Route 66 - October 2008

by Dave Wells

With the change of the weather and winter coming in quick, the chance of grabbing maybe the last warm days couldn’t be missed. I had only heard about the ‘Route 66’ ride during the week so it was a bit of a last minute idea to head there. Just to step back a bit, route 66 is not the fabled black top drive in the US but part of a network of trails across Switzerland all signposted and easy to follow. The trails can be found at www.schweizmobil.com where there is an English language link in the top r/h side of the opening page. There are a variety of trails for walking, road biking, mtb and canoeing. Under the MTB link there are 3 national routes and quite a few regional routes. Each route is full of information including stages, maps, profiles and a variety of other useful hints and advice. Schweizmobil was officially launched in April of this year and the trails are very well marked with bright red arrows. It would be very difficult to get lost on one of the rides.

I have previously been lucky enough to ride 5 stages of the Jura bike route (route 3) with Martin from Darwin and ex-Darwin resident Katherine. It was a great 3 days for me. This time I decided to go it alone. Each stage is really a 1 day ride to allow for the tourist riders who stop many times along the way. I decided to try for the 2 stages of route 66 in one day. Bye the way, route 66 is in Ticino which is the Italian speaking part of Switzerland.

Route 66 Start. So, with a 6:00am start to the Saturday and the red rocket Subaru all loaded the night before, I was off towards Ticino via the Gottard Tunnel which is a 16km tunnel that takes most traffic north or south through a mountain range. I was all carbo loaded the night before with pasta...and a few beers ? so hopefully I was ready. There was only just a hint of light above the fog as I headed to the tunnel. Luckily, due to my early start, there was no traffic jams yet. The previous Saturday there had been an 11km jam on the North side! After the tunnel I had to stop for a coffee and gipfeli (Swiss croissant) at a road house and then it was on to Lugano where the ride started. After a short diversion I came to the start which was at a football stadium with free parking, a rare thing in Switzerland. The start of the route was well marked with large signs and a map with the route shown.

Stage 1. Following the signs around some housing and industrial areas by a creek took me to the beginning of the climbing. Mainly on bitumen to start with that consisted of narrow single lane mountain roads and short sections of main roads through villages and chestnut forests to the start of the steep climbing and the dirt. Not a granny gear climb but still quite steep and went on for many km’s. Then the real climbing started! Right next to a pig farm so deep breathing wasn’t the best option! But once the single track started the scenery was fantastic. Through forests rich in autumn colours with one short rocky section that needed portage. With no sun penetrating the dense foliage cover, there are many slippery areas of stones and leaves to be aware of but the climbing was a lot of fun until clearing the forest at higher altitude.
Route 66 2400m. Then it was out on to some wider but steep forest trails until climbing above the last of the trees and making the final crest right on the border with Italy. A deep sided single track traversed part of the hillside; worn, I guess by the constant animal traffic. A bit tricky to keep the cranks in the right position while pedalling so as not to hit the banks of the track! The last short steep climb up a wider track brought me to the end of the stage at a place called San Lucio. An ancient church of the same name was on the lower part of the ridge looking into Italy on one side and Switzerland on the other. There is a mountain refuge a little further up with an Italian flag so I presumed it must have been on the Italian side. Just below was a small building which housed a restaurant which served drinks and light meals to the hikers and bikers passing by.

Stage 2.After a ½hr break with a hot ovomaltine to wash down my pre-made peanut butter and banana sandwich, it was time to move on again and tackle the return leg. The welcome sun had dried the sweat from my DORC shirt while having a break so I was feeling more comfortable again. Eg. Heading downhill at a high pace with sweat soaked gear can be freezing!

Alpe PietrarossaFrom the start it was obvious that this was going to be a different ride than the first stage. A single track led across the hillside weaving up and down, crossing small stony creeks. Lots of loose stones and rocks littered the track but it all led to the excitement of the ride. Not really one that I would recommend to the faint hearted! As the trail dropped down the mountain, it merged into a wider dirt track then followed onto a narrower track. This wound down through some orchards along a trail with a very overgrown stone wall against the bank. Must have been some old access road across the mountains. I guess at this stage I was dreaming up ideas of Roman Legions marching over the hills on their way to waging wars around Europe! Anyway, back to reality. The track soon arrived at a mountain refuge and further on to a wider bitumen road. This was a real buzz and gobbled up a couple of k’s before the marked trail headed off on another single track descent. And the fun started again!! The trail passed a huge cross which overlooked the valley and distant Lugano. A little hazy but still a great view. Then on-on along the single track at a great rate of knots having a ball...until a miss-judged diversion around a rock left me lying on my back! Camelbacks have more uses than just carrying gear, I can tell you! A quick shake off and I was on my way again. Continuing down, passing ruins of an old farm then a tight and twisty bitumen section on to the dirt again and the forests. Just after the beginning of the dirt I had to climb an extremely steep track that had been covered in concrete and then gouged to allow vehicle traction in the winter. The top of the climb also was the edge of a valley and just as I reached the peak, a glider flew silently right in front of me! Amazing and spectacular.
Andermatt Singletrack. Good to see the DORC Jersey in Switzerland. The ride then continued through the forests along a variety of trails, passing through old stone houses and down some steep and rocky single track. Great adrenalin boost! As the track dropped to lower altitudes there were more villages to pass trough until the final arrival back at the start.

Overall, a great ride of 5 ½ hrs plus pit stops. Lots of hard climbing and some of the best single track with spectacular scenery along the way.