Returned to Zurich just in time for the first stage of the Tour de France, but with the weather taking aturn for the worse, at least compared to the great weather I'd had throughout my time in the Alps. It's also the 650th anniversary of the canton of Zurich, which means fireworks and a downtown area packed with tourists. Spent the second night back playing poker at my friend Nico's house, after running into Veloblitz's #1 client, Francisca, at an art project behind Les Halles - an outdoor dance floor and bar with 24-hour djs and bartenders for a week - but... they only played music while it was raining. Apparently people actually came out in force, which was surprising, cause I'd expect people in SF to be completely disinterested in dancing in the rain. Could be wrong, though. Poker worked out well - playing with sFr .20 coins, came out 12- ahead!
Unfortunately, the Goldsprints are happenning in Zurich the same weekend that I'm planning to be in Freiburg to watch the Tour de France, so I'll have to make a tough choice, and the TdF is at a distinct advantage. The train from Zurich > Freiburg turns out to not be a bad deal at all - 60- for a trip that'll take less than 2 hours... quite a deal compared to $50 to go from SF to Bakerfield, a trip that takes 7 hours, and covers roughly the same distance. US train travel always looks like crap to begin with, but every time I use rail transport in Europe, it just makes our rail system here look completely pathetic.
The rest of my time here before heading to Freiburg is largely uneventful, really - just a lot of relaxing after the big touring bit. Highlights of this time are a Tuesday night trip to the Rennbahn in Oerlikon - always a treat for someone with no real velodrome within in covenient reach - and a trip to the Museum Reitberg for an exhibition of paintings by Tohaku, which I'd seen posters up for all around town. The Reitberg is a great museum, with a large collection of Asian art, and a beautiful location in a large park. Kenda, Bailey and Hopper have arrived here now, in time for the Goldsprints, but they'll be headed directly to Vienna from Zurich.
Friday the 13th brings my departure for Freiburg, and good fortune (at least on a small scale) - a $21 error in my favor in my checkbook. Woo. The Deutsche Bahn train to Freiburg is nice - all I have to do with the bike is dismantle it slightly, and put the bike bag in the walkway. Nice and easy. I still think I'd prefer to be able to toss it, unpacked, in a baggage car, but this is an express train.
On to Freiburg and Cyclassix II