CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
From Herzogenbuchsee it runs 325 km to Herzogenbuchsee; allow about 4 h 38 of riding. It goes by way of Strandboden, Lavaux and back through Strandboden. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,150 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. The line favours views over speed.
60 km on Grand Tour of Switzerland.
Burgäschisee is a small, quiet lake on the border between the cantons of Bern and Solothurn, surrounded by reeds, woods and farmland. It would be easy to ride past without noticing, but it holds a secret: along its shores, archaeologists have found the remains of Neolithic villages built on piles, dating back more than five thousand years. The eastern shore site, Burgäschisee Ost, is one of the components of the Prehistoric Pile Dwellings around the Alps World Heritage site, listed by UNESCO in 2011. There is nothing much to see on the surface, as the remains lie underwater or in the soft ground, but the peaceful setting makes it easy to imagine the wooden houses, canoes and fishing nets of those early farmers.
Read the complete Burgäschisee Ost write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Burgäschisee Ost is where the day begins. Next is Strandboden.
Erlach sits at the south-western tip of Lake Biel, a little Bernese town of one steep street climbing to a castle, with vineyards on the slope behind and reed beds and beaches along the shore below. The flat ground by the water, the Strandboden, is where archaeologists have found traces of prehistoric lakeside villages, part of the network of pile dwelling sites around the Alps inscribed by UNESCO in 2011. Five or six thousand years ago farmers built their houses here on posts at the water's edge, and the waterlogged mud preserved timbers, tools, seeds and even textiles in astonishing detail.
Read the complete Strandboden write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Strandboden comes up about 60 km into the recorded legs. Next is Lavaux.
From the shore of Lake Geneva the vineyards of Lavaux climb almost vertically, terrace upon terrace, held up by stone walls, to villages perched on the slopes above. Monks from Cistercian abbeys began shaping these hillsides in the Middle Ages, and generations of winegrowers have rebuilt the walls ever since, carrying soil back up when rain washes it down. The result is one of the most striking wine landscapes in the world, stretching about thirty kilometres between Lausanne and Montreux, and listed by UNESCO in 2007. Locals like to say that the vines here enjoy three suns: the one in the sky, its reflection off the lake and the warmth stored in the stone walls.
Read the complete Lavaux write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 164 km into the recorded legs you reach Lavaux. Next is back through Strandboden.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Strandboden write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Strandboden, late in the day. Next is Burgäschisee Ost.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Burgäschisee Ost write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Back at Burgäschisee Ost. That is the ride.
Burgäschisee Ost → Strandboden is 60 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Strandboden → Lavaux is 104 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Lavaux → back through Strandboden is 100 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Strandboden → Burgäschisee Ost is 61 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.