When we first left on our bicycle trip I remember feeling like I had to be a single-minded, fearless adventurer who never showed any lack of resolve. It used to be a rare occurrence that I would admit any discomfort, feeling that doing so was a counter-productive waste of time which could be better spent changing whatever situation displeased me.

As it turns out, my never-say-die attitude and this never-ending trip are a little incompatible in the real world. As the weeks and months fly by I am definitely getting much better at airing my complaints and letting them go (rather than internalizing everything), something Tara already does with ease.

With all of that said, some days the luster of cycle touring wears a little thin and today was one of those days for me. I didn't feel at all like packing up our bikes when we woke up. All I wanted was to be at home with our family and friends or relaxing with a huge bowl of ice cream covered in chocolate sauce and oreos in an air-conditioned room.

Of course I packed anyway, and when we were through, I didn't want to cycle the 75 kilometers we'd planned. Setting out, the complaints didn't end; I didn't feel like navigating through towns and crowds of people to arrive at our destination, and when we rolled into camp the last thing I wanted to do was help set up. Finally, once camp was made I didn't want to download our GPS tracks, plan our route for tomorrow, log our budget, sort through photos, or very least of all, write this journal. I think that covers it!

In spite of my fairly constant stream of complaints (some verbalized, some not), we had a really nice ride. Tara was supportive, picking up a lot of my slack, and the astounding Switzerland landscapes quickly made it hard to take myself and my mood seriously. Our route was an easy one, following a cycle path along Lake Leman for the first half of the day.

As we passed through Montroux along the eastern shoreline we could've mistaken the scenery for French Riviera, albeit with a lot of mountains. The landscaping was pristinely manicured, and slender, high-heeled mothers pushed their babies in strollers along the lake. There were casinos and fancy restaurants; sculptures and fountains lined the path. If I didn't know better I'd say we were on the grounds of some expensive resort, instead of just generally in Switzerland!

After Montroux we rode in a southeasterly direction in the Rhône valley towards Martigny. The weather was refreshingly cool as we cycled along an endless series of vineyards, rugged stone staircases, random doorways leading into mountains(!) and several awesome chair-lift contraptions, presumably used for tending to the many vines planted on extremely steep grades. Though the grapes were planted on an incline, our roads were perfectly pancake-flat. It really was ideal cycling!

By the end of the day my mood had improved greatly and I was feeling a little foolish given how nice our ride was. Even so I was still feeling very lazy and Tara took charge at camp, setting up most everything while I took a shower and did my best to snap out of it. Just as the sun was setting into the mountains (very early in the evening!) a family of cycle tourists rolled in. Tara offered to write about them in her journal tomorrow and given the state of my motivation at the moment, I've agreed to this excellent plan.