The Storm

The morning's ride out of Basel was a gentle climb through a large valley, all the way to Delemont, where I had a couple of brioche I bought from a petrol station and a coke whilst sat in the nice comfy seats outside a McDonalds. The landscape opened out onto a small plain before I was plunged into a steep gorge that ran from Moutier to Court. I arrived in Court at lunch time so whilst drinking a coffee and eating a bowl of chips from a small cafe, I studied my map and decided to take the mountain road to Grenchen instead of following the valley through a pass all the way to Bienne. I slightly underestimated the climb - it was about 8 miles in total and took me just under 2 hours due to the road being extremely steep, which meant that I could only just crawl up it, standing on my pedals and in my lowest gear! A bit of pushing at the steepest part and a couple of stops were needed but I soon got to the top, covered in sweat thanks to being out in the sun for most of the way up. The climb wasn't too bad overall though and picturesque mountain top scenery made my decision to climb the right one. The meadow that was situated right beside a large cliff had stunning views of the valley below, which had small towns dotted along the river that snaked its way through the middle it and a row of snow covered mountains that rose up on the other side of the valley. I easily decided that I was going to camp on top of the mountain as it was also slightly later than I had planned due to the amount of time it took me to get up there! 

There was a walking path right along the edge of the cliff where, on a small patch of grass behind a couple of trees, there was a fire pit and the remains of a fire, so I cooked my pasta on a small campfire which I built instead of using my gas cooker. It was easily the best camping spot I'd been in all trip but because of the fire, the steep climb in the sun and the lack of shower, I planned the next day as a small ride into Bienne where I would stop at a campsite beside the lake and wash all of my stuff.

View off the top of the mountain (camera doesn't quite do it justice...)

I got up early as it was a bit cold and I was pitched right beside a footpath but that wouldn't have been a problem as the fog had come in and you couldn't see more than 10m right on the very top. I blasted down the mountain, maxing out at 40.1mph and only taking 17 minutes to do 7.5 miles before rolling nicely down the valley and into Bienne, where I stopped and had a couple of croissants and a coffee for breakfast. Because it was only 9.30am by this point, I changed my plan and rode all the way round the lake to Erlach instead, where I pitched the tent in a campsite that was 10 seconds walk from the water's edge. I bought some fresh bread and had a nice couple of sandwiches before I washed my clothes and had a shower just after I had gone for a swim in the lake.

Before the storm

It got to 6 in the evening before the weather turned. Black clouds appeared over the mountains, the wind picked up significantly so I got myself into my tent and packed everything up so it was nice and waterproof inside my panniers. The wind increased again then 5 minutes later, it rained and hailed like I have never seen it before. Within 10 minutes of it starting, I was lifted off the ground inside my tent as the water flooded the campsite and my tent, along with a few others, became absolutely swamped. After 45 minutes of being perched on my sleeping mat, trying not to get wet, it finally stopped so I got out and headed over to the reception. I chatted up the young receptionist, who had registered me and was impressed when she asked about my trip, to see if there was somewhere I could move my tent to that wasn't underwater. She disappeared into the office for about a minute then came out waving a set of keys at me. She said that she didn't want to see my cycling with all my stuff wet through so was letting me sleep in the static caravan that wasn't being rented out as a free upgrade! After moving and unpacking all my stuff, which covered the inside of the caravan, I had a burger from the restaurant as, even though I was still in Switzerland, it was cheap and warm then had another shower and went to sleep in the warm and dry!

A little bit of water got into my tent

I woke up to another beautifully sunny day so I managed to dry my tent inner and outer while I packed up and got ready to leave. A relatively uneventful day's riding later, I arrived in Moudon, where I set up camp in a cheap but nice campsite right beside a small river, another lovely place to camp for the third day in a row (if you ignore the rain).