clairedavieswriter

Day 6: Innertkirchen to Interlaken, 40.8k, 245m climbed 26/7/2025 It wasn’t looking good for Team Bernard’s warm-down ride this morning: No matter which app I consulted, a soaking seemed certain. But I’m all for looking on the bright side: at least we stayed dry yesterday. If the forecast had looked like this, I’m not sure…

Day 5: Andermatt to Innertkirchen, 64k, 1,415m climbing 25/7/2025 Today was the big one; the ride that had been worrying me ever since I worked out my end-to-end route: the Furka Pass, between Realp and Gletsch. I was putting on a brave face as I said goodbye to Team Midge early this morning, dressed warmly…

Day 4: Disentis to Andermatt, 34.2k, 1,008m climbed 24/7/2025 So was it worth schlepping 5 hours across the country (and back) to see England’s semi-final against Italy? You bet it was. Clearly, the Lionesses didn’t get the memo about a nice easy win, but who doesn’t love a 96th minute equaliser and a winner in…

Day 3: Thusis to Disentis, 69.5k, 1153m climbed 22/7/2025 According to my itinerary, today (Monday) and Wednesday were rest days. But I think you’ll agree that even the best laid plans should flex when your national team reaches the semis of a major tournament. So I brought forward ride day 3 to allow us to…

Day 2: Chapella to Thusis, 62.3k, 993m climbed 20/7/2025 Écoutez Guillaume, telling me I only climbed 993m today is just rude. It felt a lot more, because virtually all of them were packed into the short, hairpin-heavy strip of tarmac snaking up the mountain from the village of La Punt Chamues-ch to this little beauty…

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’.…