A Well Kept Man

I just got back from a nice long bike ride (it was uphills both ways, and I was carrying my camera and a map in my backpack which added an extra 300 pounds) through various parts of our city (and neighboring towns). I just calculated my route on Google Earth and it indicated I only went 14 km (about 8.7 miles); something must be wrong with Google Earth because it felt more like 14.5 km. The route (as seen in the picture at right..click on it for the version that doesn't require an electron microscope) was very much a climb at the beginning (230m climb on the way up to the top of the map), but as they say 'What goes up, must come down"...the breeze was nice on the way down (it was also nice to work off those six bretzels I've eaten over the last three days, they go straight to your ribs....the bretzels appeared to reform once in my gullet and I thought I heard polka music).

This route was similar to the one I attempted earlier last week when I wound up narrowly escaping death, flash flooding, and the hooting and hollering of construction workers (that's what I get for wearing man capri's...just kidding, I haven't purchased any...yet). This time I stopped occasionally (like when I could see my lungs squeezing through my rib cage looking for extra air) to make sure I was going where I intended to ride. Eventually I made it to where I was trying to get to the first time, the Tour de Sauvabelin (I giant wooden tower in the middle of the park of Sauvabelin...the one with barnyard animals and authentic barnyard smells). It is quite the impressive structure, and if you appreciate torque you'll really enjoy this tower as it looks like a giant screw on the inside. It also tends to twist a bit at the top when new people arrive...not for those that are afraid of heights or easily affected by uncontrolled motion (such as roller coasters or driving in the mountains with me behind the wheel).

The view was quite impressive, although the trees in the forest seemed to get in the way of my attempt to become the next great architecture photographer. It was so impressive that a Swiss couple found it necessary to make sweet, sweet love for the entire time while I was up there (not really, but they were kissing A LOT; this is something I've noticed here, people stop randomly and just starting swapping germs. This isn't France people, it's not nearly as romantic as you think! I wonder if they are tourists from Eastern Europe who think they've made it into France, but their GPS had them turn off the motorway too soon)...I was convinced they thought they were the only ones up there until a family came up (I feel for the dad as he apparently lugged his two kids up the entire way sans baby carrier...he must have biceps of steel) which caused them to wipe the slobber off their faces and pretend they were just practicing their resuscitation techniques.

After climbing back down (35 meters both way, so 115 feet high), I got back on my bike and went looking for more photo opportunities (when in doubt, look for tour buses or masses of people in seemingly uninteresting places...another clue is look for the dude with the giant camera with the telephoto lens taking a picture of something 3 feet away; because everything looks better zoomed in). It was also at this point I realized (or rather my stomach) it was lunch time but I decided that could wait (after all I'm busy, my watch tan is almost gone, and it's not like lunch won't be waiting for me at home). I found my way into the center of the city near the cathedral and city square (museums, Wednesday farmer's market, Starbucks, etc.) where I snapped some more photos (while receiving dirty glares from people who apparently don't agree that the Ohio State Buckeyes are the best football team in all the land...or maybe they were mad because I was riding my bike in and out of the fruit and flower stalls in the cobblestone street) and proceeded back home (again with the gentle breeze blowing my sweaty stench upon some unsuspecting lass on a Vespa behind me).

The city is quite magnificent and beautiful, and if you are in the right spot you can see Lake Geneva (Lac Leman in French), the Alps, and the smog/haze/fog/whatever prevents me from getting an excellent mountain photo. Our apartment is about 0.5 km (0.3 miles) from the lake, so we get down to the water pretty much every night. It is amazing how quickly the landscape changes from flat to hills to mountains, and how the city disappears a few kilometers outside the city limit and you get beautiful vineyards and quaint small towns. Aside from the foreign languages (French mostly, some German/Italian, and misc. other) and price of gas ($8 per gallon equivalent) and food (a boneless skinless chicken breast is ~$12 per pound equivalent, ice cream is around 2-3x more expensive than in the States, and good luck finding things like peanut butter), it really is the perfect place to live. (All of the pictures can be clicked and you should see a larger version, if that doesn't work blame Al Gore, he invented the internet.)