Bike Tracks

August 24, 2000 Chatel (Abondance) to Geneva, Switzerland

Day 237

We were supposed to go to Châtel but were routed to a campground in Abondance instead. After cycling over “the wall” the steep 16k climb into France I was not very surprised when I learned Châtel is a ski town. It was a lovely village that was totally in bloom with flowers, as is everywhere we have been going. It would have been nice to stop and spend more time here, but I was really late for camp, so I headed onward and luckily for me, downhill. Ten miles down the road was the town of Abondance.

I decided if I ever have the opportunity to name a town, I will call it Abundance. It is a great sounding name signifying plenty of all. In our town we would have great looking homes with a snow peaked, mountain back drop, a lake for playing and plenty of good food for all. Of course our toilets would flush and the showers would all have hot water and plenty of it on demand. We would have washing machines that work all the time with speed and efficiently.

We would have gelato from Italy, bread from France, bananas from Costa Rica, yogurt from Greece, wine from South Africa, Chile, Italy, France and Spain. The chocolate would most definitely be imported from Bruges. If beer was required and I’m sure it would be Germany would make a good import choice. My town would be a very clean town, no dirt allowed. All windows would have attractive curtains with windows boxes filled with an explosion of colorful flowers.

Abundance, Colorado, how does that sound?

Abondance, France was a nice little town, the campground was not wonderful, it was small and still under-construction, the kind of construction that looks like it was started a few years ago and somebody lost the plans. Our meal was among the worst we have had in a long time. It was dished out in a cute prop, a huge frying pan that sat on the gas burner. The problem was, that was all we had to eat. A potato dish with small slices of undistinguishable meat in it, a lettuce salad with too much dressing and colored water. The water was the weirdest, it came in different colors, red, yellow and green. Else sat at our table drinking the green water and saying it was mouth wash. Very appealing indeed!

I found the only electrical plug available, the one that ran the washing machine and plugged my computer in. I spent the next few hours getting caught up on the website. Typing with the computer on my lap is not my favorite way to get it done, but at least I got caught up, for that I am thankful.

After a blazing hot day in the sun yesterday, I enjoyed the coolness of the night in the mountains. But it was so cold, I didn’t want to leave the cozy warmth of my sleeping bag. It was cold enough to see my breath. I wanted to spend the morning there. No way was that possible! Today was the short day into Geneva, I had to get up and get going.

I did, and it was worth it. I continued the descent down from the Alps, the one I earned. It was a good one, going for many kilometers before ending at the shore of Lake Geneva. The weather warmed up and got hot again, it was after all August!

The lake was filled with boats and people enjoying the lovely summer day. I stopped lakeside to have a snack, purchased at the local grocery. It was a morning to mosey and not rush, I only had to do about 70 kilometers today.

The route meandered in and out of little village after village. Most memorable was the village of Yvoire, located on the shore of Lake Leman (aka Lake Geneva to the Swiss). Yvoire had a perfect little medieval city complete with billions of flowers, people and postcard shops. I took a quick walk around, just to get off the bike. It was an interesting place, but about the 100th medieval city this year. Ho hum! It was worthy of a few photos….

August 24, 2000 Raron, Switzerland to Abondance, France

Day 237

Switzerland is so very beautiful. Today we rode by miles of vineyards with grapes nearly ripe on the vine. I never thought of Switzerland as a place for growing wine, but it definitely is. The vineyards start in the valley and creep up the hillside, crisscrossing as they go.

Switzerland has 4 official languages. The closer we got to France the more everything looked French. The signs changed from German to French, at first the train station was called the “Bahnhof” then I saw a sign calling it the “Gare”. When I stopped at a bakery, it was once again called a patisserie. Of course I doesn’t matter what you call it, I can always smell it! The aroma of the bread is so inviting.

All morning I peddled down the valley, on back country roads and sometimes on a bike path. It was such a lovely day and the farmland was just bursting with crops ready for picking. What a wonderful time of year it is!

The last part of the ride was to be a climb, I was not surprised when I got to the uphill part as it was listed on the DRG. I was surprised at how long I took getting up the hill. It was so hot and the road was steep. Instead of taking 2 hours to climb it, I took 3 1/2 hours. I stopped along the way to take pictures of the all the wonderful scenery.

Al Young was the rider who nearly broke her neck in France a couple months ago. She is back on the trip, riding in the sag wagon until her Doctor gives her the “thumbs up” to ride a bike. In the meantime she is walking each day, walking 20-30 kilometers! Al is a great lady, she always has a smile on her face and something pleasant to say.

Al the Alien loves to reach out and try to grab a bunch as I peddle. I keep telling him “that’s stealing!” He tells me “grapes belong to the universe.”

August 23, 2000 Flims to Raron (bus to Andermatt to begin riding)

Day 236

The schedule got really screwed up today.  We were supposed to take a bus half way and ride over the last pass of the Swiss Alps, but the bus ride was too long or something, so TK&A put us on a train.  Of course the train didn’t give us the option of doing 1/2 the ride, we had to take it to the end.  It was a beautiful train ride and would have been a wonderful 2 day bicycle ride, it only I had known sooner.  Oh well….

I did get to ride to the train station and then from the station.  It was about a 30 kilometer ride, but I missed the chance to ride my bike over the highest point of the Alps.  Just the same it was a good day.

On the way to the train station I went through a cloud.  Our camp in Flims was high, when I left it was sunny.  On the way down I stopped to take a photo of a cloud below me, then as I rode, I went through the cloud.  It was a scary, fast downhill ride with very poor visibility.

August 21, 2000 Flims layover

Day 235

Camp was located around a soccer field that was in front of a wonderful Ice arena.  This facility had showers and a restaurant for us.  It was a long walk to town up a very steep road.  All in all it was a good place to spend a day to do chores, which is what I did.

After spending a couple of hours looking around town, I purchased some lunch fixings at the local grocery store, then headed back to camp to do laundry.  The simple task of doing laundry is made complicated by the fact that there were only 2 washers and 2 dryers in 2 different locations.  There were a bunch of us with dirty laundry!

I spent the next 5 1/2 hours reading a book while waiting for my turn at the washer.  In retrospect I could have done the load my hand and let it dry in the sun sooner.  But once I choose my path I couldn’t retreat.

Oh well, it was a rest day right?

August 21, 2000 Braz, Austria to Flims, Switzerland via Liechtenstein

Day 234

Liechtenstein is a small principality nestled in the mountains between Austria and Switzerland.  It took me longer to write 10 postcards and mail them off then it did to cycle from border to border.

Liechtenstein looks much like Austria.  The hills were very beautiful and there were bus loads of tourists, of course!

August 20, 2000 Braz, Austria to Flims, Switzerland

Day 234

Switzerland is more beautiful than I ever imagined. The border crossing from Liechtenstein into Switzerland was the most beautiful I have see yet. It was located in a vast green field, there were mountains rising from the fields in every direction on the road, two flags, one the crossed flag of the Swiss and the other the crested flag of Liechtenstein. No guards, no guard huts, no arches, no sign, just two friendly flags blowing in the wind.

As one would imagine, you don’t just go to Switzerland, you climb to Switzerland! The first sign of life I saw was military. A few kilometers from the border was a military base, used for training on tanks. It was a lovely base, the road curled right through it. I passed a horse soldier on his rounds.

I understand the even though Switzerland is a country known to be neutral, each man and woman is expected to serve in the military, 18 months full time, then another length of time in the reserves. Everyone is given a gun and a uniform for life. Switzerland has a very strong military.

Upon arrival, my first order of business was to find a bank teller machine. As soon as I did, I made a wrong turn that ended up at the Bahnhof (train station). Just for kicks, I decided to go in to see if the train went to my destination and how much that would cost. I was all alone and was tired of riding. I had never taken the train “all by myself” on this trip yet. It was about time I struck it out on my own.

There was only 30 kilometers to go, but they were mostly uphill. I found out from the station manager that the train did not go to Flims, but I could take a train a few stops down at which place I would transfer to a bus and finish the journey. That sounded OK to me, so I purchased the ticket. My timing was getting better, because by the time I checked pocketmail and bought a drink, my train was there!

I hopped on and before long it was time to get off. I found the bus station that was conveniently located above the train station with no problem. When I arrived at the bus platform, there were 3 other Odyssey riders already waiting. So much for my “do it alone” strategy!

One of the riders told me that the buses only allowed 3 bikes at a time. Of course since I was number 4, I figured he was just teasing me. He wasn’t. I figured I was going to have to use my powers of persuasion, but then something really amazing happened. The bus people brought out a trailer and attached it to the rear of our bus.

I love the Swiss! The think of everything and make it a pleasure for the customer. We piled our 4 bikes into the trailer and boarded the bus for a 2 hour uphill ride to camp.

August 15, 2000 Passau

Day 228

The bus carried us from the Czech Republic back to Germany. At the border, the bus driver collected all of our passports in a plastic shopping bag.  He ran them into the guard station, returning 10 minutes later with permission to cross.  It was that simple.  Getting the busload of passports returned to their natural owners was more difficult!

Our bus driver was a character.  He moved fast and was impatient, not a good combination for someone in charge of so many people.  He was very typical of the Czech drivers.  They like the drivers in Russia were not pedestrian or bike friendly.  I was glad we were done with our Czech cycling.

We all had sympathy, but laughed at the bus driver when he couldn’t find the campground.  He drove back and forth for an extra hour after we arrived in town, looking for it.  I guess I’m not the only one who can’t follow the DRG!

August 12, 2000 Terezin

Day 225

I hooked up with Ramona to ride today. We followed Ken Anderson, Barbara and Dick out of town, before realizing they were not riding the route. Ken was looking for a bike path to follow. It sounded good, at least better than riding on the road, so we followed him. As it turned out, the bike path was a well traveled bike touring destination. We passed hundreds of cycle tourists, some fully loaded, others obviously traveling from hotel to hotel.

The path followed the River Elbe for 48 kilometers. We waved to the tourists on the river barges, most of the time passing them as they meandered down the river. It was such a lovely route. When it was time to get back on the Odyssey route, we crossed the river and stopped in a quaint little village. Our fellow Odyssey riders had found a wonderful cafe that just took the apple strudel out of the oven. We of course had to sample it, this is what bicycle touring should be, ride and eat.

We crossed the border with relative ease on bicycle. The cars however were lined up for many blocks, first waiting on the German side for inspection, then a kilometer later to pass the guard at the Czech Republic side. On our bikes, we just rode on the right side of the cars until we got to the guard, they nodded us through. The German’s wanted to see our passports, the Czech’s just asked, “American?” when we answered in the affirmative, they nodded us through.

Crossing by bike or car…bikes went faster.

Border businesses, shacks lined the street for miles

The Czech Republic countryside was so very different than the German countryside. It was shabby, poor and unkempt. Once again we encountered begging children on the street. Just over the border we passed hundreds of “flea market” type stalls where people sold just about anything imaginable.

The prices dropped. The same Coke Cola we were buying in Norway for $3 a can was now 40 cents!

We stopped for lunch at an interesting restaurant with an American Civil War theme! It was so funny! There hanging on the wall in this former Communist Block Country was a Confederate and a Union flag with war pictures. The menus didn’t carry through with the theme, they were written in unreadable Slavic.

We asked the waiter to help us with ordering. He knew a little English, very little. Everyone was ordering chicken or steak. I wanted something different. He pointed to a selection and said that was good. I asked what it was and he couldn’t tell me in English, but he made a “pig” noise. We all roared with laughter and I ordered it. How could I resist?

Our food came and it was good and plentiful. When the bill came, my portion was less than $5! What a switch from the Scandinavian prices. The Czech Republic was going to be fun.

After lunch we rode on, finding checkpoint some miles beyond. At checkpoint, a rider told us she had been riding with Karen Ann and overheard radio conversation that the gear trucks were being held at the border until 8 p.m. that night. It seems the Czech’s don’t like to release trucks to ride on the road during the high day time traffic. This was not great news for us, we decided there was no use to hurry on in to camp.

We took our time, had a coke, an ice cream and some good conversation all in the shade. It was nice to not be in a hurry.

After awhile we did get going again, riding the final miles into camp. The last few blocks were worrisome to me when a couple of drunk teenagers on bicycles came charging out at us, hitting Al in the head and being jerks. They followed us the last few blocks to camp, then were asked by another local to get lost.

Terezin is famous for several things. The star of the movie, “Schindler’s List” was from the area. Many scenes from the movie were shot in this town. Also located in the town was the famous Fortress that was built by Emperor Joseph II in 1780. The Fortress was never used as a Fortress but was converted into a Jewish ghetto by the Nazis in 1942. The entire town is now a protected reservation.

We arrived in camp just moments after the gear trucks. TK&A had been buying beer for the early riders, so we grabbed our share and went off to set up the tent. In the mean time, the towns folk had come out to talk to us about the area and present Tim Kneeland with some honorary medals. I never did hear what they were for, probably like getting the “key to the city.”

August 13, 2000 Terezin to Prague

Day 226

It was to be a short day and would have been, except I got lost. I left early, enjoying the cool, crisp morning air. I rode by huge fields of hops, growing upward toward the hot sun. This is the land were the beer was born. It was also the first time I have ever seen hops growing.

The farm land was not as neat and manicured as in Germany. The homes were small and in need of paint, plaster and TLC. I thought the people here must live very simply, there were no frills in the Czech countryside.

The roads were marginal, sometimes being ok and other times they were so bad, I cursed the route. We had one stretch that was so very bad, I thought my bike was going to self-destruct. There was no road left, it was one huge pile of rocks and it went on for 4 kilometers. Why that road was chosen was beyond me. When it finally ended in a small town the road improved 100%. I think no one ever came in that way, but stupid American bicyclists, who don’t know any better.

I was 6 kilometers from Prague at 10:30 in the morning when I missed a turn or something. I ended up in town, but I ended up in the wrong part of town. I kept looking for the campground, but realized I was in the wrong place. It was such a bummer, I had to climb out of the valley, go back up on the hill and locate the “yellow heads” in order to find camp.

I was so hot, tired and annoyed when I got there an hour and a half later. Instead of a cheery welcome, I got hassled for not having a number on the front of my bike. I told Mark I would put a number on my bike if he could tell me the store where I could go to buy one. As it stands, his boss, Karen Ann is the only one who makes the numbers. I have been polled a dozen times at least about my number. Each time they make numbers they never make my number. Mark really annoyed me this morning. His mindless hassling ruined my day.

We polled a few folks and discovered there was a very nice hotel right across the street with plenty of inexpensive rooms. We decided to go there. To my delight the name of the hotel was “Krystal”

In addition to this, the campground was awful. The temperature was high in the 90’s and there was not a shade tree in site. Since we had a layover day here I couldn’t see myself spending it at this nasty place, especially after I got a sight of the disgusting bathrooms.

Lynne saw my distress and invited me to go to town to find a decent hotel room. It didn’t take me long to accept. I was ready for an adventure, away from the Odyssey crowd..

A clean, cool hotel room with running water, a soft bed, electricity and icy coke colas does wonders for an attitude that most definitely needed adjusting. I was the perfect candidate. Within a few minutes I was talked into going to the Opera, to see “Don Giovanni”.

After doing all my laundry in the sink, hanging it on the balcony (like a normal Odyssey rider) I was ready to shower, don my classy bike sandals, skirt and basic black top for a night out.

Jane, me and Lynne in our private Opera box. Thank goodness, our bike shoes can’t be seen!

August 14, 2000 Prague Layover

Day 227

Prague is known for it’s musical culture. Mozart was “re-discovered” there. This year the town was chosen as the “culture town” for the year 2000 celebration. They are living up to the reputation by having more events that a person can go to in a month.

Prague is also a very beautiful town, untouched by the war it remains to be a lovely medieval town with hundreds of steeples. marking the skyline. I was never more tempted to spend money on trinkets as I crossed the Charles Bridge. The craft sales people had some of the most unusual pieces of jewelry at the best prices I have ever seen. It was a challenge for me to get across the bridge with some money left!

Jane and I strolled the streets in the hot sun, then enjoyed a peaceful lunch in a tucked away restaurant patio. After lunch we took a walking tour of the Jewish quarter. It was an informative tour given by a young man who knew his history. We saw pictures of the miserable ghetto the Jews were forced to live in until it was reconstructed a century ago. It is now one of the better, more pricey neighborhoods in Prague.

When the tour was done, we spent time in the Pinkas Synagogue which is now a memorial to the Jews of Bohemia and Moravia murdered by the Nazis. On its walls are inscribed the names of the Jewish victims, their personal data, and the names of the communities to which they belonged. There are thousands of names.

Also, in the Pinkas Synagogue is the permanent exhibition “Children’s Drawings from Terezin 1942 – 1944”. Among the Terezin prisoners there were over 10,000 children under the age of 15 at the time of imprisonment. Of the 8,000 that were deported to the East, a mere 242 survived the wartime suffering. The drawings are very touching and show how the children had dreams of freedom too.

This delightful gentleman really liked his work, he smiled and posed for me. It was a very HOT day, he was dressed so nicely.

This statue of Moses was hidden in a basement during the war. Had it been found, the Nazi’s would have melted it down for ammunition or war supplies. It is a beautiful statue, I’m glad it survived.

August 15, 2000 Prague to Passau, Germany via bus

Reluctantly, we checked out of “my hotel” and headed back to the camp. Today we get bused forward 180 miles or so to Passau, Germany so we can start riding toward Munich.

While waiting for the buses to load, some of the group raced go carts at the go cart place next to the camp.  It was exciting to watch as the competitive ones pretended to be Indy drivers.

That’s Neil, go guy!

August 11, 2000 Senftenberg to Dresden

Day 225

It was to be a short 41 mile day into Dresden.  Somehow it turned out to be a long day, I rode with so many others that all had something to do…every 5 minutes.  Finally, I just resolved to relax and not worry about it.  As it turned out, we all probably avoided injury because of it.

Shopper Bill and Jane H. are doing just fine now.  This picture was taken in the Czech Republic a few days later. Three cheers for the helmets…they did their duty!

Just as we entered Dresden, we encountered the worse stretch of road of the entire day.  At first there was construction, one way traffic, an underpass, lots of traffic then sand just proceeding the bike path.  It was at this spot that day where four of our riders fell in individual accidents.  Jane H. had the worst accident, hitting her head, breaking her helmet in half and getting road rash on her arm and leg.  She spent the night in the hospital under observation for her concussion.  All the riders are ok, save a few bruises.

We came upon this section of road just as the ambulance had left.  We knew to slow down because of the crowd.  I wonder, would I have slowed down otherwise….

August 10, 2000 Berlin to Senftenberg

Day 223

I left the Berlin Hostel early that morning to get a head start on a long day.  The city is so huge, it took almost 2 hours to exit, it seemed I caught every red light possible.  I followed Mark and Sandy, a tandem team out of the city, hoping to be able to cut down on the DRG reading time.  The stoker on the tandem always has more time to read so I like to take advantage of that if possible.   It was a good plan, but still we missed a turn and had to go a long way just to get turned around and back on track.  When the tandem stopped for a potty break I kept on going.  That turned out to be a mistake.  Within minutes I missed another turn and was going down a cowpath.

Since there were no other riders in site, I was sure I goofed.  I turned around to retrace my steps and catch up with the other riders.  It was going to be a long day!

The roads were the worst and the best all in one day.   In the villages the streets are most always cobblestone, once out of the village the road turns to a lovely, smooth blacktop.  I don’t understand why they keep the awful, bumpy cobblestones, they are so dangerous.

In Germany I have become an expert on the various types of cobblestones, some are better than others.  I have learned to be careful where I point my front wheel, I must be careful not to get it stuck between the stones, especially on the large rounded stones.  The little stones hardly make a difference, but the big ones can throw the bike and the rider.  The worst is riding on an incline when the surface is wet.  I was so glad it was a dry day.

After having 8 days off from sitting on a bicycle, this sign in a bike shop amused me.

“Sitzprobleme?” (does this really need translation?)

Gel Saneldecke (gel seat)

19,90 Deusch Marks (about $10)

The focus of the picture are the railroad tracks out the front window.  We were seated with our bikes, right behind the engineer’s seat on the train. It was very cool!

About mid-afternoon, I met up with “Team Queen”, they invited me to stop for lunch with them.  While we were eating they decided to ride to the next town and catch a train to end of day.  I thought that was a great plan and went with them, even though there was less than 20 miles to go.  I love hoping on trains in strange places, it is such a challenge, sometimes.

This time turned out to be fairly simple.  We managed to find the train station in next town, which in itself was not an easy feat, the whole town was under-construction and a big mess.  The tickets were purchased for both us and our bikes and we boarded the oncoming train within a few minutes.  The timing was perfect.

While waiting on the platform a nice lady and her mother quizzed me in broken  English about Al the Alien and our trip.  She referred to Al as my “kinder” (child!)  The Germans really love Al.  I showed the ladies my Odyssey brochure, the one with the world map on it.  They were so interested in what we were doing, they couldn’t believe it.

It was just another moment in my day when I was approached by a friendly soul, speaking German at me a mile a minute.  I am attracting conversation from the locals, because I have an alien on my bike!  I love it!  I do wish I could understand more than I do.  The country folks are so friendly, but they don’t speak English at all. They do continue to speak German at you, as though if they speak it long and loud enough you will understand what they are saying.  Sometimes it works!

Our train ride was short and sweet.  We watched the Odyssey riders criss crossing the rail road tracks on the route, while we looked over the engineers shoulder down the tracks.  Our bikes and us were parked immediately behind the engineers seat.  It was so interesting to be in that location.  I watched as he worked all the levers on the train.  He was a busy guy.

We got off the train at the end of the line.  We didn’t know how to get to camp, so Sue started asking folks outside of the train station.  Since none of us could understand what they were telling us, we were beginning to think we needed to go look for “yellow heads”, but a nice lady overheard and told us to follow her.  She got in her car and waited for all of us to get our helmets on and get ready to follow.

We chased her through the streets until we got to a busy, main street, where she pointed us off in the direction of camp.  At the same time a few “yellow heads” rode by.  We were back on route! Success!