We are now well into day two in Switzerland and everyone is adjusting to the 8 hour time shift (except the Quebeccers that only have a 5 hour time difference). We are staying in a Swiss ski school half way up the side of a mountain at about 1200m elevation (900m above where we will be racing). The view is absolutely breathtaking! Now, you are probably asking “if the view is so great, then why didn’t you post any pictures?” Well, my camera crapped out on me two days before leaving for Switzerland and I didn’t get the extended warranty on it so I am going to have to send it away for a couple of months to get repaired when I get home :( Since we are halfway up the side of the mountain, we have a really intense drive to and from town every day up and down this windy, narrow, mountain road. At many points it narrows down so that there is only room for one car and the places where there is room for two are so tight that the rock faces and retaining walls are covered in scrapes from people cutting just a little too close.
Although the view is breathtaking and the road is fun to come in and out of, we are 4 to a room in smaller rooms than army barracks and everything is continually damp… But, the cold dampness aside, I think that this would be a wonderful place to live. Down in the valley is the town of Aigle, the home of the world cycling centre and UCI headquarters. Also known as the holy grail of cycling. The track is in pristine condition, smooth transitions into the corners, and the fear of falling through one of the unsupported boards in the corners is blissfully absent from your mind while riding! Just to give a little idea as to how much of a difference a good track can make to the times, consider the following. When my stoker was getting ready to go to Athens, the best times that he and his partner could muster at the time in Burnaby were around 5:05 for the 4km pursuit. When they raced in Athens, they pulled off a 4:35! 40 seconds could easily be the spread between first and last place in a single track race. Luckily this track is indoors, so we won’t have opposing winds to affect race times so the strongest team will be the winner.
If there is one thing that I hate, it is to be beaten (or win) in a time trial (or other individual event) on a day where the wind conditions changed drastically from the starting rider to the finishing rider. If I win, then I can’t know for sure that it was just because of favorable winds and if I lose, I wonder whether I could have won if the winds had been equal.
So, the numbers are split down the middle between Anglophone and Francophone on the trip and from the moment that we arrived in the airport, the Francophone crowd chose to stand on the other side of the airport from the Anglophones (we arrived an hour earlier and sat down at some tables while waiting). I’d like to think that it is because of the language barrier since some of them seem to warm up to those who speak French, but nearly all of them speak English quite well. Over the last year, I have become quite fascinated with the attitude of the Quebecois towards the rest of Canada. Between work, cycling, and my time in the military, I think that I have seen a pretty good cross section of Quebeccers… Dangerous territory, perhaps I will save this one for another day when I have time to give careful consideration to my words so as not to horribly offend anyone :P
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4 comments:
Well, I'm not suprised at all. It's quite common from the Quebecois! Just wait few days until you meet your first snobby Parisian, so then you'll be prepare to meet every single member of my familiy :-P.
Can you sell one of your Zipps to purchase a camera? They would fetch a bounty of Euros I would think. All the best for the competition. Send my best regards to the others I know; Steve B, Brayden, Lisa etc.
To your mom and dad :) You are perfectly right, if there is someone able to break the ice with the francophones it must be Devon. As for the ":-P" meaning, it's supposed to be a face with the tongue out of the mouth, kind a "teasing" smile?! Anyone can help my poor english skills in explaining what this mean?
selling some Zipps would be a great idea if I had brought some... Unfortunately superlight + tandem = carnage! So I didn't bring any of them. I think that the Clydesdale ones might be tough enough, but apparently the only wheel manufacturer that will recommend their carbon fibre wheels for tandems is Corima.
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