One whole week!!!

Culture, Kein Wettkampf (not a competition) Weltmeister Fussball.

Started Wednesday with a ride out of the city, didn’t go too far, but had a bit of an explore. Found an Aldi store, it was interesting to have a look inside and see some things the same and other things different that they sell. Hoss, we went past a Lamborghini dealership. Didn’t have the camera but will have next time and will take a photo for you of an actual real supercar!!!

We went into the Kunsthaus Museum (art gallery) today, it is an amazing building and some of the art works are fantastic. Amazing to think that when you are looking at some of the paintings they are over 500 years old. We had a look through the gallery for a little while until we were politely asked by one of the staff members that we should go and check our bag into a locker as you are not allowed to have them on you while you are walking through the gallery. At this point we had decided we had probably seen enough religious paintings to last us for a while anyway and made our way down to the lake.

You see we are headed to the lake today to sign up for the swim across Zurich lake. Think Coffs Ocean swims but bigger. The course is basically from one side of the lake to the other, from Strandbad Mythenquai to Strandbad Teifenbrunnen (the pool area on one side to the pool area on the other side). We had to be there to sign on at 3pm, by the time we got there about 2.45 there we already lots of people ready to sign up as well. This annual event is a pretty big deal, last year there were over 6000 participants. We signed on for 20CHF each and were presented with our swim cap, meal ticket and voucher for a little present (Badekappe, Verpflegung und Erinnerungsgeschenk). You can do this event by swimming across or aqua jogging. I can’t imagine aqua jogging across the lake 1450m it would take ages. Which is probably why after signing on at 3pm the event goes from 4pm till 6.45pm.

You place all of your belongings into your bag and they transport then across the lake for you by boat. So they are there when you arrive on the other side to get changed. We were fortunate enough to get quite low numbers 62 and 63 which meant we could start in the first wave of 400 people. On the information board we could see that warm up for our wave was from 3.40pm till 4pm. We took this to mean that we could have a little swim prior to the start to get ready for the big event. But no, the warm up was actually aerobics, shame we had already put our camera away at this point, as it was certainly a site to see over 500 people doing aerobics in their swimmers in the park. It would look very strange back at home but here it just seems like the thing to do, so we joined in as well. Each wave of 400 had an allotted warm up time for about 20 minutes each. We waited what seemed like ages to get into the water and because we were well back it took a long time to actually get to the end of the jetty and then walk down the stairs into the water. By this time there was a steady stream of swimmers on both sides of the lane rope, swimmers (mostly breast stroking) on one side and aqua joggers on the other. My hopes of being first swimmer over to the other side was slowly eroding with each step along the jetty. But then I had to think to myself this is “kein wettkampf” (no competition) the emphasis is purely on participation, and the people of Zurich certainly come out to support this event in their thousands. Maybe Coffs Ocean swims should seriously consider adding a non competitive category where people can use wetsuits, fins etc and not be included in the prizes but given the opportunity to be part of the event. I think this would increase the number of people entering the event which can only be a good thing.

We finally made it to the end of the jetty and into the water, right, I thought, if I can’t be first over to the other side, the first swimmers were already about 200/300m into the lake already, I am going to give it a good crack to make up some time and use this as practice for next week at Roth. Off I went passing people quickly and made my way towards the front of the pack. By about half way across I only could see about half dozen people in front of me when I stopped to clear my goggles. (have to fix that problem before next week) The wind had whipped up a bit of a chop and this made things a little more difficult but still good swimming conditions. There are bouys and markers all the way across and I put my head down and caught the two people swimming together that were in front of me and then had to clear my goggles again. They tried to go with me but I was determined to try and catch everyone. I could see the finish line (“Ziel” on a big white banner) and swam as hard as I could. In the end 4 people made land on the other side in front of me. Heaps of people clapping and cheering on the other side made you feel like a bit of a super star. I could see one guy getting interviewed and then the others over near a tent getting a drink. I went over to the tent as well and thought it was sports drink on offer (as you would naturally think after completing an athletic event) and took a cup and had a big gulp. It was warm chicken broth (YUK!!!) and just as I had a big mouthful of this stuff a guy came up to me and asked if I would say a few words for an interview. It was at this point I had to make the decision swallow the broth or spit it out. I swallowed the broth and replied “Mein Deutsch ist nicht sehr gut, Ich komme aus Australien, und Englisch sprechen is besser!”

“Ah ha, English not so good for radio, sorry”

Bugger, I thought I would have been good on Swiss radio talking about how good the event was and how much fun it was to be part of this experience.

I waited a few more minutes for Michelle to make it to the other side and then we went to find our bags and get changed, wisely informing Michelle she should steer clear of the “sports drink” on offer. Once changed we made our way into the pool area proper. There they had set up a tent so we could eat risotto and have a drink upon producing our vouchers. Our little present was a drink bottle advertising the swim. We shall try and keep these as they are a good momento. We sat and ate at a table in the shade and waited for the band to start. The band (tool time) was pretty good and they belted out a few good songs, starting with some U2 which I like.

We walked around the area for a while and watched it fill with people, by this time it was after 5pm and amazing to think people would still be crossing the lake for another 2 hours. It really was a site to see orange swim caps stretched from one shore to the other. This year was apparently record numbers, over 7000, probably due to the very warm weather and the lake temp which was a pleasant 23 ½ degrees. A lot of organization is involved and lots of safety personnel on boats all the way across and the ships that go up and down the lake are stopped for this time period.

We walked back towards the apartment around the shore of the lake and almost every park along the way was filled with people sunbaking and swimming. So many people I really can’t quite get my head around how many people are out and about during the middle of the day enjoying the sunshine. Zurich city has a population of about 400,000 but the canton itself around 1.3 million, and I reckon a fair whack of them make their way to the shores of Lake Zurich to swim and sunbake.

Made it back to the train station to wait for Julia arriving home from work in Basel and walked home. We were meeting up with Florian as he wanted to watch the semi final match Germany vs. Spain. He knew of this “quaint little cottage” with a barn attached that would be showing the game on a big screen. It was quite a walk to get there but certainly nice through the forest to the other side of the city. We arrived there about 1hour later and the game had just started. Score Nil all. Quaint the cottage was, the barn was nice, quiet it was not. There was about 1000 people there to watch the game. No seat for us we had to stand. Grabbed some dinner, a drink and another different kind of bratwurst (speaking of bratwurst they are relatively expensive, in the supermarket 6 bucks for two, at a bar or street vendor about 6 bucks for one with a roll) But they do taste good. By half time we managed to snag a few seats, lots of people got up to leave or go to the bathroom. We took our seats and moved into the barn area where the real atmosphere was. Every time a team came close to scoring or the goalie made a great save the crowd were on their feet cheering or clapping. It was really loud. The room did have a lot of people cheering for Spain and you should have heard it when they scored that fantastic goal from the corner kick. GOOOOOOAAAAAALLLLLL!!!!!!!!! They went absolutely NUTS!! (I think this experience beats your world cup experience Nick Finch, and there is still one more big match remaining Netherlands v Spain!! I‘m going for Netherlands as I have been from the start)

Alpine Passes, Vitaparcours, and home cooked meals.

Didn’t do much on Thursday, had our usual “float” down the river to try and combat the heat, once again over 30 degrees celsius. I am starting to get worried about this heat wave, our German hosts have also stated it has been hot “mega heiss” in Roth as well. I suppose as long as I use heaps of water and hopefully ice during the cycle and run I will be OK. I thought doing an Ironman in Europe I would be able to escape the heat of Australia.

Met up with the English forum cycle guys again and went for the entire Thursday ride this time. Yes Sinclair I did take some photos this time, which meant I had to keep trying to catch up to the group every time I stopped. Seriously you could try to go out for a good training ride and end up dawdling your way along cause all you are doing is looking at the scenery. which route we should take and it was agreed basically that we should take the steep one. The climb was awful. It was about 2km long but so steep you had to be out of your saddle almost all the way and it was gravelly so your back wheel kept slipping. Average speed up the climb about 9km per hour. When I finally made it to the top all I felt like doing was spewing. The other guys ahead of me (only just) remarked that it is a bit of a killer and most times they don’t do this route anymore and this is the first time this season.

The next descent was really fast along a single lane road, the usual guys are super descenders and left me far behind. We stopped at the little village before the next ascent to fill the bottles from the spring. Then we were on our way for the next climb, Albis Pass 793m. It isn’t that hard but the view from the top is awesome. The photo you see is of my bike at the summit. You can assume that I made it if my bike did. The descent was just like in the tour with all of the switchbacks and once again I got left behind. A road bike is way better for descending and the guys must have been going about 70 or more.

Finally got back home at . . . . wait for it . . . . 9.30 pm and it was still bright sunshine. Looks like I didn’t really have to worry about getting home in the dark anyway. Good ride, hard, 3 ½ hours, 75 km covered, that is the last hard ride I’ll do. As I pulled up outside the apartment Michelle and Julia were just getting back from the forest and doing Vitaparcours. You know that running and circuit stuff in the forest. They said that they had a great time and good work out. We decided to go for another swim in the river and made our way down there and jumped in and floated down cooling off once again watching the sunset. By the time we got home it was just about dark 10.15pm

Julia had appointments on Friday so we became a bit domestic and cleaned up the apartment, then I got a fantastic massage off Michelle. We met Julia after her appointments and went for a swim in the lake. There were heaps of people about again and the weather is again very, very hot.

On Saturday I did a brick session in the morning, finally managed to get up at a slightly respectable hour (8.00 am) and rode for 1 hour on the eastern side of the lake, Michelle followed for a little while on the “townie”. 25 mins hard out and 25 mins hard back with a bit of easy stuff through town. Saw only a few triathletes and cyclist out this early, everyone must train later in the day here????? (Norman you wouldn’t be able to cope training this late in the day)

Got back to the apartment and then we all went up to the forest, Michelle and Julia did the Vita Parcours course again, whilst I did intervals around the circuit (it is about 750m, specially made track through the forest built up above the floor of woodchips surrounded by wooden slabs to keep it all in place. It is really soft for running and good for the joints, Coffs Council I hope you’re reading this) 10 laps, I did intend to go at a nice easy pace considering the heat but it is all in the shade of the forest and I felt pretty good, so I managed to go around 4.06 pace for each interval. Not bad I think. I’m glad all of my slow stuff has helped and I still have some speed, hopefully I can keep up a reasonable sort of pace for the run in Roth next week about 5.30 or so.

After yet another “float” in the river after running, we (Julia, Michelle and I) made our way out to Oensingen to catch up with Julia’s parents. We took the car, Julia doesn’t drive it much (about once a month) and we actually had to go and find where she had parked it. Parking spaces are of premium value here in Zurich and to actually get one outside the apartment building where you live requires a small miracle.

Now to get out of the city was an interesting experience. Has anyone seen the remake of the Italian Job??? It wasn’t quite like that but almost. Once out onto the autobahn, the little 1991 VW cruised easily along at 140km per hour, but got passed by some nice Audi’s, BMW’s and Mercedes. (Julia’s dad later told us about how he misses driving that little car and it has a special chip which makes it go like a race car. . . . if you want to drive it that way!!)

Going back to Oensingen was special for both of us as we hadn’t seen Martha (pronounced Marta) and Thomas since 1998 when we were here last. We remembered fondly their hospitality, Martha’s great cooking and Thomas’ friendly conversation.

Pulling up to the house was interesting, as there has been a lot of new construction. We remembered open fields behind the house leading up to the forest and the castle. Now it is new houses (totally out of character) and some apartments. The apartment directly behind Thomas and Martha’s has now a great view courtesy of some recently poisoned trees in their yard. Such a shame.

We had cool drinks in the garden catching up, we were also lucky enough to meet Julia’s brothers wife Nadia. We also meet Yoko, the new dog. Michelle and I are absolutely 1000% positive Julia said Yoko was a black dog and when were greeted by this fair colored Golden retriever we thought Amie must still be there. Amie was the Baumgartner’s prior dog who we met in 98. Amie was also a fair colored golden retriever. We had never meet another dog like Amie. She could take herself and her lead on the path up to the castle behind the house and would look straight into your eyes when you spoke to her.

We had a great dinner and of course another late night. On Sunday we drove out into the Jura (the smaller mountain range across Switzerland) to go for a hike. We drove up and up and up, it would have been a great ride. We parked and continued the rest of the way on foot. Following the road, Martha pointed out all of the different flowers and would explain to us all about them. Michelle loves speaking with Martha as she is very patient and helps Michelle with her german. Martha pointed out Wild strawberries and we picked and ate our fill. Coming towards the top of the hinter berg the view was again spectacular. The farmers often operate restaurants to supplement their farming income.

On Thomas’ suggestion after speaking about the different menu options (horse was on the menu but we did not try this) he said I should have the grosse (big) meal, since I am doing the race next week. OK, I said if you think so. WOW, the size of my meal was massive. The cordon bleu whilst absolutely delicious was huge it took up over half the plate. I struggled to make my way through it. But Mmmmmm yum.

It was a great weekend away catching up with Julia parents again and we continually hinted that they must come to visit us in Australia. Martha and Thomas are fantastic hosts and Martha even suggested we should do an exchange to Switzerland and work, just so she can have us around more often.

In the evening went to watch the football at the little cottage again. Disappointing game, but is was a good goal by Spain.

Swimming, Train tickets and casual rides.

On Monday evening we went swim training with the free radicals at the Wallisellen pool. What an excellent swim centre. Outdoor pools, indoor pools, water slides, diving pools, beach volley ball courts. The whole works. Mic picked us up and we drove over there from Zurich. We had a go of the bigger slide, it it pitch black all the way down and you don’t know what is going to happen next, it was a bit scary. We met some of the free radicals who are going to Roth as well and will catch up with them again on the weekend. It was a good swim set and the swim coach was previously a representative of Germany in the Olympics.

Marcus (free radical) walked us back to the station so we could catch the train back to Zurich. Julia taught her first class of Yoga this evening and she went really well. This is something she would like to do more permanently. She dreams of teaching Yoga in Byron Bay.

Went for my last ride on Tuesday morning 1 hour reasonably hard along the lake. When I got back we went down to the station and picked up our train tickets. Zurich to Nurnberg 6 ½ hours $53 CHF, bargain!!!! Just have to work out how to lug our luggage bag down to the bahnhof on Thursday morning. Our hosts in Georgensgmund have graciously offered to pick us up at the station, and Danni said she will be waiting at the station with a big red rose. It all sort of sounds like spy stuff. I’ll meet you at the station make sure you bring the password!

WE went for a casual ride on the free city bikes out over the range that divides lake Zurich from the next one over to the east, Greifensee. Great views from the top and heap of nice farming land, it is cool to think only 10kms out from the city there is lush green farming land. The houses are nice and it isn’t so busy out here.

Ended up this ride took 5 hours but since we were only traveling very slowly it should be any major drama. I hope not anyway.

Wednesday is a very relaxing day. I have had a massage and we are packing up our bags ready to leave Zurich for Roth.

Got a nice email today from Sheree and Mark (old tri club friends from Sydney). They are living here in Switzerland. We will try and make every effort to catch up with you guys as I really want to get to Luzern and go up Mt Pilatus.

Gotta go happy reading!!