Aigle to Sion (65 kms)

July 30: Well it's been a long time between drinks, but with our July visitors now dispatched, we have a spare weekend to continue our ride. Monday 1 August is a holiday in Switzerland (Swiss National Day), so with a long weekend ahead of us we decided to do two consecutive days of riding, camping at the middle point: Sion.

We packed up on Saturday morning, arriving at our campsite around 2pm due to heavy traffic around Montreux. It was after 3pm when we finally set off on the day's ride. Rather than choosing to ride down the valley, we decided to catch the train to Aigle to ride back up, taking advantage of the strong tailwind in that direction.

The ride from Aigle to Sion continues alongside the River Rhone, far from busy roads for most of the time. We got caught in heavy rain in St Maurice, but used this as an excuse to stop for coffee and icecream in one of the cafes there. It was after 8pm when we finally reached our campsite, feeling happy, hungry and tired. A hot shower, ham and cheese sandwiches from the campground 'supermarket' and a glass of wine, were welcome rewards after a busy day.

This leg of the ride was 65km and took us about 3hrs and 40 minutes, not counting a few breaks along the way. More photos on Flickr.