Riding along Route 5 through the middle of Switzerland is mostly easy cycling through farm country. One of the prettiest towns along Route 5 is the riverside town of Baden, Switzerland, with its covered bridge and church steeple. Directional signs for Route 5 are plentiful, as they are with the other national Swiss routes. The city of Solothurn with its Baroque cathedral is a good place to take a break from biking and view the architecture.
The Middle Land route crosses Switzerland from Romanshorn in the north on the shores of Lake Constance to Lausanne in the south on Lake Geneva, a total of miles kilometers. The weather was not the greatest during our journey. In four days of cycling, we had two hours of sunshine, a couple hours of a downpour, and hour after hour of gray, dismal clouds. It was so overcast we never saw any of the spectacular mountains, the reason we love Switzerland.
We rode through lots of farm country, pretty but boring after a while. For the most part, the cycling was mundane on relatively flat terrain. We like the variety of demanding ascents followed by fast and thrilling descents.
As we had seen on previous Swiss rides, the route was well marked and easy to follow. We rode mostly on bike trails, not busy streets. And, because the riding was easy, we were able to pedal some 60 miles on each of three days.
On the fourth day, we only rode a half-day as we had to catch a train to get back to our car. We found no Route 5 signs at the Romanshorn Bahnhof, however, so we pedaled around looking for the red and blue markers. As usual, Bicycle Bob thought we should go one way, and I was just as sure it was the other way. A woman walking her dog finally pointed us in the right direction. As soon as we left town, we were deep into Swiss farm country.
