My first hour or so in Zurich was a bit confusng, as Valerie and Marco weren't home, and Veloblitz had moved their office... Ended up over at Flash, checking with people there, where I found out the new address of Veloblitz, and gave them a phone call, to find out that my hosts were still there (it being a Friday and all, this shouldn't have surprised me in the slightest...) Rode over with the Flash crew, and was treated to my first glimpse of the posh new Veloblitz digs. Took the time there to balance the checkbook (online banking and an ATM card is the way to deal with money in Europe, I'm convinced.) and email Rivendell about my Uplift failure, to see if I could get a replacement clamp.
Next morning, we're up early - Val is already answering phones for the Friday Global Gutz cities, and starting to collate results. I had already begun to dream up more permanent jury-rigs for the uplift in the event that I was unable to get a new clamp before leaving to chase the Tour de Suisse. The pause here in Zurich was good for me, I think - I was starting to look like the riders in the pictures of the TdF in the 20s, all darkened from the sun, with cracked lips and peeling noses - my feet are dry as a bone, and peeling away. Sort of what happens to you when you're on the road for long periods of time, covering long distances daily. Merely 3 weeks into my trip, and my exuberance for the tour was just growing and growing, though. After the long stretches through Belgium and France, I felt as if i could ride forever.
That night, the 16th, the fabulous Lucky 7 bar opened for the first time since CMWC '99, for the Global Gutz alleycat in Zurich. Good luck on my part, to be here both times the bar has even existed. The rain was still holding up, though it didn't come down too hard during the race, which was fairly basic, due to the straightforward nature of the event. Raced around with Annina, who, like me, was claiming to not really be racing all that hard, but you can say that as much as you like in an alleycat, and you'll still go hard. Ended up with the best out-of-towner prize, which wasn't really much of an accomplishment, seeing as the only other non-Zurcher was a guy who'd driven down from Wiesbaden, and he was asleep in his van, i think.
I'd learned that Grimselpass was closed to traffic due to a large rockslide, which they were still clearing - this put a dent in my Swiss Alps plans, as Grimsel was smack dab in the center of my planned tour, splitting the route into 2 halves, one in the Berner Oberland, and one in Wallis. I was going to have to make a decision as to which part to skip and how to reroute, as there's no easy way around Grimsel. The only options I could see were taking Susten and then Gotthard to get to Nufenen so i could ride San Giacomo, which was a ton of extra riding, or to back up to Kandersteg once I'd been to Rosenlaui, to head over Lotschenpass, which was bound to be really tough, at 2690m. (yeah, I know there's a train through under the pass - I was still sticking to my plan of riding everything at this point) The Rough-Stuff guides mentioned an alternate route for Grimsel, but It didnt help me around the rockslide, so the decision leaned further and further towards simply expanding my time in the Berner Oberland.
In the following days, I solved both of my major problems - the uplift failure and my lack of an adequate rain jacket. The uplift turned out easier to fix than I had suspected - I simply had the tubes of the uplift structure tapped for bolts, since they lined up perfectly with the holes inthe clamps, and voila! The perfect solution, which was to serve wonderfully for the rest of the tour, and may well become a permanent part of the production uplift. As for the raingear, I replaced my woefully inadequate, and never fully waterproof Roach jacket with a nice shell from Gore Bike Wear, bought for cheap through Veloblitz, which went on to serve me admirably for the rest of the trip. My remaining problem is that the Pace kneewarmers I bought to replace my old Swobo wool ones just before I left suck completely - they won't stay up whatsoever. Next pair I buy is going to be from a real cycling clothing manufacturer.
Stocked up on patches for my Zo bag and the Carradice - I'll have plenty of sewing to do in my spare time. Bought a few more Swiss maps to cover the holes in my set for the tour - I can't recommend any of the maps from the Bundesamt fur Landestopographie enough - the 1:100000 series are just fine for cycling, but the 1:50000 and 1:25000 maps are gorgeous, and if it exists in Switzerland, it's on those maps. Absolutely the best maps I know of, easily giving England's beloved Ordnance Survey a run for it's money. Also replaced my cyclocomputer, which shorted out or something, probably in the rain - oddly enough, I was able to find a replacement for cheap (last year's model) at one of the larger Migros stores.
Ive got one more day in Zurich at this point, but it actually is part of the Tour de Suisse section of the trip, as I'm going to be riding over the hill to Baar (actually Talacher), meeting up with my friend Alex from Vintage Velos to watch the end of the 3rd stage there. Though I'll be spending the night back in Zurich, I count myself as on the road at that point...
On to the next stage, following the Tour de Suisse