The day started a bit cloudy and on the run down from Grindelwald to Interlaken, the heavens opened. I just managed to pull in to a petrol station with a roof in time and put my roof up, much to the amusement of a local family who were fascinated. Graham is made of hardier stock than me and soldiered on, although he also hasn't got a roof anyway.
Somehow, we got split up so I did my first pass (Brunig) alone. Unfortunately, after the first mile or so, i got stuck behind a slow line of cars but the view was amazing - peaks, drops, glacier-blue streams. Coming back down, I met up with Graham and were headed for the Sustenpass which heads up from Inertkirchen and what a stormer that was. Traffic was light, the rain had stopped and it was a long run up, with what seemed like 1000 hairpin, curving roads - I hope my camera got some of it.
Next was a hop past Andermatt, a very fancy ski resort, and up the Oberalpass, where I had a little play with a Mini Cooper, who kept up with me - I really hope he was trying and was at his limit otherwise I need to get a turbo!
We stopped for lunch and now might be a time to mention Swiss prices - pretty much all food is double the price of home. My burger and chips was £16 and was good but nothing to rave about. However, petrol isnt too bad, only a little more than home.
Next up was the Furkapass, quite rough and bumpy compared to the others but just as awesome up and down the other side. The top was at 8000 feet and the view? Out of this world:
Then the Nufenenpass, more of the same, down past Amermatt again and the Furkapass again.
It was on the way down here when my throttle cable went ping - lucky it was on the way down, I was able to roll to a stop in a layby. Also lucky, I had ordered a new throttle cable from GBS just 2 weeks ago because I knew the cable was a little frayed. Putting the new one in took an hour, with some nice rain halfway through to keep me cool.
With the delay, we skipped the last little run up past our hotel for the night and went straight there instead for some well deserved macaroni and apple sauce (don't ask but it was very nice).
What an awesome day, probably my best in my driving life. The roads, the views, in a car I built - it doesn't get better.
Tomorrow we go to France via Italy...
Video of the day (although I was having so much fun in the morning, I forgot to turn my video camera on):
Map of today's route:
Great story. Sounds just like Graham and you are having a good time. Order another cable for backup.
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