Rolling hills are so much fun

The ride

Technically, this is day 5, as day 4 was a rest and a hike. Anyway.

I spent the last day with one of my best buddies in Germany and his family. Was lovely. The hike was lovely, but it was also just nice to be in a family environment. I miss family dinners.

Anyway, I rolled out in good spirits, as the group waved goodbye from the balcony. Weather was good, and the first 50km or so were rolling downhill. Yes.

(How can you be mad at that?)

Sometimes life just fires on all cylinders, and this was one of those times. I couldn‘t help but think, „shit, life is good.“ I was thinking of friends and family and relationships and nature and travel and cycling and all that jazz (you know, life), and I was looking forward to more of it. Whoever says your best years are in highschool has clearly never visited friends while cycling through the Swiss alps and cultivating gruesome ass raspberries (my new nickname for saddle sores. I forgot my ass cream aka chamoix butter). Anyhow, I digress.

(Rolling) hills

Again today I managed to find a few stretches over 17%

…but for the most part, the terrain was rolling. And unbelievably fun. After being in Berlin for five years and having virtually nothing in the way of hills, I‘ve forgotten how much I enjoy them. The sharp three minute efforts rewarded by 30 seconds of recovery on the descent. Leaving the alps was a little sad, as the sight of mountains everywhere is one of my favorites

That said though, the rest of the day was like cycling through that classic Microsoft/Dell screensaver:

 

(lush)

Funny houses

I haven‘t posted many architectural photos here, nor really commented on it. For the most part, the Swiss have classic full or half-timbered (fachwerk) houses. But today I ran into an architectural style that kinda reminded me of a helmet:

 

(fachwerk, with samurai helmet)

Anyway, before I knew it, the ride was over. Only 5 hours 15 minutes, not 6.5 hours like the last two days. Maybe that‘s why it felt short!