The Pfaffikersee is the quiet one of the Zurich Oberland lakes, a long, narrow stretch of water in a hollow left by a glacier, ringed with reeds and meadows and almost free of the big villas and motorboats that crowd its neighbours. It lies at about 537 metres, between Pfaffikon and Wetzikon, and the lakeshore is largely protected as a nature reserve. As a warm-up for the climb to Hulftegg, it is ideal: flat, gentle and just far enough from Zurich to feel like countryside, with Pfaffikon, a town of about eight thousand people, two kilometres away for fuel, bakeries and coffee.
The riding on the flats is easy and civilised. Narrow roads run between meadows and farm buildings, past the reed beds and the little harbours, and it is a good time to let tyres and engine come up to temperature before the hills. After the lake, the route climbs east into the Tosstal, through forest and farmland, with tighter bends and short, steep ramps toward the Hulftegg, a modest pass with a reputation among Swiss riders for its twisty, narrow road. Traffic is light in the early morning, and weekends bring cyclists, walkers and Sunday drivers. Swiss speed limits are low and radar traps are frequent, so keep an eye on the signs.
The shore has a remarkable history. At Robenhausen, on the south side of the lake, archaeologists have found the remains of prehistoric villages built on wooden piles over the water, some of them more than five thousand years old, and the site is part of the UNESCO World Heritage listing for pile dwellings around the Alps. At Irgenhausen, near Pfaffikon, stand the remains of a late Roman fort, from the late Roman period, built to guard the road, and its walls are visible in a quiet meadow. People have been drawn to this water for thousands of years.
The reserve is rich in wildlife. Reed warblers, grebes and kingfishers nest on the shore, and the wet meadows are home to orchids and dragonflies, while in autumn the mist rising from the lake is magical. The air smells of wet grass and reeds, and on a still morning the water is like glass.
Fill the tank in Pfaffikon, bring a jacket for the early morning, and use the lake as a quiet start.