Day 7

Start:     Chur (Switzerland)

Finish:    Olten (Switzerland)

Distance:  112 miles cycled (676 miles total)

Weather:  Mostly clear and sunny 

After the previous day's exploits in the alps the team were relishing the prospect of cycling away from the mountains rather than towards them!

With Chur surrounded by imposing peaks, the map suggested that there would still be some relatively aggressive climbing before the route followed the shores of lake Zurich northwards before heading west; with a lengthy car transfer taking the team across the border to Dijon at the end of the day.



Lake Zurich

In beautiful sunshine the riders were happy to find themselves following the valley that weaves northwards from Chur, and were able to average a steady 15 mph for the morning.  As the route moved away from the lake the hills began to get steeper, but with the total climbing from yesterday at almost 3000m (over twice the height of Ben Nevis), what might have felt like a big climb on the first few days of the trip was now put into perspective.



Quick stop at Kappel

As the team headed west towards Olten there were some slightly bigger ascents rising up into the hills away from the lake, but the steady progress was maintained throught the afternoon. Although most of the group are nursing aches and pains, particularly Dan Smart who is still having big problems with his knee, the team raced along the back roads, admiring the Swiss hinterland, to a re-supply checkpoint at Kappel.



Digging deep

 The next stop was Bremgarten, where Danny has family.  Temporarily delegating his navigational role, Danny left the team to press on from here, planning to rejoin the POTY tour in Dijon tomorrow morning via train.  The four remaining riders carried on into the early evening with everyone keen to get the total mileage back on track as soon as possible.



Arriving in Bremtgarten

As the light began to fade and with an extra bit of distance under their belts the team called it a day on the outskirts Olten, with 112 miles bringing the total closer. 

  

 The transfer to Dijon was a 3hr journey away so there was only time for a quick fast food stop once we'd crossed the border (although with the amount of food ordered it took an hour to feed everyone!).



With another couple of days like this the total mileage will be in reach on Sunday - so hopefully see you all in Stroud at 15h00 to celebrate!