clairedavieswriter

Day 1: Schalkl to Chapella, 67.5k, 1176m climbed

19/7/2025

As readers of my earlier blogs will know, I do love to mark the start and finish of my end-to ends with a good border sign. For its simple immediacy, today’s was right up there with the best of them. It just reads ‘Schweiz | Österreich’. What more do you need?

Well, I suppose speed limits are also useful:

Either way, I was happy to have it confirmed that Team Bernard (that’s me, Bernard the bike, and Guillaume the grumpy Gallic guide, aka my Garmin GPS) had crossed into Switzerland at its most easterly point – just over my right shoulder in the photo below, as we bade farewell to Team Midge (ie Jon and Midge the motorhome) before starting our ride:

And what a ride it was. We spent all of it in the Engadine Valley – named after the river Inn (En in Romansh, the language of this area) which rushes downstream towards its date with the Danube:

The Engadine is described in guidebooks as ‘one of Switzerland’s most scenic valleys’. I’ve not been in the country long, but it would still be hard to disagree:

Obviously, we were pedalling upstream, which meant there was work to be done:

But the views more than compensated:

And while the unpaved sections were tougher on the legs than tarmac, they were gloriously traffic free, and who could complain about a shady riverside track on a hot day?

Aside from the gorgeous scenery, other highlights included the ubiquity of drinking fountains, which allayed any concern about running out of water:

The excellent signage (cycle paths are in red, walking routes in yellow:

The picturesque villages:

Whose houses were decorated with the painted ‘sgraffito’ that is typical of the Engadine region:

This one (which covered an entire house) appeared (guesswork on my part as I couldn’t find a Romansh translator online) to be a poem about the symbolism of colours. Something along the lines of
‘Blue, the colour of water, the source of life;
Brown: the earth;
Green, for hope and new growth;
Azure (?) for wealth and grandeur (?)
Rose for love.
Not sure where the boomerang fits in. Can any Romansh experts help, and correct my dodgy translation?

The weather was on my side today. Just as I crossed the Inn to begin a very long climb on the unshaded main road, the sun disappeared behind clouds. An hour or so later, thunder began rumbling around the mountaintops, and lightning slashed the sky. Just as fat raindrops started falling, shelter appeared in the form of a friendly cafe. How should I mark such an auspicious occasion? By trying the local produce of course. This is Switzerland’s answer to Coke:

No blog would be complete without a sign of the day, so here it is. Somewhat disappointingly, I think it just alerts people to the danger of falling rocks:

Happily, I reached my destination safe and sound:

Tomorrow, there’s an actual mountain to climb. See you on the other side.