The Kuhlman's Blog
Laura - Riding into the Future - Richard
Day One Riding
07/28/11 22:52
Just a quick note we will add more to later. Tough day getting out of Geneva. Not too exciting to start but the scenery got much better as the day went on. There was a lot of climbing but not as much as tomorrow. The photos will give a little glimpse into what we saw.
After getting out of Geneva, the ride got a little better. We had one climb in the morning that took us to a lovely town on a hill, of course. While getting water and using the WC, a couple of the riders were talking to a local who in turn informed us that Richard Burton was buried in the town. Get out! Richard Burton?! In a little town in Switzerland?! But sure enough, we found his grave and there he was. Now maybe it was someone else named Richard Burton and we will be none the wiser and the towns folk are having a good laugh at our expense! Oh, well, we are on vacation.
We gathered ourselves back on the bike and headed towards the Lake again. It was getting kind of cloudy in the sky but by the time we hit the lake it was sunny and beautiful and we enjoyed a nice lunch on the shore. I thought we hung around too long but I do have to remember that we are on vacation and it is not about who gets to the hotel first! Of course after lunch we had to climb away from the shores of Lake Geneva and I was regretting that extra slice of cheese for sure!
Oh, the countryside! Oh the beautiful towns! Oh, the traffic! Yuck! I liked it the best when we were on the back roads but I guess we needed to get through some of the larger towns using main roads. All in all the drivers were very nice to us. Michael, our guide, is a strange fellow. He loves to teach us about riding our bikes and is getting a bit annoying. I don’t think there is a rider here that hasn’t ridden at least 4-5 bike tours or is an excellent athlete. Again, I have to remind myself, we are on vacation! Sit back and relax.
About 5K from our hotel we encounter the hardest climb of the day and we have now added rain to the mix. We could see the road transversing ahead of us like a little Alp D’Hueze and that was kind of discouraging. The only thing I/we could do was put our heads down and pedal to the pavement. It really wasn’t that bad and the views were “Oh, la,la”! I am not sure what was north, south, east or west but in every direction was post card views. Vineyards, villas, water, mountains. Today we had it all.
87K and 2750 feet of climbing. Tomorrow will be more and I am sure more stories to tell!
Life is good.
After getting out of Geneva, the ride got a little better. We had one climb in the morning that took us to a lovely town on a hill, of course. While getting water and using the WC, a couple of the riders were talking to a local who in turn informed us that Richard Burton was buried in the town. Get out! Richard Burton?! In a little town in Switzerland?! But sure enough, we found his grave and there he was. Now maybe it was someone else named Richard Burton and we will be none the wiser and the towns folk are having a good laugh at our expense! Oh, well, we are on vacation.
We gathered ourselves back on the bike and headed towards the Lake again. It was getting kind of cloudy in the sky but by the time we hit the lake it was sunny and beautiful and we enjoyed a nice lunch on the shore. I thought we hung around too long but I do have to remember that we are on vacation and it is not about who gets to the hotel first! Of course after lunch we had to climb away from the shores of Lake Geneva and I was regretting that extra slice of cheese for sure!
Oh, the countryside! Oh the beautiful towns! Oh, the traffic! Yuck! I liked it the best when we were on the back roads but I guess we needed to get through some of the larger towns using main roads. All in all the drivers were very nice to us. Michael, our guide, is a strange fellow. He loves to teach us about riding our bikes and is getting a bit annoying. I don’t think there is a rider here that hasn’t ridden at least 4-5 bike tours or is an excellent athlete. Again, I have to remind myself, we are on vacation! Sit back and relax.
About 5K from our hotel we encounter the hardest climb of the day and we have now added rain to the mix. We could see the road transversing ahead of us like a little Alp D’Hueze and that was kind of discouraging. The only thing I/we could do was put our heads down and pedal to the pavement. It really wasn’t that bad and the views were “Oh, la,la”! I am not sure what was north, south, east or west but in every direction was post card views. Vineyards, villas, water, mountains. Today we had it all.
87K and 2750 feet of climbing. Tomorrow will be more and I am sure more stories to tell!
Life is good.
Last night in Geneva
07/27/11 23:10
Tonight we had a fun time meeting the rest of the riders in our group and headed over to France for a five course sea food extravaganza before settling in for the evening. Tomorrow morning we ride out of Geneva as a group heading for the countryside and the start of our journey north.