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Switzerland.
Yay!!
German cyclists are beginning to annoy me. In England, not all bikes seem to be fitted with bells. Those that have bells may or may not use them when approaching other cyclists and pedestrians from behind. Whatever the rights and wrongs of this (and I believe bells to be a necessary part of cycling), us Brits, using free choice, display a variety of behaviours. Not so the Germans. Virtually every bike has a bell (probably by law??). But they never use them. Never. They will come up behind another cyclist or pedestrian, in total silence, and try squeeze by. So when we announce our presence from behind with a smart retort of our bell and/or klaxon, they have no idea what it is and hence don't move over. They may look skyward and mutter "Vat ist dat noise?". So when we get right behind them and give them a full blast, they wobble all over the place and give us stern looks. I don't get it!
Rant over.
We rolled out from Freiburg this morn at about 9. Jackie took a wee tumble and left some if her skin on the tarmac. Nothing serious but it is becoming a habit.
We meandered around on the hills south of Freiburg got a few hours before tacking west to pick up the Rhine once more in order to head south. As usual the German side was not a good surface. And for 20 miles we ground our way through the gritty/sandy surface. Like riding through treacle. The weather was sunny, hot and humid. The was no wind.
Physically we were both feeling good. My knee problem had gone away. And , bit by bit, we cranked up the pace until we were really flying towards Basel. Definitely 'on the rivets' for several hours. Unfortunately, the last 20 or so miles was also on a horrible gravel surface. Difficult.
After a while we pulled over to paddle our sweaty feet in the Rhine. Lovely!
We crossed the border into Switzerland at about 4 pm. Found a bar and ordered a couple of big beers. And, you guessed it, a couple more. (nothing like a hard day in the saddle, under the baking sun, to crank up a thirst).
We holed up in an apartment quite close to the Old City of Basel. Considering the fact that Switzerland is supposed to be the most expensive country in the world, the large apartment, complete with kitchen etc, was only about. 70 quid for us both. It's even got an espresso coffee machine that makes good coffee.
We went out and ordered Fondu, which we ate outside in the warm Basel evening. It was excellent. Washed down with some good Swiss White wine. (maybe not quite as good as my Fondu, but very passable). Our conversation must have been overheard by the couple on the next table. We were ridiculing Sarah Palin at the time and they, being Americans, joined in and we have a good time chatting with them. They came LA and had a place in Montana. They worked together, in chemicals, all over the world.
Now. Decision time. Next Monday, 15th, we 're booked of a flight home from Geneva. If we follow the Rhine as it turns east, we'll not have time to make Geneva without resorting to trains. The alternative is to head more south and west to explore the various lakes and to make it all the way to Geneva under our own steam. We've decided on the latter.
(Evidentially, according to Wikipedia, the Rhine doesn't arise from just one place, but various tributaries, from various lakes occur and the flow 'begins to be called the Rhine' in the vicinity if a place called Chur. So probably too complicated for us to solve.)
The Rhine has led up to Switzerland and, neither of us having been here, we will now explore as much of it as we can in the time remaining. I think it's going to get steep soon...
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Very sad to learn today of the passing away of my long time colleague,
Christine Rees. Awful news. My thoughts are with Dave and her the family.
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