Shanghai, one of the most prosperous city in East Asia, has turned from a buzzing metropolitan to an dead city overnight, with all its citizens trapped inside their apartments facing various challenges, such as food shortage and the complete void of medical care. This diastrous situation is undoubtedly and irrefutably caused by the bad management of the government. Exactly what happened inside the government, and what was on the mind of the leaders, I shall not know. It has been very depressing to read about Shanghai, and my heart goes to all its residents.
Which makes me feel even luckier to have my freedom abroad. While I was cycling around Evian, taking the long-awaited Easter vacation, I felt even more how unfair this world is, how the difference in reality seems ludicrous and insurmontable, and whether I deserve to be vacationing near the lake while others have to fight for dinner ingredients.
With that in mind, I am grateful for the life I live…and back to the real journal here.
In 2018, I was in Gevena after trekking through the tour du mont blanc. In continuation of my outdoorsy spirit, I rented a good quality road bike from an over-priced bike shop, and tried to cycle around the Lac Léman. I had no cycling experience back then, never wore clip-on shoes, never used a bike with a drop bar, and didn’t have padded shorts. Not surprisingly, I arrived in Lausanne, but my butt hurt tremendously, and I decided to spend the rest of my time there instead of finishing the tour.
It is during that trip that I saw the Rolex library for the first time, and learned that there is a beautiful university by the lake called EPFL. This information somehow hang in the back of my mind and lead me back here again. At that time, I had no intention of doing a Master’s in Switzerland, nor coming back to this region really.
This April, with my BF, I had another go at the challenge and succesfully completed the tour with his help! Initially we just agreed to cycle to Evian and see, and luckily my stamina held up and we cycled over 220km in 3 days. Admittedly this is not something impressive, for any decent cyclist, 180km in one day is by no means outrageously demanding, and in 3 days it can be considered “a chill ride”. But it’s personally meaningful, and something that brought me immense joy.
I had always wanted to get into cycling – I had a feeling that I would like it. I have always liked strenous, aerobic exercises. Cycling is more ideal than running in my ways – faster, lower impact, can do it for longer, and travel further and see more things. It’s also a lot more dangerous in my opinion, and I try to be really careful on the bike.
Huge bisous to my BF, qui était vraiment patient avec moi, très réconfortant et encourageant. It was gold 3 days with tyou.
my baby bike
I bought a second-hand Cannondale made in the 2000s from a really nice chef who lives in Lausanne. The following weekend, I went to Lac de Joux on it with my then-roommate. My back was so sore afterwards. I fell three times because I was not yet used to the clip shoes. My hands were covered in black chain oil because my chain fell off when I was switching gears incorrectly. Beginner mistakes. Aha.
But it was still fun!
Most sports have a “threshold of entry”. You need to cross over this threshold to realize how it can be fun. This is most obvious in the case of snowboarding, when the first three days you can barely maintain standing up on the board. Generally, it helps to have someone who would guide you through the threshold, and I got lucky this time with my then-roommate.
near Aigle, at the border of France and Switzerland
Day 1
We left on a Easter Monday, and the road was much clearer than a normal monday. The ride around the lake itself is rather easy – almost no elevation, and good road conditions. I fell in front of a car in the busy streets of Montreux and was a little shaken by the fall, but got myself together back.
Source of the Evian water
We decided to stay at Evian-les-bains. Even though this is a small town of only 9000 people, its name is much more heard than the much bigger nearby town of Thonon-les-bains, because of its famous branded water.
Day 2
My buddy decided to do a hard tour, so we went! Boy, the climb immediate from Evian was just BRUTAl, often more than 20% of incline, I couldn’t stay on the bike for long and had to come down to push. Glad it didn’t last super long though. Soon we got to our first stop of Saint-paul en Chablais, where we took a break and enjoyed the view over the lake.
A water fountain Saint-Paul en Chablais, Excellente!
From Saint-paul en Chablais, the road becomes quieter and gentler, meandering into the valleys and mountains. After a sharp descent to Fayet, we started a long but gentle climb all the way to Col de Trechauffé, at 1241m. The weather was perfect, temperature extremely comfortable. On the left you will see the snowy peak of the alps, and on the right the beautiful lake.
At Col de Trechauffé!
At some point we were a bit lost (we had almost no cellular data), and we had to hike up with the bike. I was a little grumpy.
the unexpected hike…really a full-body sport
Day 3
We decided to ride from Evian-les-bains to Geneve, and then decide what to do based on how we feel. My BF chose a less busy road, albeit a bit longer than the shortest cut. The road condition was amazing, and the cars are courteous.
passed through Yvoire, a charming medieval village.
It was just over 100km+, and my fifth ride ever.
post-ride recovery kebab
Huge thanks to my BF who is so patient, caring and encouraging and he definitely eased me into sport. Now I am a little hooked, just a little though ; )