On 26th of June at 7am 11 riders left Andermatt for 1300km with nearly 30000m vertical climb of the second edition of Swiss-BikeAdventure with the first Grand Depart. The first day of the event was truly idyllic: perferct weather, long but beautiful climbs of Susten pass and Grosse Scheidegg, riders were moving fast forward with accompaniament of cows bells. Since day two heavy rains with thunderstorms slowed many, riders were forced to take unplanned brakes due to wet weather and strong winds. Despite challenging weather conditions 7 of the riders made it to the finish line in Andermatt. Christoph, Michele, Kai, Irena, Pavel, Urs, Carsten – massive thanks for your relentless pursuit of adventure that has brought you back to little devils statue for the finishers photo – totally soaked and cold but happy! Maria, Marcel, Nora, Sylvian – we hope to see you again in Andermatt!
Carsten Honemann arrived after 6 days and 4 hours the little devil statue at the finish in Andermatt. Not sure he could make it, since the rim of his rear wheel got cracks around more and more spokes. At the finish the wheel looked a bit scary. Despite the problem, he decided to cycle at daytime only. At the end he got rewarded with sunshine and blue sky over last big climbs Nufenenpass and Furkapass.
Urs Arnold Kutschera, a longdistance cyclist veteran. Urs finished as 6th very demanding Swiss-BikeAdventure course. First 2 days Urs had issues with his tubeless tyres and a loosen disc. And a bad stomach slowed him down too. Nevermind Urs continued riding despite unusual bad weather conditions with heavy storms from the Jura on.
It took 5 days and 16 hours for Pavel Klinov to finish the Swiss-BikeAdventure route. On the last stretch from Ticino over Nufenen and Furkapass Pavel could finally make some terrain good to Urs. It was Pavel’s second bikepacking event he participated.
Irena Sosinska – the only woman finisher of the Swiss-BikeAdventure this year. Due to hydraulic breaks complete failure just before the start of the race, she had to change to new and unfamiliar bike and then she climbed Col Du Chasseral twice because of a thunderstorm which caught her on the climb and forced her to back down to a safe place. On the way to Schaffhausen she carried her bike over fallen trees that blocked the road after a passing storm the night before. She arrived to the finish line after 1300km with nearly 30000 elevation gain in 5 days and 11 hours.
Kai Edel 3rd finisher of the Swiss-BikeAdventure at the finish in Andermatt. Last year Kai struggled with a broken shifter cable and flats and had to go back to work at Pony Riders Courier Service and he could not finish the route. This year also rain could not stop him and Kai finished in 4 days 11 hours the 1300km and almost 30’000vm route he likes a lot. Swiss-BikeAdventure also crosses Basel, where Kai helps out with work at KurierZentrale.
Michele Miani, 2nd finisher only 1 hour behind Christoph, finished in 3 days and 15 hours the 1300km and almost 30’000vm. After Christoph took over the lead about 200km after the start, Michele was never more then about 4 hours behind Christoph. The two riders had a race to each other over the whole distance of the route. It was a pleasure to have Michele back at the start line after he already finished as 2nd Iberica Traversa 2020.
3 days and 14 hours needed Christoph Fuhrbach for the 1300km Swiss-BikeAdventure route with almost 30’000vm. That’s a total average speed of 14.59km/h, total unsuported. He arrived 29.06.2021 / 21:01 at Andermatt.
The weather in the east and north of Switzerland make this hard challenge even harder. Unusual heave rains and thunderstorms force riders again and again to stop. Irena pushed forward in the night. She made only 35km in 2.5 hours in a generally easy terrain. Fallen trees in the road slowed her down. Christoph is still in lead and he and Michele cycled Albulapass and Flüelapass last night. He is now in the south of Switzerland in Ticino and has the last two big climbs in front, Nufenenpass and Furkapass. The two will likely finish today at Andermatt.Photo: Christoph last night at Albulapass.
