Stage 1 of the Rhine Cycle Route blew our minds with stunning mountain views, turquoise river water, and a soundtrack of cowbells! Yet Stage 2 promised the impossible — the most stunning views of the Ruinaulta. The catch? This stage has the most significant climbs (450 metres / 1,509 feet worth). Because of that, it’s a very short stage, only 35 km.
>> TABLE OF CONTENTS
- What’s the Ruinaulta?
- Road Closure
- Sightseeing in Chur
- Ride Stats
- Video
What’s the Ruinaulta?
According to Switzerland Tourism, “Ruinaulta” means “high heap of rubble” in Romansh, the local language of the Vorderrhein (Anterior Rhine) gorge. It’s an accurate name considering the whitish rock formations in the gorge consist of debris from a rockslide 10,000 years ago that blocked the Rhine near the town of Flims. Over millennia, the Anterior Rhine muscled its way through the rubble, creating what we see now — a striking gorge that locals call the “Ruinaulta” and some people have nicknamed the “Swiss Grand Canyon”.
Road Closure
Less than 2 km into the ride, we came across this construction sign outside of Castrisch. We recognized the date (August 26, 2025) — the day we were biking the route. But there were two time periods listed. I suspected it meant closed during those periods, so did that mean the road was open between 11:30 and 13:30? Or was it the opposite?!
Pier had just pulled out his phone to take a picture so we could translate when a couple of mountain bikers pulled up beside us. They assured us the road would open from 11:30 to 13:00 and to follow them! Thank goodness, because nothing on the sign specifically said that, and also the section that was closed was still 10km away. We thought it was right ahead and would have just waited by the sign and missed the ROAD OPEN window!
TRANSLATIONS:
strassensperrung = road closure
umfahrungsmöglichkeit über Flims = detour option via Flims
Note that the detour to Flims is quite far out of our way, and goes wide around the gorge, not through it. Worse, it’s not a bike route. In the MAP above, our planned route is in blue and follows Rhine Route 2 / EuroVelo 15. The orange squiggles are mountain bike trails, and the red 6 is a main mountain bike route. So, the detour to Flims would be on a motor vehicle highway (the white line). Not ideal.
Luckily, we didn’t need to detour! We followed the Swiss cyclists straight ahead on the longest climb of the day — 10 km at a 4-11% grade, levelling off just before the town of Versam.
It took us under an hour to get to Versam. Here, the Swiss cylists stopped for food, and we continued through town to where a construction worker was actually stopping people from going on the closed section of road. But it was only 30 minutes until the road opened, so we simply waited there and ate a snack.
And we were off! Down hairpin turns as steep as Stage 1, but at this lower elevation, we were winding through forest.
At the bottom of the hairpin turns is the Rabiusa Gorge, a smaller gorge whose river feeds into the Anterior Rhine in the Ruinaulta. Cyclists get to go across the old bridge, which is now car-free.
A few minutes later we came across this random water trough on the side of the road and filled up our bottles.
Not far after the water trough, we came to a lookout spot over the Rabiusa river, which is barely a trickle this late in the summer. We also got a view of the road curving around a huge rock, where we’d be riding soon.
Right after this rock slide shelter…
… we stopped to get our first proper view of the Anterior Rhine in the Ruinaulta!
Though the official lookout spot was just a bit further…
We made it! It really was a gorgeous ride, but we didn’t stop much because the road is very narrow (no shoulder). For better footage, check out the video at the end of this post!
After this, it was a long, smooth descent into the town of Bonaduz, where we filled up our water bottles again and used this impressively clean compost outhouse.
And as we rolled into the town of Reichenau, the Anterior Rhine (Vorderrhein) meets up with the Posterior Rhine (Hinterrhein) in what’s known as The Confluence of the Rhine. From here onwards, the Rhine is one river.
We arrived in Chur with plenty of time to sightsee.
Sightseeing in Chur
As usual, we bought some food at the Coop grocery store and had a spork picnic with a mountain view.
Ride Stats
| STAGE 2: Ilanz – Chur (Switzerland) | |
|---|---|
| Distance — 35 km | Elevation (Highest / Lowest) — 930m / 560m |
| Average Speed — 15 km/hr | Steepest Grade — 15% |
| Top Speed — 39 km/hr | Time in Motion — 2 hrs 19 mins |
NOTE: Relive clocked us at a top speed of 55 km/hr, but I think that might’ve been a blip, like the GPS tracker lost us for a bit, because it happened right at a tunnel early in the ride and I don’t remember doing a crazy fast downhill there. However, the speed profile on Komoot clearly shows us maintaining speeds between 33-39 km/hr on the descent from the Ruinaulta lookout, so that’s what I’m declaring as our top speed.
Video
Rhine River Bike Tour – Other Blog Posts!
- DAY 1 – Rhine River Bike Tour: Cologne to Monheim (GERMANY)
- DAY 2 – Rhine River Bike Tour: Monheim to Dusseldorf (GERMANY)
- DAY 3 – Rhine River Tour: The Scenic Train to SWITZERLAND!
- DAY 4 – Cycle-Sightseeing in Zurich
- DAY 5 – Swiss Alps Hike to Devil’s Bridge
- DAY 6 – Rhine River Bike Tour: SWITZERLAND – From the top! (Stage 1)
- Up next…
- DAY 8 – Swiss Alps Hike & Toboggan
- DAY 9 – Rhine River Bike Tour: SWISS DOWNPOUR! (Stage 3)