Day 4: Punting the Passes

Day 4 was supposed to be the hardest day, 102 mi. with 10,000 ft. vert.  Last night, our tour guide, Nel, suggested we simplify our planned route to the one "can´t miss" climb of the trip--the famous Gotthard old road ascent.  We´ve come to trust Nel´s appraisal of our abilities and knowledge of the Swiss terrain.  She`s native to this area, after all.  And so !voila! we turned the hardest day into the easiest day.  Which makes tomorrow the truly hardest day, featuring what Todd has dubbed, "The Red Climbs."  Red is the color of slopes in excess of 10% on our elevation profiles.  

So, today was a 28 km, 3,000 ft. vert. day for some of us.  Howie, Rick, Markham, Todd and Todd added 22 km & 2,000 ft. vert to the itinerary by climbing Oberalp Pass in the afternoon.  I took a nap and gave my legs a rest.  My excuse is, "I need to blog."  Charles and Rich took the day off entirely in favor of a train ride.