Our weather luck appeared to run out on the final day as we arose to fog and light rain. We left Luderenalp, an inn atop a low mountain, early because we had to meet the Lake Lucerne ferry at 2:18 PM and we were aware that trains, planes and ferries in Switzerland run on time. We were also by now aware that bikes under our guidance didn't necessarily run on time, Switzerland or not. We had 60 miles to go and a mountain to climb.
We started as a group descending the mountain carefully, then headed up the valley in the rain. 5 km on a railroad track crossed the road at an obtuse angle and the lead rider lost his front wheel on the slippery metal and hit the deck. By the time the yelling and clatter of bikes was over, 5 riders were down. It took us 20 min. to evaluate bikes, bones and bruises. Our weather luck had seemingly run out but our riding luck held as everyone was able to mount and pedal, albeit with more care and less cheer. Another hour on and the rain subsided and blue sky tugged at the edges of the cloud cover. By the time we started our last profiled climb of the trip, the sun was shining again.
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