EuropeFrom the roadPreparations

Preparation Tour through Switzerland

It was rough, sometimes tough and the worst or rather best weather I could wish for a preparation tour! The idea was to test my new “mobile home” with all these heavy loaded bags full of winter gear before inexpertly hitting the road on the 12th of January. Looking back, though nearly all of the equipment worked excellent, there were a few things to improve and I’m glad that these turned out before the big trip.

Back to the beginning

I started in my hometown Bern with all the equipment, that means 40 kg of gear (including special shoes, glasses etc. for the extreme cold in Norway / Sweden) so as 5 kg of food and water, towards the bernese Jura.

The first meters, a bit wobbly as expected, immediately sent me back in this “touring mode”, a feeling everyone knows who has ever ridden a heavy loaded bicycle. It kinda feels like to be on a motorbike, the required force to stabilize the handlebar increases and every steering has a bigger or longer impact cause of the weight. Physics aside, it felt great to be back touring.

The sunny weather in bern has passed quickly and after a wrong turn in Biel resulting in some more height meters, I finally arrived in the bernese Jura. Because it was getting dark, I decided to search for a place to camp. When I suddenly reached the end of the village, I could either ride some more km’s in the wrong direction looking for a wild-camping spot or i knock the door of the outermost house of the village. I decided for option two and met and older man (sadly forgot to ask for his name), which amazed but friendly accepted my request to camp in his garden.

When he kindly offered me his garden shed to sleep in, I had to refuse cause of the need to test my tent. “It’s going to be cold this night” he said, I agreed “I hope so!” and as long as I’m not going to make big fire in his garden, everything is ok! We wished each other a good night and I immediately started to set up my new Hilleberg tent to spend the first night in it.

Full of anticipation to cook a warm meal on the stove I then prepared my cooking gear and encountered the first “problem” respectively one of these little things to improve: The child safety lock of my fuel bottle was stuck and there was no way to open it myself. So after half an hour I gave up and emptied the remaining bag of cashew nuts I had left.[/penci_text_block]

Hilleberg Allak Sand
Tavannes
Brienz
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