8/7 - Chamonix to Caux (Montreux)

Farewell France! Hello Switzerland! After ascending two cols in the morning, we cruised from Martigny to Montreux in the nice, flat Rhone river valley. Our day didn't end there, however. Once in Montreux, we successfully attempted the most outrageous climb of the trip. Our host family lives in Caux, which is 6 km due vertical, basically, from Montreux. Imagine climbing the side of a building on bicycle and that will give you a sense of what it was like. The gradient on the Chemin de Caux reaches over 20% at times and, totting about 40 lbs on our bikes, that was definitely the toughest stretch of road we've covered so far. Of course, with our burly muscles bristling, we pushed on through, to the horror and amazement of a bunch of students at the hotel management school along the way who stood there with their mouths gaping wide open as we pressed up the steepest part of the road in slow motion, suffering mightly, panting heavily, and rolling on upwards with bullets of sweat gushing forth in raging streams. We spent the following two days with the Sandoz family, who treated us to some great meals and showed us around the Montreux area. It was incredibly fun and restorative. Read on!

About to descend into the Rhone river valley

On the way up to Caux - bring it!