It is has been a long time since i've posted anything here, but since yesterday's ride was short and sweet, I'll toss up some pictures for your eye-candy enjoyment. Like most day rides, there isn't much of a story to go along with it. So the pictures will tell those 1,000 words...

Basel - Melchsee-Frutt - Basel
August 5, 2025

I don't work on Mondays, but I got up with Dan and when he left for work, I left for the garage 

Leaving the cozy garage
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Riding through the neighborhood
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Early enough to play with the bicycle commuters (usually I'm one of those)
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After half an hour on the motorway, I changed the fast roads for fun roads
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Free-range chickens! The eggs we buy have a code stamped on them that tells me exactly which farm they came from  
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Free-range hay bales - plastic wrapping isn't very popular here, thank goodness
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Getting closer to Luzern
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Looking back down the valley
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I was too busy taking photos, so I waved this guy by
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The Sarnersee
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One of many little villages
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An ideallic scene
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I had gone around the Sarnersee and heading up - this would be an in/out trip from here on
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Ok, this is where it got weird  
I had reached the Melchtal Stöckalp, which included a massive parking lot, cable car station and restaurant area. The signs were not terribly clear and after pausing to get my bearings, I ended up following a couple of cars past it all and up a narrow road

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The road was narrow and covered in pea gravel outside of the tire tracks. It did not inspire confidence to speed, but it was too beautiful for me to care about that.

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I made a brief stop at a chapel to check it - and the scenery - out for a little bit. There were a couple of young cows nearby, too, who found me very interesting  

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And that's when my plans fell apart:
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To the best of my translation, it read that when the light was read, the road was closed and no one was allowed to descend, even bicycles. The times were "example" times, and "periodic", so I parked the bike and prepared to wait. It was quarter of two - I had time to wait. And I waited. I found a grassy spot, dropped some gear and laid back to watch the clouds and cows.

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After 45 minutes I started to get antsy. A few cars had come up the road, but so far no one was interested in going down. I toyed with the idea of going down anyway, but my love of life and law kept me from doing so. I did, however, stop one of the cars to ask them what they knew of the timing of the red light. It was enlightening: it would turn green at three o'clock. Another half hour to go! Because the road was so narrow, and corners so tight, it was a one-way road that changed directions at certain times.

About ten minutes before the appointed time, cars started to appear and lined up back from the light. Other people knew about this time - what had I missed, and where?  The first car in line was very polite and let me go ahead of her when the time came. At least I wouldn't be behind a camper!

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My favorite photo
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Now that I knew that it was a one way road I was a lot more comfortable with the blind corners
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Cows are big critters
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The road was a ski run in the winter, and metal supports would be used to fence off the edges
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Because of the unexpected delay at the top, I re-routed for a direct line home. Unfortunately, this put me directly into post-work traffic.
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And it was getting hotter, too. The temperature hovered between 32-33, but hit a high of 35 as I hit the Basel traffic jam
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And that, my friends, is how I spent my Monday 

I bet you miss New Jersey...

Even their traffic jams are all tidy and Swiss.

You were right.
It is all about priorities.
Thanks for posting.

 

What a nice idea.
Posting a motorcycle Ride Report on a Sport-Touring motorcycle web site.   

Visit more often DD., and thanks for sharing.

 

Thanks.
I have another ride to post, but it is a long one (9 days). Not sure if I want to copy it all over to here or not.... Or just post up links, which i know are not nearly as inviting.

Amazing ride report and just about all your pictures look like postcards. Thanks for sharing!

Eric

Thanks guys 

You know, it is pretty easy to take nice pictures when the scenery practically throws itself into your lens 

But for those who want to know, I have two cameras:

For everything taken while on the bike and moving, I use an Olympus "Tough" - it is shock- and waterproof, so it handles the roughness of being used in such a hostile condition fairly well. I'm still trying to get used to the button placement, etc, but I'm getting there 

For photos that are taken away from the bike, they are taken with a Panasonic Lumix DC-TZ91. This camera takes good photos, but my favorite feature is that amazing zoom. Here's a good example: on a nice hike in Switzerland and I wonder "What's in that clearing?"

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I'm referring to this clearing:
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Let me just zoom in a bit and see what's there...

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Seriously, I feel like I'm breaking some sort of privacy / surveillance law every time I use this thing   

Anyway, those are the cameras, and then some minimal touchup in Photos to get the colors closer to look more like what I saw.