06-MAY-2007
Second Place Winner.
Came in about 3 minutes after the winner.
05-MAY-2007
Geneva Marathon 2007.
The Winner! Amazingly, this guy ran the marathon in 2 hours, 18 minutes. That's 26 miles in 138 minutes. He ran an average pace of 11.3 miles per hour (almost near a sprint), or for you Europeans, 18.2 Kilometers per hour. Wow.
As for me, this weekend was slightly bitter-sweet. I was happy to be there watching the runners, relaxing with my friends, taking photos. But I was registered to run in this race (the half-marathon). Unfortunately, I hurt my lower back about two weeks ago and although it is healing, it's taking some time. I guess there's always next year. At the end of summer, there's a pretty big marathon in nearby Lausanne. So, I'm thinking I'll skip the half-marathon, and train all summer for the full marathon. We'll see what happens... My back is almost better now, so I'll be able to finally get back to running!
03-MAY-2007
Lakeside at Dusk.
So, if you turn to the right at my front door and walk down my street for a few blocks, when you reach the lake you would be positioned directly in front of "Bains des Paquis" (Bains = baths, and Paquis = my "hood"). Take a glance at their web page (listed below) if you have a little extra time today. There is a long jetty that allows you to walk away from the street and view the lake from a very nice perspective. The jetty is attached to the baths, which today have become the local sauna and also the local swimming area in the lake. They have a great restaurant and bar there, offering delicious lunches during the week. And during the winter, we would often come here after a long day of skiing to enjoy their locally famous fondue. This picture was taken standing on the jetty, looking back towards my place on the north side of the lake.
02-MAY-2007
Earth meets Sky.
Just a typical walk home for me today... Well, not exactly on my way home. I have to walk about 3 minutes more to reach this place. The lake is very close to my apartment, and some evenings I like to stop by and relax here for a few minutes - great place to think, and to unwind from the daily routine.
01-MAY-2007
Sunset Ride.
And so, on the ride back to Geneva...
...my view.
30-APR-2007
View from the top.
This was one amazing road. There are really no words to describe it. This photo was from our ride 9 days ago, and I enjoyed that road so much that I went back there this past Saturday by myself and spent probably close to 1.5 hours riding up and down this mountain. The twists were continuous, requiring me to constantly shift from side to side, leaning through the turns in a rhythm that really put me into a peaceful trance. There are a few hairpin turns thrown in to make the road even more interesting. I couldn't keep the smile from my face as I listened to my engine echo off the trees at 14,000 rpm and moved my body with the rhythm of the roads. (Oh yeah, no cops or radar up there too - makes for a very, very pleasant time).
29-APR-2007
Moto GP???
Another reason to love this country - there are so many motor-sports fanatics living here! One particularly good rider on the Moto GP circuit (motorcycle equivalent of F1 racing), 25-year old American Nicky Hayden, rides a motorcycle like mine for Repsol/Honda. And this is exactly how his bike is painted for this circuit. It really is a fascinating sport, and although it is great fun carving turns on mountain roads at fast speed, it is nothing compared to what these guys do on the track. In a controlled environment where every bike is moving in the same direction, and where all riders are highly skilled, these guys reach speeds of 300 Km/H (that's 185 mph)... time and money permitting, I'm planning on looking into local novice racing clubs to see if I can move to the track and possibly start racing my bike. As you ride the streets outside of Geneva, you can see many sport bikes wearing the complete racing colors and insignias of the owner's favorite Moto GP team.
28-APR-2007
More BBQs!
So after we soaked up the sun lakeside, we traveled back towards Geneva and visited our friends who prepared a Turkish feast for us! This was the first time I tried authentic, Turkish food - and wow, as you'll see from the lack of photos, I was very busy eating the entire time we were there. Our friends have a nice sun room, and we stayed there enjoying some amazing lunch and delicious desserts. And, of course, what Turkish meal would be complete without the famous tea! I have a few more pictures, which you can find by clicking on the link below:
27-APR-2007
BBQ time!
Well, it's that time of year again (actually it's been that time of year for awhile now). All of the trees have their baby leaves, the flowers are in full bloom, the grass is green and life is good. Most of the people from my department decided it was time to take in some sun - Geneva style. So, this past Sunday we headed slightly east along the lake and spent some time at one of the many lakeside beaches and parks. We had two BBQs that day, so after relaxing here for a few hours we packed up and headed to another friend's housewarming/BBQ - of course more photos of that to come soon. To check out my mini-gallery from this BBQ, click here:
26-APR-2007
Random Swiss Town.
We had a beautiful ride along the lake after leaving Nyon, and every now and then we would drive through a town like this. At normal speed, and if you don't obey the speed regulations, if you were to blink with the right timing, you wouldn't even notice you passed through a village. Don't worry, of course we were good bikers and followed all posted speed limits in the towns.
We decided to stop and walk around for a few minutes at this place. It was really a perfect day; the temperature was about 25 and the roads were free from traffic. Just a little further up the road I stood on while taking this picture, we turned north and rode into the mountains. At that point, the decision had to be made to either stop every 3 minutes to take pictures, or to twist my right wrist and enjoy the roads - I chose the second option, but I still want to tell you about the road we were on.
As we climbed up the mountains, the ground was noticeably more rocky. And the farmers and country-folk took advantage of that by building elaborate and ridiculously long stacked-stone walls - It looked like a scene from Ireland. The walls also lined both sides of the roads, and the roads were twisty and very well paved. If I had to design the perfect riding roads with the perfect scenery, this wouldn't be far from what I would imagine.
25-APR-2007
Leaving Nyon.
It's almost like a mini-San Francisco, and as we were walking back to the lake where we parked our bikes, this was one of the streets we walked down. This old village is built on a tiny bluff, raised maybe 100 meters above the lake, and therefore the streets are pretty hilly. You can see the French alps on the other side of the lake in the background. The locals were relaxing at their windows, or sitting on the stairs with their dogs, looking at the tourists milling around outside their apartments.
It was time to get back on the roads to do some riding, so we said Good-Bye to Nyon... I can't wait to go back and spend more time there.