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11-21-08, 11:35 AM
photos from riding over the Grosse Scheidegg pass in Switzerland (http://www.roberts-1.com/t/b08/ch/gs/index.htm)
I think Grosse Scheidegg is the prettiest most interesting pass with a paved road over it in Europe or North America, and I've visited lots of the high passes. It brings together so many of the things that make a mountain ride great -- dramatic rock peaks including the notorious Eiger, quiet villages, variety of steepness and curves, 4000-meter snow peaks + glaciers, meadows with animals, different kinds of animals, variety of paved road and dirt path surfaces, rushing creeks and optionally a big mountain lake.
Those wonderful features would be sufficient for #1 -- then add:
The highest 6 miles of road going the pass are closed to normal vehicle traffic.
Then add that 90% of the climb up the bike route from Interlaken to Grindelwald is off the main road, going thru little villages and farms.
Two things made it special for me doing it again in September: I climbed it up the west side from Interlaken on bike route 61, and I rode it when there was snow on more of the peaks.
My photos are a bit unfair, because people who ride it in high season July +August are unlikely to see it with so many peaks highlighted in bright white - (There is some snow visible all year round, but lots more is lots better). I got lucky in September with a snowstorm a couple of days before. But I suspect if you go there in May or early June, you don't need so much luck.
West side versus East side:
I think lots of cycle tourists have only ridden the main road on the west side, so they remember it mostly for having lots of high-speed vehicle traffic. Riding on bike route 61 gives a completely different perspective. Coming from Interlaken, just 3 km south at Wilderswil the bike route left the main road, crossed a wooden bridge onto a narrow paved road, and then I was riding thru quiet villages and farms . . . a section on dirt, then paved again, later dirt single-track alongside a wild creek (worked fine on my road bike), then paved single-lane climbing up to the north face of the Eiger.
So unless you completely detest riding some off pavement, try climbing up the west side on bike route 61 (not the main road).
And Grosse Scheidegg is not far from lots of other great riding in that part of Switzerland.
Ken
I think Grosse Scheidegg is the prettiest most interesting pass with a paved road over it in Europe or North America, and I've visited lots of the high passes. It brings together so many of the things that make a mountain ride great -- dramatic rock peaks including the notorious Eiger, quiet villages, variety of steepness and curves, 4000-meter snow peaks + glaciers, meadows with animals, different kinds of animals, variety of paved road and dirt path surfaces, rushing creeks and optionally a big mountain lake.
Those wonderful features would be sufficient for #1 -- then add:
The highest 6 miles of road going the pass are closed to normal vehicle traffic.
Then add that 90% of the climb up the bike route from Interlaken to Grindelwald is off the main road, going thru little villages and farms.
Two things made it special for me doing it again in September: I climbed it up the west side from Interlaken on bike route 61, and I rode it when there was snow on more of the peaks.
My photos are a bit unfair, because people who ride it in high season July +August are unlikely to see it with so many peaks highlighted in bright white - (There is some snow visible all year round, but lots more is lots better). I got lucky in September with a snowstorm a couple of days before. But I suspect if you go there in May or early June, you don't need so much luck.
West side versus East side:
I think lots of cycle tourists have only ridden the main road on the west side, so they remember it mostly for having lots of high-speed vehicle traffic. Riding on bike route 61 gives a completely different perspective. Coming from Interlaken, just 3 km south at Wilderswil the bike route left the main road, crossed a wooden bridge onto a narrow paved road, and then I was riding thru quiet villages and farms . . . a section on dirt, then paved again, later dirt single-track alongside a wild creek (worked fine on my road bike), then paved single-lane climbing up to the north face of the Eiger.
So unless you completely detest riding some off pavement, try climbing up the west side on bike route 61 (not the main road).
And Grosse Scheidegg is not far from lots of other great riding in that part of Switzerland.
Ken