The unthreatening clouds did not bother me during my bike ride but it was cooler than sometimes at this time of year. I occasionally felt that an extra layer or two would be welcome. That’s unusual in July at this time of year.
I chose routes that kept me as far from cars as possible. I also chose wider roads. They may be safer. The challenge is to find roads where cars are banned.
We will see if the rain comes.
They announced rain and storms but we hardly ever get either in this part of Switzerland. I wasn’t going to use this blog for short posts but I can’t focus.
During a pandemic one of the safest places to be is on a bike on quiet rural roads. The only people you meet are sporty so there is a higher likelihood that they are sporty.
Today I had to be respectful when passing two horses. They can often be afraid when they see cyclists, as we look strange. Bright colours, a strange machine underneath us. It can also be that the rider is also a little afraid. I always pass or let horses pass with caution.
A few bike rides ago I was told that they get spooked when they don’t know what is behind them. In this case I was in front of the horses.
I take the paths because I want to avoid dangerous roads and cars. The weather was good for cycling today.
Good Walking weather despite the storm warning. The weather is stable. We should have sun tomorrow.
Ordinarily you see pictures of cows standing up looking towards the camera but occassionaly people like me walk by cows when they are on their chewing the cud break. They lie around and slouch. It’s amusing to see three cows in close proximity like this. They have their eyes closed, their legs out. Are you used to seeing such scenes?
Cows in Switzerland have a good life. They head from the valleys to the top of mountains, eat grass, and then have siestas in the middle of the day. Their quality of life is good. Not all cows are the life and soul of the hike.
I didn’t know that as adults they would rest their heads on each other.
Sometimes you go for a walk and you see sunflowers and bees. The bees love the sunflowers and sometimes the volume of bees is so great that you can hear a swarm, or even many swarms of them. Each one picks up a little nectar before moving on to the next.
I don’t know whether they have a honey made just from sunflowers, like they do from lavender or other plants.
Most people go and take pictures from the front rather than from the back of sunflowers. I like to be different because it’s more interesting. Taking pictures from the front is easy now. All phone makers have made it easy.
It’s good to do things differently and to stay creative. I took this during the daily bike ride.
They often announce rain and storms and we often get very little of either. The weather here is dry. The little rain that did fall was sandy. Farmers have harvested their crops but so far the rain is not worrying.
According to my watch, and farmers, a storm is coming. That’s why they are busy trying to harvest all the grain before it hits.
At this time of year you can watch the combine harvesters harvesting all the fields and collecting grain. You can then see tractors following up and gathering what they leave on the fields and making plenty of bails.
I can’t focus so I’m cutting this post short.
Today I woke up and instead of cycling up to see this view and have a meal I decided to do the opposite. I would walk down. Two or three summers ago I walked up and they took four or five hours. Walking down is much easier.
One or two bits are steep and my shoes lost traction. It wasn’t serious or life threatening. The ground is soft and the gradient is simply steep.
I went from around 20 degrees and cool at the top, with the feeling that I should wear an extra layer to warm up. As I descended i walked from a cold season to warm.
I miss walking in the mountains. I haven’t done such a walk in at least a year. It’s nice to be away from cars and other machines. It’s nice to be in the countryside/mountainside, in nature. I didn’t spot or hear any wildlife this time but it might be because I’m louder when I’m walking than when I’m cycling. I did see two or three people cycling up. I saw one person heading up with an electric bike. It’s amusing to see, because they’re going much faster than you would expect on a bike to go. It looks out of place to see a bike going up those roads so quickly.
During this walk I realised how good it would feel to walk for several days or weeks in a row. I don’t think that it would be wise to do so during a pandemic but I do think that it would be pleasant to do in the near future. In Europe you can walk either with, or without a tent, depending on the route. You could walk far without having to carry a few days of food with you. We’ll see.