No rain today – hurrah! It stopped finally just after breakfast and we left in the dry.

Our route took us round the south side of the Bielsee, with great views north. We came across the building of a big new hydro plant where the Aare canal enters the Bielsee. Huge diversion of water – very impressive. The photo has an artists impression of the project in the foreground.

Lunch was in a fantastic restaurant in Neuchatel – on the lake. Excellent bike paths in and out of town along the waterfront. It is a bike path – honest!

Then a bit of a climb away from the lake for great views

before descending to the lovely town of Yverdon at the head of the lake. The beer in the town square tastes particularly good tonight after 150 miles in 3 days. Tomorrow we climb up into the Jura alps.

Helen’s track of the day:
If I was home I would probably be at a Bellowhead concert this weekend so the track is from them:
Let Union Be
A joyful song about drinking and friendship and such like things.

It had rained all night – and the comfortingly familiar sound of rain on tent had given me the best night’s sleep for months. It was still raining as we packed up.

And it never stopped all day. Officially wet.

But a good day’s ride nonetheless, always following the swollen River Aare upstream. When even the locals are watching the river level in alarm you know its wet. Breakfast took a while to find, but Helen eventually talked a ham sandwich and coffee out of a pizzeria in Aarburg, right under the castle.

Most of the riding was very rural – on all small lanes and tracks. Lovely country. Except that the wind and rain were consistently in our faces.

We reached Buren in the afternoon – where the course of the Aare has been diverted through the Bielsee in a canal.

In Biel/Bienne (so good they named it twice – once in German and once in French) we were grateful to be able to change to French. And to check into a warm, dry hotel. Not the poshest but welcome (polystyrene cups in the room and Haribot sweets for greeting. Actually, I thought the latter was great, because I have a Wiggle-induced Haribot addiction). Biel has a nice harbour on the Bielsee but it doesn’t look so good in the rain. The forecast is no better tomorrow.

Helen’s track of the day: after lunch when the rain was getting a bit much I thought that on usual days off I would not venture out . I should be at home in my kitchen baking cakes and listening to my favourite music, I thought. So any track from Paulo Nutini’s latest album will do, and as it was in my head the most I choose
Let me down easy.
And when all this summer activity nonsense is over I look forward to a girls’ night out with Catherine to see Paolo Nutini in Newcastle Arena!

So Day 1 got underway and we completed just over 50 miles in the day which felt like a steady warm up for what is to come. Here we are leaving the hotel. We hope for a similar photo on return in 9 weeks time.

Andy had mapped a route following 3 rivers over the day so generally flat along river banks and off the main roads. It felt good to get going at last and see some Swiss pastoral countryside though a lot of suburban miles too.

We can report that there is still plenty of money in Switzerland with building of housing and new factories everywhere along todays paths.

After picnic lunch in Brugge the weather went wet and we arrived a bit damp at the campsite. The beer is ok though. This is Aarburg with castle.

Some reading this will know that i tend to pick up tunes in my head most days sometimes from my own listening choices and sometimes what I hear in a random way during the day. So track of the day is reintroduced for this trip:
The day travelling to Zurich was Its Alright by The Impressions when I was working hard to stay calm on a fraught journey. Day 2 was our day in Zurich which gets Silver and Gold by Fat Freddys Drop because i have never seen so many Bentley cars in one day and because of a lovely Dutch painting I saw in the gallery by Pieter Clausz (spelling check when i get home )of silver and gold jewellery in a still life picture, you could almost feel them the detail was so good.

Today and despite trying not to I have succumbed to Dolly Parton as her face has been on several posters for a forthcoming concert. Good memories of watching her on tv at glastonbury if unfortunate title Here you come again, the song has stuck in my head so hope it clears off soon.

Let’s call it a low key start to the holiday. Gently does it, as we wandered round Zurich in the gentle rain – trying not to think of wet days in Keswick.

We were tired after an anxious train journey yesterday, delayed by a broken down shuttle train in the Channel tunnel. We were very lucky to get to Zurich only a few hours late thanks to friendly SNCF staff.

Today we enjoyed the Kunsthaus for Rembrants and Impressionists in particular.

The clock and watch museum was also very good – though small. But above all its just good to be here, relaxing, and looking forward to the start of the ride tomorrow – albeit in the rain!

We agreed it is time for a long cycle ride. But where to go?

Helen said “All that the cycling is all very well – but there have to be plenty of interesting stops along the way. How about visiting all those northern Italian towns that we’ve always wanted to see?”

Andy said “That bit of Italy is a bit flat. How about starting and finishing  in Zurich and crossing the Alps twice?”

And so a circular ride was born. Mountains and culture, bike and rider, Helen and Andy – all in perfect harmony. Follow our ‘latest posts’ and see how long the harmony lasts.