Milano

With a early farewell to the guys, I head out into the rainy streets bound for Milan. It is the first day of rain so far and it really has a marked effect on my 'cycling mood'. The rain, combined with the precarious roads, means that it is with overwhelming relief that I reach Milan. Two things I learn from this day: bike trekking in Italy and in the rain is not pleasant.
Thankfully, Carlo has prepared a delicious pumpkin soup for my arrival. The perfect meal to put my misery behind me.
the next few days I spend looking about Milan and hanging out with Carlo. A particular delight is Snupi's pizzeria, a local haunt of Carlo's since he has been a kid.
I take an overnight FlixBus back to Berlin, rather than risk the October weather in the Alps.

Lugano

The plan was to take two days to reach Lugano, due to the fact that it is ~130km away and I need to pass two passes. San Bernadino Pass, at 2100m elevation, is the reason I have taken it easy up to this point. As it turns out, when the sun shines and the panorama is this beautiful, there is no reason to fret over elevation.
Most of the traffic is diverted into tunnel to avoid topping this pass. This means that, aside from some motorbikes, I am relatively alone climbing the switch-backed roads. At one point the road is closed and a road worker helps me bypass 100m elevation, by bunging my steed and I into the back of his van.
And what a magical view from the top.














Once over the pass, I realise differences immediately: all the signage is in Italian, the architecture is more reminiscent of Italian design and there is more of a casualness to everything - roads are not so well maintained, buildings are more likely to be undergoing renovation, the respect for cyclists decreases.
It is great fun to drop 1800m over 60km and it is definitely steeper from the Italian side of Switzerland; a fact that deters me from cycling back the same way.















Wild camping would prove difficult and my legs are still fresh, so I press on to Lugano.

I arrive in Lugano in the evening and get shown around the AirBnB. Alan and Donal have to yet to arrive, so I can chill out a few hours. The reason they have come here for the weekend is that they plan to attend a BitCoin conference being held here.

We spend the following days trekking about Lugano and attending BitCoin lectures and after parties. I am simply happy to have kitchen facilities and a wonderful balcony overlooking the city. Once you step outside the door, everything costs a small fortune. After all, this is still Switzerland and one of the main banking centres to boot. Guchi, Rolex and YSL stores compete for attention on the main shopping streets.






When the guys are busy one of the days, I bike over the border to Como in Italy to see what all the fuss about Lake Como is about. Definitely a cheaper, thereby more accessible, tourist resort than Lugano, and more scenic in my humble opinion.

Lake Lugano

View from Mont Bre over Lake Lugano

Lake Como

Lake Como

Da boyz sophisticatin'

Donat

And now the climbing starts for real. So far, I have been cycling in a very generous valley surrounded by mountains up to 2500m. Spectacular riding to be sure, but now three valley floor creeps up and soon I will face the San Bernardino Pass, but not today. My strategy is to establish a base camp at 1100m and attack the pass from there. I have climbed more than 2000m in a day before, but these are the Swiss Alps, and I am going to take it easy. This means that today's ride is a mere 50km, but every km is spectacular. The mountain walls on both sides start to converge and the road follows the river. This river is the young stage of the Rhine and the road swerves this side and that, never able to make up it's mind from which perspective the scenery looks its best.

Judith, Christian and two year old son, Jakob, live in the picturesque town (pop. 160) of Donat. It's just like a scene from a Heidi postcard, but with solar panels on most of the buildings' roofs. I contacted Judith using WarmShowers, which is a hospitality platform used exclusively by bicycle tourers. This means usually that you don't get the same level of amazement when you explain that you cross countries by bicycle. Sometimes it turns into a friendly pissing contest of who has bagged the most countries/ has the best gear/ has done the most extreme rides. Not this time though, as Judith and family are down-to-earth, warm and extremely hospitable people.
Despite plans to stay here only one night, I can't help myself asking if a second would be pushing my luck. Graciously, and without any fuss, they confirm this would be no problem. Great. Now I can go explore the surrounding mountains, by foot this time. Buckaroo will take the day off.