Baden. Brugg. Wohlen. Bremgarten.What do you get when you mix two hungry cyclists, a Swiss policeman and a busdriver? Half a day of perfect cycling confusion, two ice cream cones and a bratwurst.
The perfect cycling occurred between 11 and 2pm through Baden and Brugg. Blue skies, small towns and paved, scenic paths. Between Brugg and Wohlen
confusion sets in. A beautiful river path leads us southerly, but an hour of rocky terrain is jolting. Without a map or a bike path, we are forced to take a major causeway abruptly ending in a dark scary tunnel. We turned back.We turned back to ask a middle aged policeman for directions. In a thick Swiss accent he explained a few things. We pointed and mumbled, but never really understood.
Bike paths in Switzerland are fantastic. However one must
know where one is going in order to get there. Suddenly zigzagging across multiple lanes of traffic to take a left onto a pedestrian walk or one path suddenly splitting into three are somewhat normal occurrances. The sheer amount of path sometimes translates into foggy signage or unlabeled branches.It is only when we are climbing the other side of Bremgarten toward Luzern that extreme confusion sets in. Returning to the bahnhof, we check a map and are pleased when a friendly busdriver en route drives his bus over to help us. Not able to trust the bus driver
's directions, however, we also stop a woman on bike. This conversation goes well and even includes her saying "Sprichst du SUPER GUT Deutsche!" Wow.Zooming back through Bremgarten we see the same police officer again. I smile. Still lost. We ride to the next bahnhof. Is there a better map here? Which street did that woman say? And the same bus driver comes over to help us. Still lost.
105 kilometers.
1 comment:
Frog? Do they have frog crossings?
Mom
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