Family ride routes in Switzerland

londonlivvy

This is a bit of a random request, I grant you, but you never know...

I'm looking for a book of family bike rides (in the 10-30km sort of ball park) in / around Zurich for my sister (and her family). The only one I found on amazon seems to be more aimed at adults, according to the reviewer, with 50-80km rides which just isn't going to work with a six year old.
http://www.amazon.de/sch%C3%B6nsten-Vel ... 506&sr=8-3

They'd ideally like not-too-hilly routes, please (or a way to motivate a 6 year old to go up hills?).

thank you!

greg66_tri_v2.0

londonlivvy wrote:

a way to motivate a 6 year old to go up hills?

Hire an ice cream van, lean out the cubby hole with a big ol' ice cream, and drive very slowly just in front of him/her?

Just a thought... :twisted:

londonlivvy

Greg66 wrote:

londonlivvy wrote:

a way to motivate a 6 year old to go up hills?

Hire an ice cream van, lean out the cubby hole with a big ol' ice cream, and drive very slowly just in front of him/her?

Just a thought... :twisted:

brilliant. That'd work. She'll do almost anything for ice cream. Or something hello kitty-related.

richVSrich

I'd like to know something similar as well...a friend just moved to switzerland i'd like to visit and go on some easyish bike rides...as would probably be hiring bikes...

i like the ice cream van idea though! thats enough motivation for me! hehehe

EKE_38BPM

I can't help with the ice cream, but how about a Hello Kitty AR15 with telescopic sight and bipod?


The scary thing is that is real!

t4tomo

have some friends who live in Zug Canton about an hour from Zurich. from observation when I've been over there, most of the lakes (OK the two they have lived near) have some form of cycle path around them. And being a lake, the perimeter is generally fairly flat!

claash

Switzerland has a set of 8 official tracks and numerous ones branching off from that.
Check out the my swtizerland.com website (maybe they have some info).
And "veloland.ch" They publish maps and descriptions.

Good route for a family would be the lake constance trip. Loads of stop off points, ice cream stops etc. Flat route, all cycle path and nice scenery. The total is quite long but you don't have to do it all...... do you?
Anyway hope that helps!

Best wishes from Zürich!

londonlivvy

EKE - holy COW. I work in the licensing industry and cannot imagine what possessed Sanrio (who own the Hello Kitty brand) to license a rifle. Or if it's not licensed, why they haven't sued the manufacturers. humn.

t4tomo. Thanks for the suggestion - apparently they've done their local lake and the road that surrounded it wasn't quite as flat as you might have thought. But worth trying others (and possibly using mapmyride before they go so they establish the amount of bribery that might be required).

greg66_tri_v2.0

Being serious...

We've had our girls on bikes on holidays from a fairly early age. Lessons I have learned (usually the hard way):

- kids' bikes weigh a ton (relatively). This makes a big difference on almost any gradient.
- kids need a granny gear on top of a granny gear. And they usually need to be told to use it. Ours are/were experts at getting behind the gear. And most kids' bikes aren't really made for riding up hills.
- what a cycling adult would call a hill is a Nepalese pass looked at from sea level to most kids. Short undulating lumps are about as hilly as I'd venture with a six year old. At that age they tend to favour (unconsciously) the anaerobic "power up" technique, rather than the aerobic "spinny up" technique. The former doesn't get you very far when you are six.
- add 3-4% to the gradient that you're on and that seems to be what it is like for a kid.
- when you're six, and you're tired, and you can't turn the pedals because you've run out of gears and it's still too steep, there ain't nothing in the world that will motivate you. Not even an ice cream van. A six year old will use three times the energy complaining about that situation than it would take to ride up the hill.
- you will be better off on a MTB made of pig iron, with the widest nobbliest tyres you can find, and the lowest gearing known to man. And a sticking brake, if possible. Adults on road bikes and kids on kids' bikes don't mix terribly well.
- get used to the idea of lots of stops for drinks and snacks.
- you may have better luck aiming for a place - an out and back ride, with an activity at the destination - than an aimless ride clocking up kms.

Where we go, we tend to keep to the undulating paved trails along the valley floor. At six, I'd think that 15km would be a looong ride.

richVSrich

hah! would you sue a rifle manufacturer?? i'd think twice before doing so!

if you were staring down the barrel of that one i would probably burst out laughing tbh.. :P

EKE_38BPM

I really doubt it has been licenced. The image search came up with a few different designs including the Kitty holding a rifle.
Someone I know went to a shooting range in Vegas and she was offered that gun and pink ear defenders. She loved it.

Richvsrich, I think you'd laugh until the warning shot was fired.

londonlivvy

Greg,
Thanks for all hints and tips - genuinely v appreciated.

I think having a lardy one year old on the back of her hybrid slows my sister down quite effectively. Is there a pull -along sort of tow bar so that if she gets knackered to the point of NO MORE, Dad could tow her home?

My niece is generally pretty fit / active and managed a 16km ride round the Griefensee recently, though I gather bribery was required at the end.

londonlivvy

Ooh I think I may have just found the answer to my question
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B000QEL7DE/r ... B000QEL7DE

richVSrich

EKE - as long as it's a warning shot

Livvy - looks good! although wouldn't you have to hide it until it was really necessary?

Is there a cycling route map/book for the South/west (of England) ?

EKE_38BPM

richVSrich wrote:

EKE - as long as it's a warning shot

The first shot is a warning shot.
If you carry on laughing, the second shot is right between the eyes.

As the weilder of the gun toddles off on their high heels to get a manicure (they chipped the polish on the safety) they will be be muttering under their breath "That'll teach you for laughing at my pink gun!"

walkingbootweather

@LondonLivvy. I've used one of these trailgaters with my youngest, but now he's turned 6 he doesn't think he needs it anymore, but I still take it on our longer runs 'just in case'. It is a bit of a faff to set up, and I wouldn't want to have to transfer between bikes, but is pretty effective when set up properly. Will probably have to stick it on ebay at the end of the summer as I'm sure he won't use next year.

itboffin

A riding crop or bamboo cane should do the trick.

:twisted:

EKE_38BPM

itboffin wrote:

A riding crop or bamboo cane should do the trick.

:twisted:

Are you talking about the clubs you used to frequent with Max Mosely?

londonlivvy

walkingbootweather wrote:

@LondonLivvy. I've used one of these trailgaters with my youngest, but now he's turned 6 he doesn't think he needs it anymore, but I still take it on our longer runs 'just in case'. It is a bit of a faff to set up, and I wouldn't want to have to transfer between bikes, but is pretty effective when set up properly. Will probably have to stick it on ebay at the end of the summer as I'm sure he won't use next year.

Apparently they bought one of these already but it doesn't lift the front wheel of her bike off the floor so turning corners just doesn't work. I'm not sure if there's been a fitting error or just a mis-match between her bike and the thingy? Anyway, sadly, my genius idea isn't as genius as I thought!

Genau

They can ride on the Limmat riverside path as far as Baden and I think the Sihl has a similar path to Sihlsee though I haven't ridden that one so I don't know what it's like. That'll probably be quite hilly.

If they go north of the Honggerberg-Zurichberg line of hills, perhaps by train to somewhere like Regensdorf or even just Oerlikon, the country becomes flatter and has less traffic (well, maybe not Oerlikon - plenty of traffic there). Regensdorf to Otelfingen has separated paths a lot of the way.

I see from an earlier comment that they have already tried Greifensee but there is also a path alongside the Glatt that can be followed downstream.