Improv composition...

Snuck up on Aubrey as she was improvising on the piano....Only caught a few seconds of it but you can get the jist of what she's up to!

Sunny Day

Dedi displaying the flowers
One close up view...
view from our coffee break spot..note special effect....cool no!?

How quickly a bit of sunshine and warmth makes winter seem so far away. Dedi and I rode out to Pully with me and my bruised ribs and sore back struggling to keep up with her fast pace! Nice excuse Dave...I know.

But the point is that it was WARM ..first time out this year in shorts and shirt without a jacket!

The views were spectacular and the tulips are in season....took some nice shots at a little park where we stopped for a coffee.

Perfect California

The crew approaching Fairfax
Don's saddle...
Top of Marin climb
Faint red line is the route we rode --click on images for better view

I'm about half-way home from another USA trip, this time hitting California and Florida. The highlight of this trip (outside of some bruised ribs from a Karting mishap) was a great visit at my favorite B&B; Don and Andrea's home! Not sure what I've done to be taken care of so nicely but the weekend I spent with them was full of good food, good times, and great rides.

On Saturday, Don took me out with a group he typically rides with. It was a great ride with lots of climbs. This combined with heat, jet lag, and not enough water, worked me to a pulp.

Sunday's ride was much more enjoyable. Don and I rode across the Golden Gate Bridge (note my geeky camera on helmet), and up through Marin County. The views were great. We rode above Stinton Beach (we stayed there once when Brenna was a baby) and then down to Sausalito. Near this point we fixed my flat tire and replaced Don's broken saddle and then joined the rest of the group, Don's friend Bill, Andrea, her sister Lynn, and Lynn's husband Bob. As we were all getting ready to ride out to Fairfax we noted that Bob's bike needed a new tire, so one more stop to a bike shop. This is painful for me as each stop costs me as I pick up more 'must haves!"

The ride up and around to Fairfax was great. Bob is one of my favorite biking partners. His bike is a Mary Poppins look alike but with his new ultra fast rear tire he was literally smoking up the hills (while describing in detail every nook and cranny along the way). I'm sure we were quite the site...me with my little wheels, and Bob with a very upright but fast-moving bike. I must add though that Bob rides up hills like there's a tow rope pulling him up, but rides down like a lead anchor is dragging behind him. Once he goes aero and lets go of his brakes, he'll be a real racing machine!

The following week I spent in the Sunnyvale area and commuted to work. It was nice and the bike lanes were very safe and well placed. The weather was perfect. My only moment of bad judgment was riding up to a Karting event where we did some team building racing. My ribs are still aching from some of the body/Kart slams I endured as my normally friendly looking colleagues vented some pent up aggression my way! I'm going to stick to pedal power from now on!

In Florida I was able to catch up with my parents and now am finally heading home to see my family which I miss dearly.

Gotta run and catch my flight!

Le Strudel aux pommes

Last weekend we had the great pleasure of a visit from the Koff's as they did a quick tour thru Paris, Barcelona and Lausanne. Upon their arrival Aubrey quickly sequestered Lauren and I did the same with Bob, leaving Patricia and Dedi to enjoy some nice walks and catching up.

Bob quickly agreed to a bike ride and fortunately I was able to dig up enough spare clothing and bike parts to get him roughly set up. Lauren was not too pleased with his fashion statement, but I'd say getting a nod of approval from a teenager is like getting Tigger to take a bath.

Anyways, we headed out to Cossonay andBob indicated that it would be great to find some apple strudel...hmm...We tried 3 bakeries with no luck but finally came across one with an apple tart that was close enough to stop and give it a try. On the ride back we ran into some traffic and Bob mentioned that his mom would kill him if he got hurt while riding without a helmet (the one spare item I could not find). So we did a some back trails through vineyards...this was actually quite nice, though Bob did hit a rut at one point prior to getting his foot on the pedals. Judging by his pained expression, I'm guessing he would have rather been chastised for a head injury...

Sunday we rode out to Montreux. I pointed out vineyards, castles, mountains, lakes but except for a short stop to admire some astro-turf that closely resembled his front lawn, Bob's only interest was finding apple strudel. We came close on our fourth stop but in the end the waiter told Bob he'd have better luck in Austria!

Not to be discouraged, we continued the search and finally happened upon an italian eatery with some legitimate strudel. Menu shot and meal below to prove the point.

At this point it was clear that Bob's goal for coming to Lausanne was met and we happily pedaled back home. !

Lamb's visit

We had a great visit with the Lamb's despite somewhat cold and wet weather. Here we are doing a fondue session to help recover from the cold....











Poor Keric though really suffered the first few days with jet lag. Got a few nice action sequence shots showing him fading from wide awake to out cold.







On Monday, Dedi and the girls joined them on a short visit to Venice which turned out to be beautiful...





Michelle's nice camera got some great shots. One of these days we'll need to get a real camera!


It was a great visit and we were sad to see them go. Aubrey's expression captures our feelings!

Mollendruz Ski trip

With Dedi and friends off to Venice, and with a holiday on my hands, I headed up to Mollendruz to try out some x-country skiing. I shuttled my colleague Mike and his wife up as well with a Monday (24 March) and had a blast x-c0untry skiing through the woods. Hard to believe that a month earlier the area was almost dry enough for mountain biking! This was my first ski outing of the year and probably my last. Winter is quickly fading away!