Grand Raid Practice

Yesterday, I went out to Evolen, Switzerland to practice for the "petite" Grand Raid on August 20. I went with two collegues and we rode the last 40km of the 76km course to Grimentz..

It was an absolute nightmare...took us 7 hours to finish. We climbed a total of 7000 feet. 1600 of this was above 60% grade..so steep that you had to carry your bike over rocks and boulders while trying not to slip on the gravel and mud. The descents were also tricky...riding on slippery roots along steep embankments and negotiating around lots of loose granite...
But the views were spectacular.



















My Colorado riding experience helped and I made good time on the technical descents and technical climbs...However, the idea of tacking on 36 Km and another 2600 feet of climbing is frightening.!..

To qualify I need to hit the last cut-off at 4:00pm. I start at 6:30 am...

There will be 5,000 participants...if bike traffic is low, I don't wreck, my bike doesn't break, and I can move quickly on the downhills, I have a good shot.

















Shot of glacier resevoir...

Kings Cross Station

Brenna and I took a wrong turn and look where we ended up!

London Tours

It's been fun up here in London...our trip out here was tough though..Aubrey set off the detector alarm in Geneva and ended up finding her cell phone in her pocket...this got rescreened and left behind! Then Dedi was forced to gate check her carryon..this was missing on arrival and contained critical stuff! Fortunately by the next morning, the luggage was in and Aubrey's phone long forgotten! The weather has been fantastic and it has been great getting to know or at least see this great city.

Last night we saw Les Miserables...it was very well done and a 1st experience for Brenna and Aubrey. Today we saw the inside and outside of the Tower Bridge and got some beautiful city views from the London Eye...

We've been filling up on Indian food...overall it's been great but quite frankly we'd rather be in Colorado with friends and family. Two more days and we're on our way!

Tomorrow we're going to watch the changing of the guards and do some casual shopping.

;-) Dave

Valais's Bettmeralp

We've just come back from a great weekend trip to Bettmeralp, a traffic-free mountain town, known for it's skiing but absolutely lovely in the summer. It was a great break from the hot humid low lands. Aubrey was in her element sharing trails and lawns with free-roaming cows. Tigger and Telly were also the happy campers.

Our hosts (our next door neighbors) were incredibly generous, even putting Brenna and Aubrey up into a nearby hotel room so they could have more space! We all also benefitted from the 48 hour French/Swiss German immersion experience!

We hiked throughout the area and were in absolute awe with the beauty around us. I've attached some shots.
Cheers, Dave

July Update

It's been dreadfully hot and humid the last week...and AC is not a common appliance here...you almost want to sit at your desk in underwear but that doesn't quite cut it...The other item that I have yet to find here is a simple window screen...so summer off of Lac Leman can be quite the bug fest.

The girls get out of school tomorrow...I'm so proud of them. This has been quite the trial for them but they have survived and both have been promoted to the next year. By the way getting promoted here is not a given. About 30% of Brenna's class was held back to repeat the year.

We're looking at possibly getting Brenna back on track with her correct school year. In the US she was in 9th grade and we moved her in to 8th grade here to give her a chance to learn French and not be subjected to the 10th grade entrance exams. We may have found a way to get around all of this.

Not much else new...Telly 's having some visits with the local vet...not sure yet what the problem is...hopefully nothing serious.

This weekend we'll be heading up into Valais to Bettmeralp. Our neighbors invited us all (dogs included) to come on up and share their chalet. We are thrilled! This area is next to the Aletsch glacier and forest. Aletsch Glacier is the largest glacier in the Alps and covers more than 45 square miles. Should be nice. It's also still cold up there which right now sounds good.

In October I've signed up for the 1/2 version of the Cristalp bike race, not too far from where we'll be this weekend. The half version spans 76km and starts with a 22km climb...ouch! Total vertical climb of 9,357 feet!