Biking around Zürich lake

Biking tour for a non biker

Last weekend I did something that I got a first idea to many years ago when I visited Switzerland the very first time. Bike around the Zürich lake. I am definitely not a biker more than commuting to work and activities or going to indoor cycling classes once in a while but once a year I happen to take a longer ride. Last year was in Annecy and this year it happened in Zürich. I think the total tour was around 80K and it took me a day in easy pace to finish it.

The startup phase

I started my journey at 08:00 am:ish from central Zürich. I had big plans of bringing breakfast but was to hungry when I woke up so failed on that one. I decided to go the left round to be close to the lake. I have only been around 20K down at the South shore before when I ran Zürich marathon so there was a lot of new things to see. The excitement started just after the 20K mark South of the village of Mielen. There the riverside consisted of wine yards. How nice isn’t that?

Rapperswil

About 15K later on I had planned a stop to walk around in the city of Rapperswil. I had no clue what to expect there but it was above expectations. Very cozy. I walked around the small streets and took a swim at the bath. It was almost lunch time but wanted to bike a bit further so headed over to the other side of the lake.

Well, my biking ended for a bit when I found a wooden bridge that had to be explored. It was forbidden to bike there but walking with the bike wasn’t so I walked my bike over it. Ideally I wanted to bike around the complete lake but couldn’t find out that there were any roads suitable for that at the very bottom without taking a huge detour. I had other evening plans so had not unlimited time to explore and decided this was enough.

Alpine views

The views were stunning throughout the whole tour. It is something special with mountains and water when it comes together. Especially with those snow covered mountains.

Lunch and swim break

A short while after Rapperswil I got to another village, Richterswil and although I wasn’t hungry due to the heath I decided it was time to eat something. Grabbed one not so luminary salad from Coop and went for another swim break. Water in the lake is 24 degrees now in July so it feels like a huge bath tub. I had previously been running along the lake from Zürich to Richterswil so all sightseeing spots I had seen. But trust me, it is also beautiful at this side of the lake. I still have my stairway to heaven to climb there. Thought I would make it this day but save it for later. And a magic swimming pool I have to visit.

The finish line

Before finishing up I had another stop planned. Lind’t chocolate factory. Bikers need a lot of fika I have heard so that was the goal I had in mind. A fika. Got one ice cream and coffee so fueled up for the last 8K to central Zürich which included nothing less than two swimming stops. It was rather hot at this point. Above 30 degrees. It was an all successful day biking around the lake. I would not do it again though but another lake I could. Not this year though. Could strongly recommend as a fun physical activity if you head to Zürich and don’t want to climb mountains.