The road ahead

A Skateboarding Journey

Byrichard
Reading Time: 3 minutes

When I was younger I switched from skiing to snowboarding and I loved the sensations. I loved how quickly I adapted my skiing knowledge to snowboarding. Within hours I felt okay. I often feel that I could have progressed faster if I had been in a group with people who were just experiencing winter sports for the first time.

When I was a child I sometimes played with a skateboard but I just went up and down a street. We played as children do.

For a while I thought that I would take off rollerblading instead of walking or cycling. Within a short amount of time I came up against the fact that I live in a hilly place with cars that do not respect pedestrians, cyclists or other slow moving people. As a result of this I lost interest in skating, but was attracted by the notion of skateboarding.

Two Shoes

The beauty of the skateboard is that you have four wheels, that allow you to go faster, when the surface is right, but when it isn’t you just step, or stumble, off of the board, and you walk until it is friendly for the skateboard again. It allows you to go faster than a walker, when the conditions are right, and walk when they’re not. It gives you the best of both worlds.

Finding Balance

For the first two or three hundred meters I really struggled with giving the board direction, but also with balancing. It would veer to the right when I wanted to go to the left. Eventually I found a slight decline and that’s when I practiced riding the board, and reacquainting myself with the feel of skateboarding. Eventually balancing switched back from the front of my focus, to instinct, and that’s when I could begin to control the board, and get it to do what I wanted again. I was a little surprised by how quickly I remembered the right habits.

Switching from Snoarboading to Skating

Taking snowboarding knowledge and applying it to skating is easy. I was surprised that within an eleven kilometre loop I felt more comfortable. I carried the board more than I rode it but that’s because the slopes are steep and I’m not used to the sensations yet, but also because the steep slopes are roads, with cars. By pushing my ability too fast I could endanger myself, especially near roads. I practiced on agricultural roads where traffic is at a minimum. If bikes or pedestrians were walking I reverted to walking. It’s about being safe, and in control.

Purpose

I was going to say that I want to learn to skateboard again because it’s faster than walking. It is faster than walking but that’s not the only benefit. Skateboarding is exertional. It requires the use of different leg muscles and it’s a proper workout, rather than just walking. For up hill bits, downhills, and rough terrain I will continue to walk, but where the terrain is flat enough, and traffic is low enough, I can skate. By mixing the two I will be practicing interval training, without it being called interval training. With experience going to the train station and back, and going to the shops and back, will be faster.

And Finally

Skateboards are easy to transport, whether by car, by train, or even by foot. Theoretically you can always have it with you, for when opportunities present themselves. I’m happy that I felt comfortable within an hour or two of riding, even if most of that time was walking to a comfortable location.

They say that things are like riding a bike. I think that skateboarding is like snowboarding. It doesn’t take long to remember how to do it.

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Nyon In Spring

Nyon In Spring

Byrichard

Due to the pandemic I almost never go to Nyon. If I do I often wear a mask and avoid walking around too much. Most people think the pandemic is over. I see, from the data, that it is not, and I want to stay true to previous ethics and morality.


Flowers in spring on the slope behind the Musée du Léman
Flowers in spring on the slope behind the Musée du Léman


Flowers in spring on the slope behind the Musée du Léman
Flowers in spring on the slope behind the Musée du Léman


Magnolia buds in Nyon, by the lake
Magnolia buds in Nyon, by the lake


I am happier walking in the countryside where there are fewer people, and where it is easy to avoid them. I have no problem wearing a mask, but others do not approve of mask wearing, so I prefer to be a lunatic in the countryside, than in town. I also feel better, emotionally, when I am not reminded that others are living normally despite the pandemic.


On a related note I reached 24,000 steps today. I walked six kilometres in Nyon, this morning, before going for a lunch time run, and finally an afternoon walk. During the afternoon walk I counted 24 people walking along a small stretch of rural road. That’s a lot of people. That’s why I avoid that stretch of road. I prefer empty roads. I prefer solitary walks.


The lake too is exceptionally clear but I don’t dive at the moment, so I won’t take advantage of the excellent visibility. Maybe in the near future I will resume diving. I may start again, when I find job security, and a good group of people to dive with, given the fragility of safety when diving.

Day 45 Of Self-Isolation in Switzerland – The Need For Outdoor Exercise.

Day 45 Of Self-Isolation in Switzerland – The Need For Outdoor Exercise.

Byrichard

This aftrnoon reminded me of the need for outdoor exercise. I was feeling lazy and unmotivated to go outdoors. I thought that the rain would come back during my walk, as it did during my scooter ride, and as it did yesterday. I checked the weather app and I saw that we should have good weather until tomorrow so I took advantage to go for my walk.


This time I was light. I went with my AirPods, my phone, and money just in case. I walked the usual route but this time I think I saw farmers and their child, and plenty of people on bikes. It would be interesting to see how important a role physical exercise played in Switzerland managing to flatten the curve for now. With so much sunshine and exercise you’d expect the Swiss to be primed for coping with such a virus.


@richardazia

##cats ##catnap ##lazy ##afternoon

? Summer Days – Martin Garrix / Macklemore / Patrick Stump

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The drive home – My 400th post

Byrichard

Last night’s drive was amazing. It’s just the type of drive you want to have. It starts in the middle of the afternoon as a friend helps you load the car and you set off for a 900 kilometer drive. At the beginning you have to deal with London traffic/congestion. After this you’ve got part of the m20 that’s closed so you need to take a slip road. As I got into France I was welcomed by a lot of snow coming straight at me, like the windows screensaver from a decade ago. That meant I couldn’t really drive as fast as I wanted. Still made good time. For most of the journey the road was fine.The part I really loved is when I got off the motorway to go via the Jura. At this point it wasn’t snowing too much but as I progressed up the slopes and let the Garmin Nuvi 250 guide me along the path so I saw a little snow, and it started to stick. As I drove I had to stay awake and battle with the ever present threat of loss of adherence. That was the fun part of the drive. The road was covered in a thin layer of snow and people were driving more slowly. At moments I was chasing a snowplow across the mountains as it was salting the roads.At other moments there was no snow plow and I lost traction two or three times but kept the car in control. I occasionaly thought that I wouldn’t make it up the hills but I did, and I loved the view. The trees were covered in snow and they were lit by the grand phare. It’s memories from childhood. I’m glad I’ve spent so much time playing in car parks covered in snow to learn how the car behaved.At five in the morning the last thing you want to learn is how to drive in snow. Luckily I do.It made a nice transition from the student life I’ve been living over the past three years and the job seeking following that. I wanted the drive to be a transition from one phase in my life to the next. Now I’m  an employed graduate who’s working in Switzerland as of next Monday. This next chapter of my life should be fun.  

When Rain Doesn’t Show Up
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When Rain Doesn’t Show Up

Byrichard

They forecast rain and I looked forward to going for a walk and having clean shoes as shoes are washed by the rain keeping shows slick. The rain didn’t come so my shoes got muddy and I stood by the tap trying to get the mud to drain away from between the tread, without much luck. Tomorrow if I run down the stairs as I always do I will leave thick clumps of mud from my apartment down to the garage


Apparently the cleaner doesn’t like seeing clumps of mud that has fallen off shoes. If I was a cleaner I’d be happy. I’d ask if they want to increase the frequency of my visits, or alternatively I would ask for a shoe brush to be placed at the front door, so that people may clean their shoes before coming in.


Of course, in the 21st century shoes never get muddy because they are worn from the car park, for the walk and back. People never go for muddy walks without the car so they never have muddy shoes by the time they get home. By that time their shoes, and the mud has dried, and fallen off inside the car.


It is absurd that someone would go for a walk straight from home. Who in their right mind would do something so quaint and old fashioned. I write this as a joke, but also with seriousness. If people did go for walks from home, rather than taking their cars, walking paths would be more prominent, and easier to find.


It’s only during the pandemic that paths were worn out from villages and back in. During the pandemic people went for local walks, especially during lockdown. Now that people have their freedoms to burn petrol to go for a 40 minute walk, away from home, they do. People haven’t learned not to use their cars for everything.


I don’t make stairwells and halls muddy on purpose. I make them muddy because it’s hard to walk locally, without using a car, without walking where it’s muddy. If everyone was like me then you would need those taps and grates, like you see at football stadiums, where shoes can be brushed clean before going indoors. That will be my next purchase. I really need such a brush.


Puddles and rain would do the same, but for some reason, despite the ground being wet and muddy it never rains at a time, to prevent me from going for a walk.


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Village Photography

Byrichard

On Google Plus, one of my muses, I saw that instead of Street photography someone suggested Village photography. I like the idea because villages are such an integral part of my life.

Life in villages is a privileged one. Every time we go for a walk we cross people we do not know and say hello. We walk from field to field and along paths. We see which crops have been planted and which ones are being harvested. We see frequent horses and dog walkers. We also see families. We hear the sound of rifle practices at the local gun range. The practice is for military service most of the time.

We also have fountains and old buildings. We hear the church bell every half hour and hour. We see the fountains with wooden chalet to protect from the cold in winter.

Villages are seasonal. In summer the sounds of children playing, of fireworks and of barbecues can be heard. In Autumn the sound of wind blowers can be heard. In Winter we see lights on as the neighbours prepare their evening meal.

In the mornings we see parents bring their children to school before the bell rings and they head in to their classes to sit and wait impatiently for the school day to be over so that they may go out on adventures.

That’s why village photography captivates my imagination. I know villages well. I appreciate them. I look forward to looking at images from the past, and preserving today for future generations.

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