What’s the best thing to do when one of your oldest friends finally makes it all the way to Zurich from New Zealand? Take an e-bike ride around the Zurich Lake of course! A mere 42 miles of lakeside cycling, the perfect introduction to Zurich in summer! Read all about it in this guest post from Yvonne Aeberhard Stutz of Zurich, owner of the Funky Forty blog.
Thanks to Bosch eBike Systems we were able to test ride three different e-bikes around Zurich Lake.
Here is another view of these three beautiful bikes, next to the awesome Zurich Lake.
We let Greg have the Flyer T-Series e-Bike (from Flyer, a Swiss bike manufacturer), which he particularly enjoyed. Turbo power enabled him to reach over 25 miles per hour at times! The T-Series e-bike is the black one at the front of the photo above.
As she is a turquoise fan, we let Raewyn ride this lovely Juna+ model from Diamant (a German bike manufacturer).
Raewyn loved the big comfy seat and ladylike feeling while riding. She did have to get used to the fact that the basket was attached to the central bike rather than the handlebars.
This left me this cute Nevo Model e-bike from Riese & Müller (also a German bike manufacturer).
I found this e-bike extremely easy to ride. It looks a little feminine but at the same time it is speedy – perfect!
As we sat together the following morning we all agreed on the following four main points:
Range of the Three Bosch Powered E-bikes
Despite cycling 42 miles, each of us had enough battery range left for approximately another 12 – 19 miles each. We did however mainly use the eco battery level, which of course requires more pedaling.
Easy Gear Changing
Gear changing was super smooth with a simple twist.
Simple Power Controllers
The power controllers were very easy to use with lovely large numbers (good for those of us needing reading glasses!).
Easy Cruise Speed
Even at the end of our long ride we were still able to smoothly cruise along at 16 miles per hour.
Highlights of Cycling around Zurich Lake
Facing Rapperswil from Zurich we started along the left hand side of Zurich Lake. This is traditionally called the Gold Coast, as it gets the most sun.
Kusnacht was our first pit stop – check out the Romantic Seehotel Sonne, which really has something for everyone – choose from a lovely gourmet restaurant, or a section in the front where you can buy a simple Swiss sausage.
Below is a silly picture taken in Meilen, where the car ferry stops to take people across to Horgan. In case you don’t feel like tackling the whole 42 miles, you can take your bike on the ferry.
This side of Zurich Lake has many beautiful vineyards – I keep thinking these must be the most expensive vine patches in the whole of Europe.
Visit the Medieval Town of Rapperswil!
The medieval town of Rapperswil was at the halfway point, so it was the best place to stop for lunch. Make sure you cycle down to the waterfront for a lovely selection of little restaurants. Also, you might like to explore the castle before heading back along the west side of the lake towards Zurich.
Try to ride along the paths closer to Zurich Lake on this side – they are not always easy to find, but if you follow the other cyclists you should find them!
There were several cute boardwalks to cycle over and we discovered some lovely cute hidden pebble beaches. We regretted not having our bathing suits with us!
Having pedaled so hard (smile) we felt thoroughly justified in a little ice cream stop in Wadenswil. Especially in summer, you will find great ice cream sundaes in most restaurants.
One of the great things about Zurich is the huge amount of drinkable water fountains. All you need is your own bottle and then you’ll be set for the day with plenty of places to refill.
The absolute highlight of the day was our last stop: the Lindt chocolate shop in Kilchberg. There is quite a steep ride up to the shop but for some reason we all seemed to fly up there. It is wonderful what the smell of chocolate can do!
Conclusion
A big thank you to PRFact and Bosch for giving us the opportunity to test these bikes. It was a real day to remember.
Thanks to our Guest Poster!
This post was published with the kind permission of Yvonne Aeberhard Stutz. Check out her beautiful blog, Funky Forty, here.
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