Zurifich!

Over the last week I have been exploring Zurich Switzerland. With the encouragement of my colleagues, we took trains and buses to all of our meetings. But the high point in this famous Swiss city was renting a bicycle for the weekend.

We got a head start on the weekend with a short workday on Friday. Four of us went out to explore the city and found the Kunsthaus Museum. As we approached the museum, we were inspired by a magnificent sculpture by Rodin called the “Gates of Hell” which features a figure reminiscent of Rodin’s “The Thinker”. Once inside we soon found the impressionists wing that is full of Picasso’s and Monet’s. We finished the evening stroll with a wonderful Fondue dinner and wine.

As I mentioned the highlight was the weekend of cycling. As it turns out a local Swiss colleague, Guenter is an avid cyclist and was kind enough to arrange to rent a couple of very nice road bikes from a local shop called The Bike Store. We went out for a Saturday ride down along Lake Zurich and up into the hills surrounding the lake. Although Guenter is a much better climber than I, he was patient with me as I spun up each hill until we made it the quaint village of Wald about half way out the mountain for lunch. We then took an alternative route back and were rewarded by some exhilarating decents and magnificent vistas.

On Sunday I went out by myself and decided to ride down the other side of Lake Zurich. The roads have excellent bike lanes and are full of cyclists. I stopped at the Zurich Horn to eat lunch and snap a couple of pictures. All toll it was one of the best weekends of cycling that I’ve ever experienced. I also rode my longest one day ride of around 120k (70 miles) and my longest 2 day ride of over 180K (110 miles). Thanks to Guenter for a terrific end to a terrific week in Zurich.

Zurich + Terrific = ZURIFICH!

Click here to see the rest of my Zurich pictures on Flickr.

Bon Voyage, Jay