NOTE: This text is a loose translation of Konrad Webers text http://reliefs.ch/seentour.htm.

The aim of this project was to get as many water samples from different Swiss lakes with an area larger than 1km2. The time limit for the Tour is 24 hours and as transport we only use the public transportation system (mainly trains) and the bicycle. It is quite tricky to find the optimal route since among other things it is quite difficult to estimate the performance on the bike. According to the railway guide and the assessment of our bike capabilities it seemed to be best to start the 24h-tour in the evening in Rorschach. Shortly before the departure of the Rheintal-Express and in direct vicinity of the station we filled the first of our 25 sample glasses with water from the Lake of Constance (Lake 1). Via Sargans Konrad Weber and me (Simon Scherrer) reached the station of Weesen. At the same time it started to rain quite strongly. In the rain we reached the border of the Walensee (Lake 2) quickly.

In Ziegelbrücke we took the S-Bahn via Pfäffikon SZ to get our Lakes number 3 (Pfäffikersee) and 4 (Greifensee). It was a bit of a shock as we heard that the route between Bubikon and Wetzikon was closed due to construction work. Therefore we had to squeeze ourselves and our bikes into one of the two overcrowded busses which headed for Wetzikon. Although we reached Wetzikon with a considerable delay we took the S-14 to Aatal. The bike route from Aatal via Seegräben to the Pfäffikersee and again up to Seegräben and down to Uster and the Greifensee was not much fun and quite an odyssey. First there was continuous rain, it was pitch dark and relatively difficult to find one's bearings. In the centre of Uster we bent off to early and therefore reached Riedikon, where it was quite difficult to reach the border of the lake. It was only the third effort that brought us what we wanted, a quite muddy Greifensee water sample at exactly 23:02. Full throttle we reached the station in Uster at 23:10 where we boarded the S-5 back to Wetzikon. After that again the same bus-procedure back to to Bubikon. Fortunately we had planned a 30 minutes break in Rapperswil to get Zürichsee water (lake 5, delay 15 minutes). Our next train started with a delay of 18 minutes since it waited for the connection coming from Bubikon again.

Hence we arrived with a delay of 18 minutes in Einsiedeln where our "night-ride" started at ~00:50. The next roughly 5 and a half hours we had to ride by bike since the public transportation system is ceased during this time. We chose the "ZentralSchweiz" for this night-ride because there are many lakes lying relatively close together and because Einsiedeln lies at roughly 1000 m ASL and our destination Sursee only at 500 m. What we didn't expect was the continuously strong rainfall and sometimes wind until 5 o'clock in the morning. These rough conditions made orientation more difficult and obviously we were soaked within minutes for the rest of the night. Nevertheless, we reached the Sihlsee (lake 6) very quickly. To the Ägerisee via Biberbrugg, Rothenthurm and Sattel things took longer. With our Ägerisee (lake 7) water sample in the backpack we turned back in Morgarten and awaited the descent to Steinen. However, the wet lane and the darkness made things strenuous. At 2:29 we reached the Lauerzersee (lake 8) and from there via the slight hill near Goldau to the Zugersee (lake 9) in Arth.

It followed a rather flat but long leg via Immensee, Buonas, Rotkreuz, Gisikon, Inwil, Ballwil, Hochdorf and Baldegg to Gelfingen, where the access to the Baldeggersee (lake 10, 4:37) was easiest. Shortly after that we took our sample from the nearby Hallwilersee (lake 11, 5:02). At dawn we climbed the pass-like road to Schwarzenbach and Beromünster. The pressure of time got worse and worse since it would have been best to reach the 6:10 train to Lucerne in Sursee. We gave everything and in a hurry we had some difficulties in finding the best access to the Sempachersee (lake 12). While I was collecting the water sample Konrad's bike chain made problems twice and we arrived in Sursee exactly in time together with the arrival of the train.

In Lucerne we had enough time to get the water sample form the Vierwaldstättersee (lake 13). The Brünigbahn brought us to Kaiserstuhl near the Lungersee (lake 14) from where we had a nice descent back to the Sarnersee (lake 15, 8:00). In the meantime there were even the first sun rays and the day seemed to become better than the previous night. From Giswil we climbed the ascent to Kaiserstuhl by cog-wheel for a second time. Via the Brünig and Meiringen the train headed for Interlaken-Ost. Along the Aarekanal we reached the Brienzersee (lake 16) quickly. After crossing Interlaken we reached the Thunersee (lake 17) without problems. Weather was fine in the meantime but we felt the tiredness and had to fight against it. In Bern we had 45 minutes of time to "get" the Wohlensee (lake 18). We took a sample near the Halenbrücke which unfortunately crosses the Wohlensee 38 m above the water level.

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