Day 20 - Andermatt - Biasca - Sept. 13

It’s a 9:30 start today – good thing because it’s wet and cold out first thing this morning. Breakfast is delicious and we lingered over the hot coffee to warm our hands because we knew we would need that for later. Bill told us that today we would cross the Great Continental Divide – the water now flows into the Mediterranean instead of the North Sea. We would also be entering a new culture – from the Germanic into the Italian.

We gathered for prayer before setting off – it was to be a 12 kilometer uphill before it would become a 40 kilometer downhill – this downhill, we had been told, would be fast and furious on switchbacks and on cobblestone surface. John prayed for safety and for good weather…..

Right out of town the long climb started and this did warm up the cyclists a bit but the fog kept rolling in and out for the next 12 kilometers. We reached the absolute top of the Gotthardpass – stats for here are 2091 m or 6860 ft. It’s a photo spot – everyone stopped to get out of the cold – the wind is howling and the temperature is in single digits. Fog is still rolling in and out…..it’s just before noon. Here bike path #3 meets Highway 2 again and the cyclists get ready to take off….and you know what, the fog lifts and the sun comes out – answered prayer….

We’ve noticed a definite change between the German and Italian culture even in the architecture of the houses we’ve passed. Flowers in window boxes have dwindled to just a few – road signs are not recognizable as no one knows Italian.

Our next stop is Airolo – the cyclists come into town one after the other – it had been a very tense ride over cobblestone roads that snaked back and forth for 12 kilometers. This was enough to shake everyone up – one cyclist even took air out of his tire to make it easier or so he thought. Anna chose not to take this road because she had seen what it looked like on Bill’s computer. Thankfully no one needed assistance to get down to Airolo. They warmed themselves with cups of coffee and hot chocolate and are on their way again.

This is what the cobble stone paths look like.  The cyclists even saw the locals repairing the paths by hand - very tedious work.

This is not the real thing - couldn't get close enough for that.  One of the cyclists did manage to cycle down a cobble stone path with cows and cow patties that he had to try to miss...

 This gives a little idea of what the swithch backs looked like

We next meet up in Giornico – by now the temperature has risen 15 degrees – enough to make a significant difference to the cyclists and even those not cycling. Here we spot the ruins of the ancient Sta. Maria del Castello - it’s located among the vineyards – some of the cyclists even get up close enough to ring the bells. There’s palm trees growing along with grapevines so it’s got to be moderate climate here – we stop to sample the grapes – they are ripe….

St. Nicholas appears to be important here as well – there’s a statute of him on the edge of town as well as a church by that name….beautiful old town….lots of photos were taken. From here it’s only another 9 kilometers into town and most of the cyclists arrive just after 3:00. At the Gotthard Pass two cyclists get ahead of the pack and they are in town already by 1:30 today so they have cased the town out for us. It’s beautiful weather and all the cyclists arrived safely so more answered prayer. We are in a hotel in the heart of the city and everyone is out for a walking tour before our supper at 7:00.

Distance cycled 65 kilometers        Flats   1            Total Flats  18