![\"Biel](\"https:\/\/www.jmcw.blog\/swissblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2012\/08\/Biel-Cow-Crossing.jpg\" "\\"Cow")
<\/a>Cow Crossing on our way to Biel<\/p><\/div>\n
Biel is downriver from Bern so the 45k ride to Biel was as expected a gentle downhill grade, through what now seems typical to us: constantly changing vista of small towns, farmland, and forests.\u00a0 No surprises, nothing amazing.\u00a0 Biel itself is mostly a modern city with bland buildings.\u00a0 We took a funicular to Magglingen\u2014us and a few dozen heavily padded mountain bikers.\u00a0 They rode down; we walked. Looking at their trails, we understood the padding.\u00a0 The view from up top was amazing. The walk through the forest, delightful.\u00a0 Biel\u2019s tiny bit of Oldtown, a couple blocks of medieval buildings, was unimpressive.\u00a0 After dinner, we strolled down by the harbor, picked up some ice cream to go with the cherries we\u2019d gotten at a roadside stand and called it a night.<\/p>\n
Sunday we felt quite capable of going the extra miles to see Sankt Peterinsel, a long narrow island at the southern end of the Bielersee. Apparently it\u2019s a popular place for a stroll on a sunny Sunday morning, for we shared the path with lots of walkers, baby strollers, and other cyclists.<\/p>\n
We knew our route back to Bern would be, on average, uphill since it was upriver.\u00a0 But the Swiss surprised us.\u00a0 The 8 is a National Route<\/em>, yet there are spots where we passed through private property, carried the bike up and down stairs, and generally had a much<\/em> harder time than we expected.<\/p>\n Bike Path Steps on our way home from Biel<\/p><\/div>\n We did have a fun lunch in Aarberg, a cute town with a wooden covered bridge leading to the Oldtown square.\u00a0 A group of Harley motorcycles rode up and parked beside our bike, then some of the riders politely asked if they could share our table as the others were all full.\u00a0 Jon often tells the story of carrying a sign on his van loaded with bikes “When we grow up we want to be Harleys”.\u00a0 So MC points to our tandem and tells this to the Harley folks, the one English speaker passing this along to the others in German.\u00a0 Good for a laugh all round.<\/p>\n Harleys alongside our tandem in Aarberg<\/p><\/div>\n The last stretch was through Bremgarten Forest, which should have felt idyllic, a carless road through cool green shade.\u00a0 But we were so exhausted, even this seemed a struggle.\u00a0 That\u2019s how it is, in life or in life on a bike, you can\u2019t always know where the tough stretches will be.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Itinerary: On the bike, follow Swiss Regional Route 64 to Biel, stay overnight, come home by way of Sankt Peterinsel and Swiss National Route 8. Looking for something close and easy, we chose Biel as our destination.\u00a0 Jon was able … Continue reading <\/a><\/a>