Switzerland Entries
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Italy at Last
Wednesday, September 2nd, 2009Before leaving town officially, we had one very important task to attend to. Velocity sent us complete wheelsets for both bikes and we were left with two perfectly good front wheels in need of a hom...
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Velocity Chukkers Arrive
Tuesday, September 1st, 2009We spent most of the morning tearing camp apart and re-assembling it into 'travel' mode. I was expecting our wheels to arrive the following day and I wanted to be packed and ready to go when they di...
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The Wait Continues
Monday, August 31st, 2009The wait continues. We did the usual again today, reading, working and writing. We're both eager to go but we're falling into a nice, relaxing routine here. ...
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Camp Cookies
Friday, August 28th, 2009Looking for something to do while we wait for our rims, I decided to do some baking today. I thought traditional Jewish jam-filled hamentaschen would be a good idea since we had all the ingredients o...
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Howard
Thursday, August 27th, 2009I was on the phone with my parents when I heard a faint little squeaking noise and thought I saw the shadow of some small animal burrowing under the corner of our tent. Then I spotted the culprit-- ...
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Holding Pattern
Wednesday, August 26th, 2009We're still in Silvaplana waiting for our new rims to arrive. It has only been three days and we're already getting a case of cabin fever! Hopefully we'll settle back into staying put, as it looks ...
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Velocity Rims
Monday, August 24th, 2009UPDATE: One of our replacement rims failed too. Click here for a continuation of the story. I will be updating this post over the next few days as we sort out our wheel dilemma. My rear rim has ...
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Conquering Julierpass
Sunday, August 23rd, 2009Today is the big day; our highest mountain climb ever will take us over Julierpass! For breakfast, I make us a large pot of muesli with cooked apples to keep us well fueled. Feeling full, we hit th...
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Ascending & Descending
Saturday, August 22nd, 2009We said farewell to Chur under overcast skies, thankful for the gray cloud cover that would hopefully stick around and protect us from the sun. A long sweaty day of climbing is a lot more enjoyable ...
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To Chur
Friday, August 21st, 2009We started the day bright and early at 6:30AM so we could dash away safely from our relatively unhidden wild camp last night. Breaking down was a quick affair, as we'd been careful to unpack as litt...
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Railway Wild Camp
Thursday, August 20th, 2009We left Luzern today to begin our final leg in Switzerland. As we rolled out of camp it was already very hot; 30 kilometers into our ride we were feeling (and smelling) pretty sour. Dripping with s...
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Luzern Transit Museum
Wednesday, August 19th, 2009I spent at least six hours at the Transit Museum in Luzern today. The sheer amount of stuff they have on display is incredible, here are some photos from a few of the exhibits: Close up of a percu...
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The Higher Road
Monday, August 17th, 2009This morning we had a satisfying breakfast (the first one, it seems, in days) of cooked muesli, jazzed up with cinnamon and sugar. Afterwards, as we were packing we got to talking with our campsite ...
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Hungry
Sunday, August 16th, 2009We started our day with a sad little breakfast of dry muesli. We had no yogurt, milk, jam, juice, or anything to spice it up. Our food supply lately has been very feast or famine. On the docket fo...
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Swiss Tour Guides
Saturday, August 15th, 2009We had a short ride ahead of us today, only 25 kilometers to the town of Burgdorf where we would meet up with our friends, Ingrid and Yves! When we arrived we were greeted with warm hugs all around ...
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Fun in Bern
Friday, August 14th, 2009We weren't sure what to expect from Tara's dad's longtime friend, Bettina, but we were pleasantly surprised with the friendly, spunky, and incredibly generous woman who came to meet us at Bern's rive...
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Souped Up
Thursday, August 13th, 2009I am now the proud owner of a brand new Brooks Champion Flyer S saddle! It's a leather seat specifically designed for women, complete with sturdy springs that provide extra cushion on bumpy roads. ...
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12 Hour Work Day
Wednesday, August 12th, 2009The never ending stream of work continues to pour in. Thanks to a finely honed ability to compartmentalize the stress of each task before me it isn't too overwhelming. In any case, I am very thankf...
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Too Expensive
Tuesday, August 11th, 2009This morning we were relieved to find that the rain had stopped, held at bay by the rising sun cutting through the clouds. We took advantage of the sunshine, setting out our rain-fly and ground shee...
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Unexpected Climb
Monday, August 10th, 2009We left the campsite today cheerfully, feeling as though we'd done Zermatt justice. In just a few days we'd managed to do quite a bit: taking in a festival, riding cable cars, hiking in the mountain...
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Being Tourists
Sunday, August 9th, 2009Despite the forecast for snow today, the morning dawned brilliant and sunny. Thankful for the good weather, we decided to take advantage our last day in Zermatt rather than hiding out in the tent. ...
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Hiking in the Swiss Alps
Saturday, August 8th, 2009We'd planned on going for a proper hike through the mountains today but when we awoke to the sound of rain on our tent, we had second thoughts. For most of the morning we hemmed and hawed through th...
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Resting in Zermatt
Friday, August 7th, 2009This super friendly French-Canadian couple, Lise and Clarence, took up tandem cycle touring after they retired two years ago. We had lots of fun exchanging stories about our travels! Clarence was e...
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Climbing to Zermatt
Thursday, August 6th, 2009After a long crepe-making/eating session this morning (in preparation for our mountain climb), we hit the road and headed into the town of Visp. As we left our campground the bicycle lane we enjoyed...
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Cycling Family
Wednesday, August 5th, 2009Last night while we were settled in at camp, a big group of cycle tourists rolled in. A whole family of them! The father pulling a giant trailer behind him, the mother fully loaded with an adorable...
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Bad Mood
Tuesday, August 4th, 2009When 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 adm...
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Feasting with Natalie
Monday, August 3rd, 2009Last night when we returned from our trip to Geneva I checked my email and was excited to see that I had a message from my brother. He'd sent us a note to say that his friend from high school, Natali...
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Geneva
Sunday, August 2nd, 2009We decided early in the afternoon that we would go to Geneva, thinking it would be nice to do something productive during our rest day. I'm not sure what I was thinking when I suggested this; we def...
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Suddenly Switzerland
Saturday, August 1st, 2009We awoke in a field of dew, the sun hurling down heat much sooner than usual as it rose on the east side of the mountains. Our free camp field was plagued by flies; more than we'd ever seen in our l...