Jura Cycle Tour, 25^th - 29^th June 2017
Geneva to Riniken

Sunday, 25 June     Riniken - Aarau - Geneva Airport - Gex - Col de la Faucille

The first challenge of the day was to get the train from Brugg to Geneva Airport with our bikes and bags. We had booked a saver-ticket (Sparbillet) from Brugg but, because of limitations in the SBB Web pages, we were not able to specify an extra long time for changing trains in Aarau, and our ticket only allowed 5 minutes. The ticket was also extremely explicit about the ticket only being valid for the given trains. We therefore decided to leave a bit earlier and cycle the 20 km or so to Aarau.

We left at about 6:20 for the 9:29 train from Aarau, which gave us plenty of time. We were at Aarau station by about 8:30, nice time for a coffee and croissant. The train arrived, our reserved cycle places were empty and waiting for us, and the train was not too full. This changed at Yverdon where a huge group of children en route for the airport got in. After that, the carriage was rather noisy.

We were lucky with the weather. The forecast had been for rain in the morning, this following one of the hottest and driest heatwaves that we have experienced in Switzerland (we missed the 2003 heat wave by being in Norway).

We were at Geneva airport on time and managed very well to find the road away from the terminal. It was about 12:20 by the time we left the airport. The road goes through a tunnel under the runways, and on to Ferney Voltaire, where we found a shady bench in the old town centre for lunch. This is the third time that we have cycled from Geneva to Riniken, but this time we decided to try going via Col de la Faucille, rather than taking the soft option of the train from Nyon to La Givrine. It involved about 900 m of elevation gain from the airport, the last 700 m from Gex to the Col needing only 7 km.

As far as Gex, where we stopped for a shandy, it was all right, if rather too hot and sunny. From Gex onwards, though, it became a grind. It was probably not helped by my having found a side road. This was too steep to be comfortable, so we abandoned it at the first opportunity and ground our way up the main road. The super weather and the fact that it was a Sunday made it a bit uncomfortable due to the fast traffic, especially the motor bikes.

We stopped for another shandy on the way, and almost every km for a short rest. We made it to the Col for about 17:15, having cycled some 26 km from the airport in about 5 hours. Google Maps estimated 2.5 hours! Hopefully their calculations are based on rather younger cyclists on racing bikes with no luggage.

We called it a day there and found a room in Hotel la Petite Chaumière, where we had stayed on our hike from Riniken to Bellgarde many years ago. We had a fabulous sunset on this, the longest evening of the summer, apparently. The sun set at 21:30. We also had a great view of Mont Blanc.

Day's distance: 47 km (21 km Riniken - Aarau, 26 km Airport - Col).
Hotel: Eur 72 for double room without breakfast.

Monday 26 June: Col de la Faucille - La Cure - Le Pont - Vallorbes - Ste Croix

Breakfast was not included in the EUR 72 price of the hotel room, and at a price of EUR 11 per person for the breakfast buffet, we thought that we would probably not get value for money. So we had a Weggli (bread roll) and boiled egg left-over from yesterday in our room as breakfast, and went down to the restaurant for a café-au-lait before setting off. It was a beautiful morning.

Our goal for the day was to catch up with our schedule from 2004, i.e. to get to Sainte Croix. According to Google it should be 72 km. We set off at about 9:00.

The first stretch along the back of the Jura to Col de la Givrine/La Cure was very fast so that we were soon having another coffee in the hotel where we stayed with Jean, George, Wendy and Simon in 2004. The going continued to be easy and beautiful all the way to Le Pont at the end of the Lac de Joux, where we had a picnic lunch. Actually, the going around the lake was harder than previous times because we decided to try its left side rather than its right side. This is somewhat more hilly and doesn't give much in the way of views of the lake. We'll probably not go that way again.

From there, we tried to follow the gravel track down to Vallorbes that we had taken before, but it was closed, much to our annoyance. We had climbed a big hill before we got to the "road closed" sign and had to retrace our steps. So we had to follow the main road down the steep hill to Vallorbes, where it was ice cream time.

We continued on minor roads and forest tracks to the rail halt at Six Fontaines, getting there at about 15:45. It was a short wait for a train up to Sainte Croix, saving us some 310 m of elevation gain. We found a room at the Hotel de France at the, for us, exorbitant price of CHF 160. At least breakfast was included. During the evening it started to rain, but it was forecast to be nice again tomorrow.

Day's distance: 80 km.
Hotel: CHF 160 for double room and breakfast.

Tuesday 27 June: Sainte Croix - Fleurier - Couvet - Martell Dernier - La Sagne

It rained a bit more during the night but, as per the forecast, it was nice in the morning. Breakfast was good so we were in good shape to start the day.

The first goal was Fleurier, which should involve a steep 150 m ascent to a saddle above Sainte Croix followed by a long, fast descent to Fleurier. Alas we met another barrier and a signed detour near the top of the descent. The detour took us through La Côte aux Feés, and turned out to be really hard going. It added another 200 or so metres of height gain and a few km to the day. We bought a picnic lunch in Fleurier and continued along the valley floor of Val de Travers to the next village but one, Couvet, for coffee and a nice strawberry cake.

We had decided to take a different route to that of 2004 and bypass La Chaux de Fonds by climbing out of Val de Travers into Vallée des Ponts de Martell. This involved a lot of hard work getting out of Couvet and over the hills to Martell Dernier. It was much harder than expected with more ups and downs than our rather small-scale map had led us to believe.

We managed it eventually, of course, but it was beginning to look as though we were going to get wet. A weather front appeared to be catching us up. Given the tired state of our legs by this time, the look of the weather, and the fact that the next part of our route to St Imier was through a sparsely populated area with only a small chance of finding a hotel, we decided to call it a day at the next hotel we could find. This turned out to be the Hotel von Bergen in La Sagne at about 14:00. No sooner had we checked in than the expected weather front disappeared and the sun came out again!

As it turned out, we were really only a stone's throw from La Chaux de Fonds, where we had stayed with Jean and George in 2004. Since it was only a short train ride into the town, and there were no possibilities for an evening meal in La Sagne, we went there for supper. A train pass for the whole of the Canton of Neuchâtel was included in the price of the hotel room!

The forecast for the rest of the week was dire. We thought that we might be abandoning the trip on the morrow!

Day's distance: 47 km.
Hotel: CHF 120 for double room and breakfast.

Wednesday 28 June: La Sagne - Renan - St Imier - Court - Gänsbrunnen - Balsthal

We've been very lucky with the weather today and had a super time. When we turned in last night we were having a big thunder storm and lots of heavy rain afterwards. But at breakfast time it was dry again and the sun was shining. We had a good breakfast in this "olde worlde" hotel.

We set off with tail wind towards the eastern end of Martell Tal, where we had a moderate climb to get to the road between La Chaux de Fonds and Neuchâtel. We followed the road in the direction of Neuchâtel for a little way to reach the turn-off down towards Renan and St Imier. We were in St Imier in no time enjoying a morning coffee in the town square.

The next obstacle was the 150 m climb from Sombeval to Col de Pierre Pertuis in order to cross into the Vallée de Tavannes. It turned out to be a reasonable gradient and quite shaded so we had no trouble getting up it. The tail wind continued so we were soon sitting in a shaded restaurant garden in Malleray having a mixed salad with chips for lunch.

There remained the last major climb of the trip. We had found the road to Moutier and on to Gänsbrunnen to be not very pleasant when we cycled it in 2004. There was heavy traffic and it is quite a climb up to Gänsbrunnen. We therefore decided to bypass Moutier by taking the narrow road from Court to Gänsbrunnen via Binzberg. This involved a 340 m climb, but was well worth it. The guest house at Binzberg was open for an ice cream. From there, it was a steep descent to Gänsbrunnen. There follows a short climb up to a saddle, and then a long, easy cruise down to Balsthal. The tail wind was still helping us along.

It was starting to look thundery by the time that we reached Balsthal by about 16:00. Our day's average speed was 18 kph despite the climb over Binzberg. average speed of 18 kph. We took a room in the Balsthal Hotel. Whilst having supper in the town, the storm struck and it rained literally in buckets. The small river outside our hotel room window more than tripled in size whilst we were out eating. Again, we are on tenterhooks as to what the morning holds in the way of weather. It's a mere 60 km of level going from here to home.

Day's distance: 82 km.
Hotel: CHF 125 for double room and breakfast.

Thursday 29 June: Balsthal - Oensingen - Olten - Aarau - Riniken

To our surprise, the morning was dry and sunny. The hotel's breakfast was the best yet. There were even scrambled eggs and bacon on offer. The forecast was for unsettled weather, especially in the afternoon, so we set off the earliest yet at about 8:30.

There's not really much to report. The first few km go through the Balsthal Klus and out into the Swiss "Mittelland" at Oensingen. From there, we simply followed the main road to Olten with a strong tail wind and no hills to be worth mentioning. The traffic was also moderate.

In Olten it was time for a coffee and strawberry tart. The tail wind continued as we followed the cycle track along the Aare to Aarau. We decided to have a break at the swimming pool in Biberstein, just to give our backsides a short rest. Alas it was closed, so we went into the kitschy "Captain Joe's Restaurant" across the road. Never again - a 0.25 litre glass of beer cost CHF 5! From there, it was a simple ride along the river to Riniken, where we arrived at about 12:20 and 58 km.

Day's distance: 58 km.

End of trip! Total distance cycled = 315 km