficult to get. Doing a little research online i found out that my planned tour is the silver level of the event, topping a gold and platin.

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The next day after breakfast i went by car to Andermatt to have a coud but sunny start of my ride. Warming up was quite short as the tour added 3 passes without any real flat parts. The hard facts were clear: 3 mountains with Furka, Nufenen and the famous cobblestone Tremola on St Gotthard, 3 times a climb of approx 1000m, 3 times over 2000m sea level, 3 so called Kantons with Uri, Wallis and Tessin and at the end 3 Bernhadiner on top of St. Gotthard.

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Approaching the base of Furka 2.429m looking at several switch backs made clear that this day will be a hard one but luckily the climb was already from early morning in the sun so the temperatures were ideal. Not a lot of riders did a tour this day as most of them made the event the day before but still some others were on the road as well. Reaching the top of Furka opens a beautiful landscape to touch after a small downhill the Rhone Glacier. Unfortunately also here the climate change with disappearing glaciers is defenitely visible. On the descente i had a nice view to the switch backs of Grimselpass which is a nice alternative for future rides.

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After a quite long downhill i rode into Obergesteln to take a left and start #2 - Nufenen 2478m. Was Furka with an average perscentage of 7,4 a more old school pass with Nufenen i needed to climb a more new age one. Due to the fact that in a more modern world cars can go steeper uphills the result was a 8,6% average on number 2 of the day. With 13k it was also quite long and the first part looked like never ending into a valley. The 2nd part again with hairpins brought me to the top and the first time to say to myself that after Nufenen it would be ok to stop the ride.

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Again the prize was a nice ride down and i did forget about the climb after seconds. Reaching Ariolo made clear that still 1 pass needs to be done - St Gotthard 2107m. With Tremola St Gotthard is one of the nicest climbs in the Alps and combined with the cobble stones a proove that here we have a historical pass but still with 7% on average. Even i did eat and drink a lot the start was pretty difficult for me and i wished to be already on top. But the longer the uphill took the more it went better again and so i could enjoy the gorgeous road winding up surrounded by beautiful high mountains.

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Reaching the top made it clear that i did it. From now just downhill until Andermatt. A coffee and a cake at the end sitting in the sun in a nice cafe in the center made it clear to m ethen - this was one of the most difficult tours.

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bike: Pretty Betty Specialized Tarmac S-Works

starring: Gerry Samer