Our epic adventure to Switzerland proved to be one of our best tours ever. We were blessed with excellent weather almost every day with only a couple of showers in the whole two weeks. Clocking up more than 615 miles in 11 days of cycling we managed to view all regions of this magnificent country from the fabulous network of cycle paths that make Britain's treatment of cyclists appear stone-aged. Huge lakes, clean rivers, gentle gradients, picturesque houses, good food and a friendly population helped make this a very memorable tour.

Day 1 started late on Sunday night as the five participants met at Newton Abbot Station at 11.45pm. Our bikes had been dismantled and packed into special £40 bike bags that Eurostar had insisted we buy in order to take our bikes with us to France. The overnight sleeper train arrived on time and it wasn't long before we were enjoying a comfortable night in sleeper bunks, soothed by the gentle sway of the train gliding effortlessly over the track.

Complimentary orange juice and biscuits at 5.20am did little to prepare us for what proved to be a tough journey across London from Paddington to Waterloo. Our bike bags were not especially heavy, but the shoulder and hand straps became very painful after a few minutes of walking. And of course we had panniers and bar bags to carry as well. Oliver's mother had prepared some towel handles for his bag, but the rest of us had to improvise with gloves and items of clothing. It was with great relief that we stowed the bags on the Eurostar train before taking our seats on the 7.23 departure.

The train to Paris was comfortable and fast, giving us plenty of opportunity to catch up on some sleep. At Paris Gare du Nord, where we arrived at 11:23, we reassembled the bikes while Michael explored the possibility of leaving the bags at the station for two weeks. The quoted charge was around £70 per bag, so we thanked them very much and strapped the folded bags onto the panniers! We whiled away a few pleasant hours on the banks of the Seine before catching our final train from Gare de l'Est to Basel in Switzerland, which left at 14:44.

Our reserved seats on the crowded SNCF train were already occupied by other passengers who seemed unwilling to give them up. The guard seemed keen to help out, so he opened up a special air-conditioned compartment adjacent to our bikes and gave us exclusive occupancy rights! Soaring, thundery temperatures left us all suffering a little, but we were probably the most comfortable passengers on the train.

At 7.51pm we finally arrived in Switzerland. Our first night was to be at Mariastein-Rotberg youth hostel, about 10 miles out of the town and close to the village of Flüh. We were immediately struck by the cleanliness and peace of the town - and were entertained by the funny German names that resembled English words. The final climb in the dark was a little painful after such a long day, but eventually we found our way to the hostel and dragged our luggage up the hundreds of steps to the chateau entrance.

It was past 9pm but the wardens kindly agreed to cook us a very welcome pasta meal for £4. We arranged to leave our bike bags in a back room of the hostel ready for collection at the end of the tour - this was the only cheap solution we could find to our problem. Another Turkish hosteller proved a little too friendly by coming into our dormitory and talking endlessly, but eventually we settled down for a very comfortable first night in Switzerland.

A leisurely, late breakfast on the inside balcony of Mariastein hostel has to be one of the best ways to start a day: cereals, yoghurt, Swiss bread, jams, hot chocolate, coffee and orange juice, all served on simple wooden tables overlooking fabulous panoramic views. We were in no hurry to leave, but we knew that further delays would only add to what would be a lengthy ride.

Switzerland has had the good sense to set up a set of nine national cycling routes that cross the country in all directions. All the routes are clearly signposted on the ground, leading cyclists along gentle gradients and quiet cycle paths whenever possible. We had a choice of routes today: backtrack to Basel along route 7, follow route 3 over the mountains (779m) to Aarau and then take the level route 5 to Solothurn, or take a shorter, more direct and more scenic mountain route that was only a local cycle route and climbed to 943m. The latter sounded more attractive even though we had no clear maps for the central part of the route, so we set off with eager anticipation.

We arrived at the village of Laufen after just 10 miles of climb and descent, so we bought lunch at the local shopping centre and enjoyed it by the roadside. The big climb began shortly afterwards, taking us along numerous hairpin climbs through typical Swiss mountain scenery. After catching the tail-end of the thunderstorm we eventually reached the top, only to find that our route was taking us down a very, very long descent to a village that we could see a long way below. We double checked our route as well as we could, but our worst fears proved correct: there would be another long climb to follow.

Our late start was now coming back to haunt us, but we struggled on and finally reached the 943m pass with nothing but downhill ahead of us. We maintained excellent speed all the way to the youth hostel, finishing with a lengthy cycle path that followed the river Aare for miles. We were certainly beginning to like the Swiss cycle routes!

When we reached the centre of Solothurn village we discovered that Swiss youth hostel signs are neither plentiful nor striking. We found a sign pointing along a street, but after a few minutes we discovered another pointing back the way we had come. Retracing our steps we discovered that we had ridden right past the imposing hostel, which looked more like a library than a place to stay the night. It had revolving glass doors, a glass elevator, glass stairs and interesting dormitories with three adjacent mattresses on a very high bunk area, all overlooking the busy river. The self-catering kitchen was more of a disappointment, enclosed entirely in a small wall cupboard and consisting of a sink, hob and a small cupboard full of pans, plates and cutlery. We had to take it in turns to cook our food, so it was late when we finally settled down for a night that was punctuated by the sound of numerous Swiss trains passing on the other side of the river.

Wednesday morning began with the busy sound of many people cycling or walking past the hostel, on their way to school and work. There was so much to see from our second floor window that we sat there for some time just taking it all in: the young man towing his dog in a cycle trailer; the numerous boats pacing up and down the river. Even the ducks were entertaining.

On leaving the hostel we located a cycle shop where Michael could buy a replacement tyre, then we set off to follow Route 5 down river. The path took us through fields of sunflowers and sweetcorn, and then alongside the river Aare. Suddenly, near Altreu, we were stopped in our tracks by the site of a white stork in its huge, untidy nest on the roof of a house. These rare birds thrive in the traditional agriculture of this region, and we saw several more birds and nests during the course of the next half an hour. There are around 100 pairs in Switzerland, reintroduced since 1948.

We stopped briefly to explore the village of Büren with its impressive wooden entrance bridge, destroyed by a fire in 1789 but reconstructed in 1989. Boats using the river must be constructed to be especially low in order to pass under the bridge. We bought some of the superb yoghurt drinks that we had grown to like so much, then proceeded to Biel and the Bieler Lake. At Mörigen we enjoyed lunch by the lakeside, entertained by a family of children playing in the water and, later, by our own Frisbees. Pressing on through Lüscherz we soon found ourselves at Thielle with a difficult decision to make. We were staying at a hotel that night with no possibility of a self-catering kitchen. We were at the head of another long lake. Our hotel was part way down the south side, but the only shops were towards Neuchâtel, part way down the north side. We decided to make the detour, and found a huge Migros shopping centre in Epagnier which provided us with good food and comfortable seats for its consumption. This was now definitely French-speaking Switzerland. An enormous mound of burning straw in a field turned out to be a demonstration by the local fire service.

Retracing our steps we proceeded quickly past the large farm at Witzwil, noted for its special corridors linking areas of its land that allow rabbits and other animals to move freely, and soon reached La Sauge, near Cudrefin, where our hotel was just off the road. The south side of the vast Lake of Neuchâtel is Switzerland's last swampy region, interrupted only by the few small towns situated on the banks. The area is a nature reserve for wild birds, and the hotel is frequented by birdwatchers from all over the world. We took up the hotel's offer of a free walk down to the lake, but a birdwatcher positioned on the path ahead of us with his tripod-mounted binoculars clearly felt he owned the place as he was very unwilling to move to allow us to pass! The sunset was glorious and we spent some time just enjoying the tranquillity of the area before returning to our room for another night of well-earned rest.

Today's route took us along specially-created paths through fields of more vegetables than we could count. We had reached the town of Yverdon-les-Bains at the far end of the lake by lunchtime as the riding was very flat and easy, but we were so keen to find a shop that we took a wrong turning that cost us a couple of miles of unnecessary riding. Another Migros supermarket provided food, and a quiet play park offered seats and welcome shade from the mid-day sun for lunch.

Under the main road bridge was the most incredible BMX track we had ever seen. If the signs hadn't pointed out that it was only for the use of club members we would almost certainly have given it a try!

Now, finally, we faced the prospect of a little climbing - a gentle 200m climb over 20 miles. As we reached Golion in sweltering temperatures we got our first glimpse of the world famous Lake Geneva, and soon afterwards we were riding through forest tracks on our way to Lausanne. Pausing at the side of the vast lake we suddenly realised that whilst the Swiss have no coastline, their many lakes offer a superior replacement. There was a sandy beach, children playing in dinghies and swimming, people sailing boats as part of a club - all the fun of the beach was taking place here on the lake. We could easily have tarried longer.

Proceeding to Ouchy we discovered that we had passed the hostel again, but we noted the take-away food bar for possible use later. Lausanne hostel turned out to be very large, very modern and very uninspiring. It was obviously used frequently as a conference centre, and whilst it was comfortable and clean it lacked the character that we have come to expect from youth hostels - and a members' kitchen! We had some difficulty finding rooms with opening windows - we would probably have suffocated if we had stayed in the rooms we were originally offered.

We chose to explore the lake side on foot all the way from Vidy back to Ouchy. Once again we were amazed at the night life - everyone, young and old, was happily enjoying sports of all kinds in a safe and friendly atmosphere. Behaviour was impeccable, and the whole walk was a thoroughly enjoyable experience. We capped it off with some delicious pizzas and pancakes at the takeaway bar, and some interesting pictures of the moon reflecting across the swans on the lake.

(The mileage previously written down for this ride was 64 miles)

Lausanne is home of the Olympic Games, so Olympic statues, flags and buildings were dotted everywhere in this attractive town. Along the lake front were fountains, flower beds, seats, sculptures and many happy people just enjoying the surroundings. It was as we left Lausanne, however, on Route 1 that we discovered the most stunning sight of the tour so far: grape vines, all loaded with delicious grapes, lining the hill from the side of the lake right up to the horizon. Presumably the south-facing slopes offer ideal growing conditions, but the sheer number of vines was staggering. We rode for miles and miles towards Vevey, but the vines just kept going on and on, all neatly terraced and arranged in tidy rows. We felt as though there must have been enough grapes produced in this one area to supply the whole of Europe! The owner's name was printed in huge letters on the rocks above the vines, as if staking out his territory. Quite how they manage to pick them all if they happen to ripen on the same day we couldn't quite fathom - perhaps they pay the whole town to give up a day for grape picking?

It was at Vevey that we had to switch to Route 9, heading up into the mountains. Vevey is another lakeside town like Lausanne with delightful tree-lined walks and statues. We soon found Route 9 and proceeded to follow the signs, but after ten minutes we noticed that we were heading further along the lake, towards Montreaux. Clearly Route 9 started at Montreaux, not Vevey, so we must have missed a sign pointing in the other direction. Retracing our steps we soon found the offending sign, almost completely hidden from view by the leaves of the tree in which it was mounted.

Even though we had planned to move quickly it was still nearly lunchtime when we started the long climb into the mountains. Once again the sun made the going tough, but we pressed on through more rural scenery and settled down for lunch near the road at Châtel St Denis. There was a seat but no shade, so we couldn't stay there too long. Around the next few corners we came across a marshal for a cycle race who spoke excellent English. She couldn't believe her ears when we told her we were headed for Château d'Oex, and advised us to stop chatting and get cycling! Groups of cyclists were passing us on the other side for several miles afterwards, all keen to out-cycle the other teams - we thought they must be training for the Tour de France!

Bulle was our next stop, offering another supermarket for yoghurt drinks and evening meals. Michael also availed himself of the opportunity to purchase a French / English dictionary, to help him with the translation of our French guide book. We still had a good way to go, so we quickly returned to the saddles and set about following Route 9 past another lake and through Gruyeres (famous for its cheese) to the quiet back roads again.

During the tour we passed through many small villages, and nearly all of them boasted a public water trough fed by fresh spring water emanating from an overhanging pipe. Today the trough at Le Bu, adjacent to an unusual polygonal chapel, proved just what the doctor ordered, its cool waters making an excellent cooling agent and the pipe offering top quality refills for our water bottles. The heat really was tiring.

The final sprint of the day took us through a low pass into an adjacent mountain valley, and then onwards and upwards to the small town of Château d'Oex. The hostel was easy to find, but the warden less so: she seemed to be a part-time warden who looked after the hostel as a chore, and it took several rings of the bell before she came down from her private room. Her desire to be left undisturbed for the evening meant that she was more than willing to let us use her main kitchen for our evening meals, so we eagerly set about learning how to use catering-style gas cookers and can openers. She even said we could help ourselves to milk and pay in the morning! Several flies were zapped by the "SuperZap 5" fly extermination machine while we were eating our meal in the dining room.

Once again it was so late by the time we had washed up that there was just about time to get ready for bed before we collapsed from tiredness.

(The previous mileage recorded for this ride was 65 miles)