Like Father, Like Daughter... who said that? I've yet to finish my race update from Garda. However, here is a link to the pics that I can purchase. I'm going to see if I can buy the file instead.
Action pics from Garda
Me after getting my ass handed to me by the mountain... not the racers... so much. ..And, pre-race 
So, I'm sitting in a hotel in Zurich, Switzerland while Kera's at work for a couple of days. Depending on what's in the cards for us, we may end up moving down here. Not our favorite idea, but Munich was a surprise as well. Since I had the time, we figured that I could come down with Kera and play around town for a couple of days and get the lay of the land.
My report.... for now. The Swiss drive much slower and not as well as the Germans. The Swiss accent that is spun on the Deutsch language sounds way too much like the Swedish Chef from the Muppets (think German mixed with Norwegian). They have a beautiful lake (Lake Zurich) that pokes in to the city. The major art museum here is first rate. Some really amazing pieces there (Picasso, Cezane, Monet, Miro) Also found a couple of new favorites (Sigmar Polke and Alberto Giacometti). The city is quite beautiful and very hilly and like a small San Francisco in some ways.
However... (yes, the big BUT) I've seen very few bikes on the streets. I see more bicycles on our street in a short walk than I've seen here while walking around for almost 7 hours. Even though there's a big university here and seemingly lots of things going on, the soul seems to be missing from the body. I can't put my finger on it, but there's nothing here that makes me want to live in Zurich. Munich, on the other hand, is such a great place to be and live.
I suppose the fact the the weather is sheisse, doesn't help matters any. Maybe tomorrow, if the sun shines as it's supposed to. I think I'm also used to lots of bike shops around and I only saw two and they were really tiny. Imagine, bedroom size. Nothing nice at all.
Given a choice, I'd pick Munich in a minute. Now, if it came down to moving here or moving back to the states, I'd rather live here. At least I'd be surrounded by mountains and have a bazillion things to do outdoors. Yes kids, I love that outdoor life.
Other news, bike related... broke my Truvativ 180 Stylo SS cranks the other day. I was 25-30 km's out from home on the mountain bike trails and noticed that something didn't feel right. I kept going until I got tired of my crank banging on my chainstay. I finally flipped the bike over and played around with the bottom bracket adjustment. While doing that I found the crack half-way across my crank arm. Crap! So, I limped the rest of the way home using primarily my left leg to spin.
Yesterday before we left Munich I ordered White Industries ENO cranks which should be in when we get back.
We'll be back down here in a couple of weeks for the Swiss SingleSpeed Championships. Maybe a new report about Switzerland then.
New pics- hopefully, more from Zurich today, or later.
Last day of school pics
Stuttgart to vist the Host 'rents
Bozen & Garda, Italy pics
That's about it for now. Ciao!
4 comments:
I can't believe you are whining about the issue of living in Munich versus Zurich while all the rest of us back in the states are still wishing we could just *be* there! ;o)
Point taken! :-)
Mike you had to be the coolest dude in the race. I mean 29er, Rigid Single Speed...and sponsored by a BEER company, no less.
Bummer on the Tru-Vativ cranks....and makes me think twice about my TV crabks on the Wily. Most others in the "fleet" are RaceFace.
Get the Moots!!!!! (response to your post on Matt's blog)
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