Chur is the oldest city of the northern Alps, its history going back 5000 years. We didn't really perceive its ancient past as we sat in the attractive modern courtyard of the Migros shopping centre eating our breakfast from the disposable bowls we had just purchased. This was our way of saving money, and it turned out to be a very pleasant start to the day. The downside was that it was past 11am when we finally set off.

We followed the Rhine downstream through Zizers and Landquart and on through the vineyards of Malans, Jenins and Maienfeld to Fläsch. Here our route took us on a path right beside the now large river, the water being a glacial grey colour. We took the opportunity to test the water temperature, and would have been very happy to spend a few hours just lying there in the morning sunshine.

Now was the time to leave Route 2 and the Rhine to re-join the Lakes Route (9) from the northern end of the country. The going remained easy and quiet as we rode through Flums to Walenstadt, and remained easy all the way along the length of the enormous Walen Lake. Near the end of the lake the road and cycle path went through two adjacent tunnels in the mountain, the cycle path having periodic unglazed windows to the lake on the right and the highway on the left. It really was an unusual experience.

The cycle signs let us down at the Bilten roundabout, and we inadvertently ended up following the wrong cycle route for a mile or so. We quickly backtracked, however, and were soon following the Linth canal to Schmerikon, where a quick refreshment stop prepared us for the final sprint to Rapperswill.

It took us twenty minutes to find the hostel, which as usual was not signposted at all from our direction. It really was a very good hostel, located in a meadow setting to the south of the town. There was no kitchen, so the food we had brought with us was useless, but the warden here showed us an information sheet we had not previously seen which told us which hostels had kitchens! As luck would have it, neither of the final two hostels had kitchens either. We had arrived too late for the hostel meal, so after settling into our rooms we rode the short distance to the nearby Sports restaurant, situated adjacent to some very impressive sports facilities that included a large number of professional indoor and outdoor tennis courts.

This was an Italian-speaking area, and nobody at the restaurant seemed to speak any English at all. The menu looked interesting, but we really didn't have a clue what food was available. Eventually we established that the chef spoke a little English, and with his help we were served what turned out to be the most delicious, succulent steaks we had ever tasted in our lives. Luke was happy since the rest of us had bought him his meal as an 18th birthday treat. Everyone wanted to order more steaks, but time was pressing so we had to get back to the hostel and plan an early enough start next morning to guarantee a hostel meal at Lucerne the next evening.

(Previous recorded mileage for today's ride was 68 miles)

Just two more cycling days to do, and at last we had organised ourselves to get away early. Leaving the hostel we quickly re-joined route 9 and found ourselves riding across the dividing road between two huge lakes: Ober and Lucerne. Even at this time of the morning the heat was intense as we set about climbing the hill on the south side of Lake Lucern, to the classic clanging of the Pfäffikon church bell. Half an hour was wasted with a wrong turn, but we were soon on the correct short-cut cycle route through Schindellegi to Biberbrugg - a main road, but it shortened our route by several miles.

The next few miles took us past the last big area of preserved high-swamp in Switzerland. Peat was removed in the past but the area is now conserved for the animals and plants that thrive there. Once we reached the village of Rothenthurm, height 923m, the rest of the day was pretty much downhill or flat, so we sat back and enjoyed the ride. The first descent brought us to Sattel, at the head of Lake Ägeri, and a seat by the side of the lake seemed an ideal spot for lunch. The cowbells echoing quietly across the lake helped make our stop particularly pleasant. It was here that we discovered the fastest Mallard ducks in the world, making mad dashes across the water to be sure of getting our bread scraps first! Cowbells echoed quietly across the lake.

Just 4½ miles of level riding brought us to the other end of the lake and the small town of Unterägeri. Swiss road-builders showed us how to do a professional job on sealing the join between two sections of tarmac whilst some of us bought more food from the local delicatessen, then there was more downhill for miles to the lakeside town of Zug. This was a new lake - Zuger - at a lower level than the last but just as enormous. We quickly found our way to the lakeside where there was a small market selling and demonstrating local crafts - the blacksmith making an axe kept us all enthralled for half an hour!

Riding along the lake front with its avenues of trees we noticed an ice cream hut in the shade: we were all thirsty with the sun beating down on us, so we decided we could definitely afford a ten-minute stop in this beautiful setting. The church bells of Zug rang out in the distance, making us feel as though we were in some kind of heaven - we really could have stayed there for the rest of the afternoon, just lying on the grass in the shade of those trees with the sun reflecting off the lake in front of us.

The path took us around the northern end of Lake Zuger, past the village of Cham and several fields of sunflowers and thence to the final riverside path to Lucerne which seemed to go on for miles. We arrived at the Lucerne lake front by just after 5.30 and, after viewing the information map of the town, realised we shouldn't have come so far down. On the other hand we had hoped to do a little souvenir shopping in the town, and since there would be no time next morning we made use of the opportunity now while we were there. A torrential thunderstorm blasted the streets for the few minutes we were in the shop, but minutes later it had departed, leaving us pleasant evening sunshine for our final ride through the intriguing cobbled streets.

Lucerne hostel was another modern building with a huge reception lobby, a spacious first floor restaurant, card-operated dormitory locks and motion-activated lighting. There must have been a fault in our washroom, however, as the lights went off while we were in the shower and wouldn't switch back on again no matter how much we moved! Tao was even caught in the lavatory - opening the door and waving his hand about didn't make a scrap of difference. The restaurant meal offered excellent value and then, for once on the tour, we actually had a little time to just sit around and chat before we went to bed. What a luxury!

(Previous recorded mileage for today's ride was 56 miles, which includes the wrong turn)

Friday, our final day of cycling, saw us leaving by 9am to retrace our steps along route 9 to Emmen and then join Route 3 for the long but level journey back to Aarau. This was agricultural countryside, and our route consisted of numerous lake-side and river-side cycle paths. We wanted to be sure of arrival at Basel by 6.30 so we just kept on cycling for mile after mile, all the way along the north-eastern side of Lake Sempacher. As we rode through the delightful village of Sursee with its cobbled streets, patisseries and street cafes we were very tempted to stop for refreshments. For some reason we just kept on riding - I think we all felt we had missed out on something a little special.

For many more miles we followed the riverside path with no sign of shops in any direction. When the small village of Schöftland rose up before us we all took the plunge in the hope of finding a supermarket for yoghurt drinks. There was a supermarket, but the local bakery seemed a much better idea when we saw the range of cakes and fancies on offer. Our favourite was a solid banana-shaped cake that turned out to be made from a banana soaked in some delicious juices, coated with special jams and finished with an all-over chocolate layer - expensive, but delicious.

Pressing on again we managed to reach Aarau by lunchtime. The route took us right into the shopping area of the town, attractively pedestrianised and laid out with hundreds of bicycle stands, a childrens' play area and a small park. Having purchased our food there was no argument whatsoever about settling down in the shade of a tree and watching the locals cycle and walk about their business.

Now came the final climb of the tour as we rode the quiet tracks and roads to Rohr, where the presence of a local water trough once again provided welcome relief from the sweltering heat. The 963m pass was a welcome site when it honed into view, and the lengthy descent on the other side offered a cooling breeze that revived us all. One more refill from the mountain spring at Rotherfluh gave us all the refreshment we needed for the final haul through the rail-side towns of Sissach and Liestal, bringing us finally to Basel youth hostel by 6.30. This had been our longest day of cycling, and we could all feel it.

When we came down for our meal we were told that the dining room was being used for a function, so we had to wait in the common room for a member of staff to serve us there. The common room consisted of two tables, each of which could take perhaps 5 people, but one was piled high with books and luggage and the other was in use by other hostellers who were eating a meal. We stood around for a while until a coloured gentleman came in who spoke virtually no English whatsoever. We tried to explain that one of us was vegetarian, but we might have made more progress by conversing with the table. He went away to fetch the food, still leaving us standing: we were tired and hungry, and this didn't feel like it was worth £5! After a while we cleared the other table ourselves and sat down, and then, sure enough, the meals emerged. They looked rather unappetising, but they tasted good and were not undersized.

For some of us the day's cycling was not yet over. Our bike bags were still at Mariastein-Rotberg hostel, and they had to be collected. Tao and Oliver volunteered to fetch them, passing up the option of using the free tram service, whilst Gavin, Michael and Luke worked out and practiced the journey to the station that would have to be made next morning in record time. It was gone 11pm when we finally got to bed.

(Previous recorded mileage for today's ride was 71 miles)

Rising at 6.30am was not the best way to start our final day, but it had to be done. Our train left at 8.04 but we had to be at the station by 7.40 to load our bikes. The journey would take 10 minutes, so we just had time to grab a little of the hostel breakfast before we had to leave. Unfortunately, one of our five sets of dormitory keys had been mislaid the previous night, and no matter how much we told Tao that he was responsible, he couldn't find them. There was nothing else to do except pay the £25 fine and hope we would find the keys when we got back to England.

And so it was that we said farewell to the country that had been our host for nearly two weeks. We were sad to leave in many ways, feeling that we would miss the mountains and cycle paths, the lakes and the sunshine. Our SNCF train to Paris was luxurious by comparison with our outward train: spacious, air-conditioned, comfortable and quiet - so quiet in fact that we all spent much of the journey asleep in our seats. The train was on time of course, so we had plenty of time to ride through Paris to Gare du Nord, dismantle our bikes, pack them in the bike bags and buy baguettes and pastries for the Eurostar train.

In stark contrast to our journey from England, everybody and everything was checked for the return journey. Our bike bags and luggage were scanned - the monitors clearly showed the frame and wheels inside. We had to show passports, and we had to answer questions from immigration. When all that was done there was only just time to heave our luggage onto the train before it was time to leave. I can't think why, but we managed to get some more sleep on the Eurostar! And this time, since we had absolutely no intention of going through the pain of carrying the bike bags across London again, we reassembled the bikes as soon as we got off the train.

The final part of our journey wasn't totally smooth, as Waterloo underground station wouldn't allow us to board trains there with bikes because "the station is so deep". We had experienced no such problems when coming out of the underground two weeks earlier, but now we were told to ride across the Thames to Westminster underground station and board the circle line there! We began to wish we hadn't reassembled the bikes after all! The traffic was horrendous, but at least we got to see Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament as a bonus for our trip.

So that was almost the end of our adventure. The consensus on the final train journey to Newton Abbot was that the tour had been the best we had ever organised. Where would we be going next year? Lots of ideas were circulating, but you'll just have to wait and see what we decide. Rest assured, it will be good!