July 4th: Galtur to Linthal

 We woke up to cloudy skies and wet roads, but by the time we finished breakfast and packed up the roads were drying and the skies were only cloudy but not raining. We climbed up to the Kopsee turnoff, and then kept going up the hill past the tollgate, where cars had to pay but bikes got to ride free. From there, the grade goes up and up, but we were well rested and fresh, so the climb never felt like too much even though in several places it was around 12%. 

At the summit, we rode all the way over the dam to the tunnel and walked into the tunnel. "There's a light show in the tunnel!" said Arturo. I never even knew that. The views from the dam top were great, and the light and music show inside the tunnel was well done though hardly deserving the #1 trip advisor attractiom! 

On the other side of the tunnel, the trail kept going but was fenced off with a note that bridges were washed out by heavy rainfall and snowmelt and so the hike around the silvrettasee was closed. 

We took photos and then proceeded down the pass, but before long stopped for more photos because the Silvretta is such a gorgeous pass and after the rains of the past couple of days we were starved of beautiful views and could afford the time. After a couple more stops we began to take the descent seriously and zipped down the pass at speed, stopping only once to let annoying traffic behimd us pass. No more for me are the days of trying to outrun motorcycles down the Silvretta highway. 

Down in Partenen we ignored the bike path signs and headed straight through the tunnels that said "no bikes" until we got to the Gaschurn spar. While the bike path avoided the tunnels, it also added gratituous elevation gain on the descent, where the bikes are as fast as motor traffic and exposure time in the tunnel was minimal. At the SPAR we stopped to eat snacks and I should have told everyone to buy sandwiches and takeout lunch because the rest of the bike path until Bludenz didn't actually have grocery store stops. 

Behind the SPAR the parking lot/sidewalk connects directly to the bike path which is easily one of the best rewards for riding the Silvretta. The bike path descends past beautiful meadows, with occasional stops at cable cars for side trips. We stopped at 2, but the first was deemed unworthy by Arturo and the second turned out to be closed until the weekend! We were still early in the season for hiking! 

Having no choice, we rolled all the way down to Bludenz, getting hungrier and hungrier until we found the Hofer in Bludenz. A strange supermarket that seemed to sell bulk goods as well. We did manage to buy food and Boen got an ice cream which he ate in the parking lot, but the location was unpleasant so we determined to keep going down the bike path to find a picnic area.

 

This took quite sometime, and we were getting really hungry when just past Nenzing we found a water fountain with seats near it. There we ate our picnic lunch, refilled our bottles, and then kept going, only to discover that the bike path took us past 2 lakes that could have served as better picnic areas, albeit without obvious water fountains. 

The bike path into Feldkirch had undergone substantial revision from 2 years ago, and the dreaded uphill there was tempered by having only a tandem instead of a triplet. Once in town I reset my GPS to navigate to the Buchs SG train station. This took us through a beautiful series of winding roads and bike paths, some of which were gravel, through the country of Liechtenstein. Riding along the paths, Arturo said, "Wow, this took us ages to find last time we came through!" Indeed, the Garmin designated route had short cut our path by a good 15 minutes, because we were soon riding over the bridge to the Swiss border. 

We stopped for pictures of the border, and then the route took us under an underpass and on the other side was the train station. Arturo and I looked at our phones and bought train tickets for our respective destinations. His train was due first and was on the first platform at the train station, but ours was later. Nevertheless, he had time to help us take the tandem down the steps to the tunnel connecting the other platforms. Fortunately in Switzerland most platforms have ramps for wheelchairs and tandems so that was all the help we needed. 

We waved at each other across the platform and said our goodbyes. Then his train was here and wisked him away. Boen and I took turns using the bathroom and then got onto our train when it arrived. 

When our train zipped across the lakefront of the Walensee, I got a text message from Arturo saying that our train had just passed him. He'd ridden from Walenstadt and was about to get to his hotel. We had a tight train switch at Ziegelbrucke, but another passenger helped me manage the tandem. "Don't worry, your son made it aboard. I saw him earlier." Boen had abandoned me to run up the stairs while I laboriously pushed the bike up the ramp to the platform. We found each other in short order. I didn't berate him. He would know to stick with me for the rest of the trip and not just abandon the tandem. 

We rode the train until the last station at Linthal and from there rode just 1km to our hotel.We rode in our walking shoes since it was so short. Despite Google maps claiming that there was a steep hill, there wasn't, and when we got there to grab our keys the door opened and the owner greeted us despite telling us via messenger that she wasn't going to be there! She opened up the garage for us to stow the tandem. The hotel was a shared bathroom one, and it was already pretty late so we showered, did laundry, hung things up, and then went to the supermarket to buy emergency food before it closed. 

The hotel's restaurant was closed, but the owner provided a list of restaurants that were open. Despite that list, we discovered that the most highly recommended (and closer) restaurant was also closed! So we walked past the supermarket again and ended up at the expensive place. Fortunately, service was fast, and I paid quickly after telling Boen that we should grab desert at the supermarket instead of at the restaurant. 

A rainbow appeared as we walked back in a very light sprinkle. The forecast for tomorrow was glorious, however, so I expected to ride. Boen was dejected about losing our travel companion, and told me that he would prefer to meet mommy and brother tomorrow evening instead of setting up to ride Sustens pass on Saturday. The forecast for Saturday was steadily getting worse as well, though I still thought we'd be able to make it over the pass before it rained if we got an early start. 

Nevertheless, I decided to make reservations for the tandem on the long distance trains that would take us to Bern the next day. Since reservations were cheap (3CHF), I made them on multiple trains so we were guaranteed to make one.