Day 21 Biasca - Locarno - Sept. 14

Breakfast was scheduled  for  8:30 or whenever the first ones got down to the eating area. There are early birds in every group.  It would be a late start time, 9:30 since we were only cycling 45 kilometers today.  We were staying right in the middle of Biasca, a very old town.  A tourist information office was right around the corner from where we were staying and there was a very unique hand in the cobblestones there.  I asked the lady in the information office what that was all about and she explained it to us.    Biasca is situated in a valley where three rivers come together.  She gave us maps to show this to us – very interesting.  There were mountains all around us – we figured the sun wouldn’t shine on the streets of Biasca until at least 10:00 in the morning.  Fascinating churches just up the hill from where we were – one with the 12 stations of the cross that some of our group toured.

This vending machine was in front of the Bike Shop in Biasca - here you could buy tire tubes when the store was closed.  This was not the only type of vending machine we saw - cigarette vending machines were very plentiful in all of Europe - they were at street corners just begging for minors to come buy and smoke.....how sad.

Was still the season for sunflowers

Bellinzona from all different viewpoints - fascinating city

 What we weren’t aware of was that Bill had planned a two hour tour of a city 20 kilometers away in Bellinzona.  Bill had been here before and knew what there was to see.  We all meet up at 11:00 and off the cyclists go looking the part in their spandex and cycling jerseys and their cycling shoes…those who thought of it had their walking shoes readily available.   The brochures tell us you will be surrounded by testaments to thousands of years of history.  It’s hard to put into words all the info that I have in a few words. The town is known as the key to the Alps and the gateway to Lombardy and the name Bellinzona can be traced back to 590 BC. The towers in Bellinzona stood guard over the ancient route to the Alpine passes.  The city is protected by three castles and is still encircled by solid walls today and proudly displays the characteristic style of medieval Lombard towns.  The old patrician residences lining the narrow streets, testify of its noble past along with the traces of past military might.    The towers, town walls and castles have enjoyed UNESCO World Heritage status since the year 2000 in recognition of the fortification’s unique role in controlling transit between the north and south of the Alps.

We toured the Castelgrande – climbed up as high as we could go and could see the city below us from all sides.  We could see across to the other castles and see how they had all been connected at one point in time.  Unfortunately we couldn’t stay here forever, there are a few more kilometers to go and these will be around the lake by way of bike paths.  Too bad the van can’t travel the same route…  Warmer temperatures are here to stay as well – it’s in the high 20’s – we’re in the valley, palm trees are all around us and lots and lots of vineyards.  We don’t see any grapes being harvested yet, must be too early.  It was a very scenic bike ride today with no hills to climb except for one in town to get to the hostel.  Most enjoyable ride!



Waterfront in Locarno...



The cyclists arrive at the youth hostel by 3:00 – a very early day – happy hour starts as soon as the bikes are put away.  It’s great to be outside enjoying the sunshine before we’re expected for supper at 6:30.  A great way to end the second last day of the tour……tomorrow is a long day of cycling yet – we leave Switzerland some time in the afternoon and go into Italy.  This part of Switzerland is very Italian already so it should not be more of a culture shock for us tomorrow.       

Distance cycled 45 kilometers                Flat tires    2               Total Flats   20