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Modern Life Is A Western

Byrichard
Reading Time: 2 minutes

A few afternoons ago I tuned in to a Western on Television and I thought about how similar our modern lives have become to Westerns. Either we’re the ones travelling all the time meeting new people and then leaving them behind or we’re the ones staying in place while everyone around moves. The Western is out of favour but modern life makes Westerns more relevant than ever. Life is about perpetually meeting new people. doing new things and visiting new places.

Every  Monday and Friday I arrive or leave work and see people with suitcases. Either they are leaving to another city for the weekend or coming back. Lives in a place like Geneva is a migratory one. On radio they announced that over 15 million passengers transited through that airport. There are far fewer people living in Geneva. Geneva has 184,500 people according to a google search several seconds ago. That’s 81 flights per capita. That’s not bad. That’s a trip back and forth twice a week for fourty weeks out of fifty one.

After this you have the jobs that people do. Humanitarian work, journalism, business etc. Every one of these activities keeps people travelling. If we are of the right age we are called The “Easyjet generation”. Can’t drive a car but can afford to fly every single weekend, see every european capital and have friends in every country. When I graduated we were 100 students from 120 countries… That’s not bad. This explains why when people ask where we’re from we mention a country rather than a city. ;-).

Imagine going back to village life, imagine going back to living within 30 kilometres of where we were born and never travelling beyond-

We are not just the easyjet generation. We are also the social media generation because phone costs and SMS are less affordable than facebook, twitter, instagram and google plus. Imagine how often a group of friends would meet up and converse without modern social networks. Imagine if the social networks had remained as a place for friends to converse with friends. If that was the case I would travel more because I would be sleeping on a couch at friends’ places in various countries.

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Trail Glove 7 in Autumn

Trail Glove 7 in Autumn

Byrichard

This Autumn is different because I have worn running, shoes, normal shoes, and Trail Glove 7 in the rain. I was very happy with the Trail Glove 7 during the entirety of the heat wave. I had no issues with them but now that we’re moving into winter I feel the need for shoes with greater ground clearance for when I walk through puddles, or streams of water running down roads while the rain falls.


A few days ago I walked in a wet forest on a rainy day with the Trail Glove 7 and although I expected to feel that they were completely inappropriate I didn’t. I found that they felt comfortable when walking through scrub, on the stony path and when they were wet.


These shoes will not protect you from thorns and other spikes. The base of the foot is safe but the top of the shoe is made of soft fabric that could be pierced. Despite this I didn’t feel as uncomfortable as I would have expected. In fact, I felt comfortable. I just had to be slightly more careful than usual, about where the top of my shoes scraped.


Avoiding Deep Puddles


The one unpleasant bit was when I was walking through deep puddles. Once or twice I felt the water rush into my shoes and wet my feet. It’s unpleasant for 20 seconds or so, until the water in contact with my feet warms up, and then it’s comfortable again.


A big fuss is made about the need for shoes to be waterproof, and in the middle of winter it will be essential. but this Autumn I feel fine, so far.


For years I have walked with waterproof shoes so I am in the habit of walking through deep puddles and I often experiment with their failure point and think “oups” as I feel water trickle into the shoes. With normal shoes puddles have to be several centimetres deep for water to run into the shoe. With barefoot shoes they need to be a few millimetres deep.


Waterproof Shoes Collect Mud


Although waterproof shoes are great in the rain they have one disadvantage. Their tread is excellent at collecting mud so although I have two pairs of shoes that are waterproof one is worn out and should be recycled and the other collects mud too easily and I think it’s at the limit of giving me blisters.


If I could walk in the mud I would be less exposed to cars. If I was less exposed to walking by cars I would not have stopped walking two or three of my favourite routes. The most enjoyable walking period was during 2020, when, thanks to lock down, roads were almost empty of cars.


Waterproof Shoes Dry Slower If They Get Wet


The problem with waterproof shoes is that you need to help them dry, if the interior gets wet. With non-waterproof shoes, if they get wet, you wear them until you get home and by the time you take them off, after a short drive, they will be almost dry, and by the next morning they will be fully dry.


I have got three pairs of shoes wet in recent weeks and I haven’t had to worry about drying any of them.


And Finally


I was pleasantly surprised to find that these shoes felt fine walking through the woods on a rainy day. I didn’t worry about the soles of my feet at all. I found that walking through scrub wasn’t more uncomfortable than with normal shoes. When rain falls vertically onto my shoes I don’t mind. It’s when I have to walk to the side of a path rather than straight through a puddle that I see the limitations of my barefoot shoes. In theory I could spend over one hundred and 50 francs to get waterproof barefoot shoes, but I can get normal waterproof shoes for 35 CHF. I have hiking boots for when it’s snowy and I have comfortable shoes for when it’s dry. It’s for Autumn and winter rain that I need to be responsible enough to wear cheap waterproof shoes.


At this time of year, especially on rainy days, when you’re forced to walk in the grass by cars, it makes sense to wear waterproof shoes, to keep feet comfortable and dry. If walking paths existed between villages and towns, rather than walking along the road side, I wouldn’t need waterproof shoes.


I could wear hiking boots but if I wear those, and I drag mud into the apartment building, neighbours will complain. I wear inappropriate shoes for the weather, because if they get muddy I can clean them in seconds, because we live in the age of drivers, and drivers never encounter mud.

The 298 Km Walking and Running Challenge

The 298 Km Walking and Running Challenge

Byrichard

The 298 Km walking and Running Challenge is now ten days old and I’ve managed to run or walk the required distance every day. Yesterday rather than walk I decided to run despite the rain. As a result, a pair of my hiking trousers are now nicely covered in mud. I walked through two puddles near home hoping that most of the mud would wash off the shoes and it seems to have worked.


While writing this blog post I see that I need to run at least once a week for six months to get a running pace. It’s a shame it can’t take the data from activities like Strava does. It says “as you get faster your speed goes up and your pace goes down”. My problem is not with speed or pace. It’s with technique. I’m still trying to get my knees not to suffer when I run.


I can walk and cycle without pain, but running is uncomfortable, I need to work on the quality of my stride but that’s a topic for another time.


The weather is finally better. When I checked the temperature my watch said that it’s 16°C outside, which means that my conventional walks can start taking place again. I often walk ten-kilometre loops on the roads around here.


During my walks I listen to podcasts. Today I listened to Episode two of the FIFDH series by Histoire Vivante. They have a week of interviews with those who work on this event. Today it was about the film discussions they organise, and their role, as well as the films and their impact on the world. I also listened to How Corona Closed down Italy by The Guardian.


Oscillating Between 9 to 10 Kilometres per day.


During most of this challenge, I have not been on my summer walks but rather on smaller Ingress walks. I get the appropriate amount of steps, but the workout is different. Yesterday when I ran I hardly played Ingress, in part because of the rain but also because I was focused on simply reaching my 5km goal. Today the weather would have been good for cycling but I preferred to take a rest for my legs to recover.


Pelotons


A group of cyclists
A group of cyclists


During my walk I also saw three pelotons of cyclists along a stretch of road. There is a gentle gradient on this road so it is a good taster of what other gradients have to offer later on. I’d like to cycle in a group. So far my experience of cycling has been a solitary one. It would be an interesting experience. It would be different from a critical mass or other less energetic events.


I am now 100 kilometers into my 298 Kilometre challenge with about three weeks to go. At this rate, I will achieve the goal.

From A Spanish to A Swiss Autumn
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From A Spanish to A Swiss Autumn

Byrichard

When I left for Spain Switzerland was just starting to turn Autumnal. Today, when I looked around I could see that Autumn has arrived properly in Switzerland. In Spain the sun is still warm enough for t-shirt wearing and swimming. The sun is still strong enough to change our chrominance.


Yesterday I drove for around 11 and a half hours, with just one stop to refuel. I usually stop three or four times on that route but I felt like trying to do it in a single hop. This is for two reasons.


1. We’re still in a pandemic and I want to minimise risk. The stop I made was quiet so there was little risk of being too close to others.


2. I didn’t want to leave the car unattended for too long. As I am driving alone I don’t want to leave the car alone, in case people decide to steal things, not that anything was visible.


During the drive I listened to Troy, read by Steven Fry. It is interesting, and it is revision for those who have read his other books. There are moments when I struggled to hear what they were saying, due to the sound being lower, and that cars are noisy.


During the drive I enjoyed eating Spanish honey flavoured peanuts. They are easy to eat, not too messy, and good to keep you focused and attentive. During this drive I had to be focused for twelve hours non stop. People say “oh but twitter, social media and television have destroyed people’s ability to focus. I don’t believe this is accurate. I couldn’t drive for twelve hours safely otherwise.


I did see that one car had swerved off the road, into some grass, and then bounced back. I am certain that this person was either distracted, or fell asleep and smashed into the barrier. From what I saw two or three people were standing beside the accident so I think they’re fine.


Two things make driving easier these days. Cruise control, because this gives you the chance to move your leg around, rather than keep it locked and immobile. The second is to drive at the speed limit or slightly below. When I was in France several trips ago I enjoyed driving in France at 130 kilometres per hour. I eventually found that 130 kilometres per hour, in a previous car was more tiring, and that I was comfortable with 120 kilometres per hour. So from then on I always drive at the speed limit or a speed limit that I am used to. For twelve hours the goal is endurance and comfort. I would not repeat the drive within two weeks again, especially with the change from summer to winter time. I think that such a drive is easy once, but that to be repeated it would be good to wait three to four weeks, before making the return journey, especially as a solitary driver.

A Warm Octobre

A Warm Octobre

Byrichard

This morning I saw someone walking in shorts and a t-shirt and I saw more people in t-shirts. Switzerland is currently 8°c warmer than it should be at this time of year, and drier. The sun is shining and it rarely rains. The weather is stable and sunny, every single day, for weeks or even months at a time. We had a few minutes of rain recently but no more than that.

The Swiss Weather service wrote a blog post about how hot and sunny Septembre was.

The Mont Blanc lost two meters in height and glaciers have shrunk at record levels due to the heat on one side, and the complete lack of precipitation on the other. I saw a few articles this morning about how drought is affecting hydroelectric dams. Without rainfall there is no water to pump through those generators.

I think I cycled by a water wheel that I had not seen turning for months. I cycled by, and one day I noticed that the wheel was turning. It had rained recently so the waterwheel finally had water to generate hydro-electric power. As soon as it rains that wheel can spin, and power is generated.

The wheel is in a rational place. It’s in a valley, where the sun doesn’t shine for as many hours a day, so it makes sense to let water and gravity do some work.

And Finally

As I walked I looked at some trees and you clearly see the line on trees between where the sap has stopped flowing, and where it is still flowing. It’s as if there was a water level. In effect there is. I had not noticed this before.

Lac De Divonne

Lac De Divonne

Byrichard

It’s a lake that was dug out when they built the A1 motorway. The quarry that was left behind became a lake. For a long time cars could drive around the lake.


View of the Lac De Divonne


The loop around the lake is good for walking, cycling, rollerblading and more. It is around 3.6km long and there are plenty of parking spaces beside it. If you want there is another option.


That option is the Voie Verte as it is called in France. There used to be a train line from Nyon to Divonne but it was destroyed to make way for the motorway. Some of the tracks were pulled up and it went wild.


Eventually they cut all the overgrowth, tarmaced the road, and gave it to cyclists, walkers and more. It’s a way to go from Crassier to Divonne without putting up with cars.


The advantage of this lake is that it is a flat loop. You can use it to run, cycle or rollerblade laps. You can use it to run a specific distance without having to invent a route along roadsides and more. It’s a way of working on endurance without the challenge of undulating terrain.


Aside from the lake there is a model solar system that is to a scale you can walk along. It gives you an idea of how much space is between the planets in the solar system as well as the relative size.


On the opposite side of the lake you have a reconstructed aqueduct for children to see how water was taken from Divonne to Nyon at the times of the Romans when Nyon was Julia Equestrius.


The lake is a tame simple walk that can be used for a number of things. It also has the advantage of being tarmaced. This means that even people like me can go for a walk without getting muddy shoes.

One Limitation of Electric Cars
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One Limitation of Electric Cars

Byrichard

At the moment I am doing a favour that requires me to drive the electric car over a route that takes 25 percent of the car’s battery. This means that for every time I do the favour I have to charge the car for five hours.


About the Drive


The drive from where I charge the car to home takes eight to ten percent but the drive back to charge the car takes up to 15 percent due to traffic, but also due to the climb. This climb means that for every trip to charge I have three hours of waiting. In total I have five and a half hours of waiting around for the car to charge.


Three Times in a Week


If I was charing the car once per week and waiting five hours it wouldn’t bother me, because it’s once per week. This time It’s three times. That’s fifteen hours of waiting around for the car to charge.


Walking, Running, Cycling, Blogging Etc


Of course there are plenty of things that I can do while waiting for the car to charge, like walking, running, cycling or writing this blog post. I can occupy myself and get things done whilst waiting


The Wait for Petroleum


If I think waiting five hours for a car to recharge is long I should try waiting for petrol to be ready. It takes several million years for petroleum to become what it is, and we burn it within seconds in a car. If I take biomass and wait for it to become petrol then my wait will be several million years. In contrast waiting for a solar panel to charge a car is a number of hours. 


I Still Like Electric Cars


Although it may sound as though I have fallen out of love with electric cars that is not the case. I don’t feel like waiting for another 10hrs for the car to charge, when the task that I need to do takes seconds. On Friday the favour will be over and then I can use the elctric car more economically, doing the 30 percent drive once per week, rather than three or four times per week. As I said, driving to the shops and back takes less than one percent per trip but it’s rounded up to one percent. This means that instead of burning petrol and polluting I am using a tiny amount of electric energy. 


This energy could have come from solar panels, hydroelectric dams or wind power. It’s when you drive up a mountain three times per week, and on the motorway that you deplete the battery. 


And Finally


Petrol cars need to be run every so often and mine hasn’t been run for several weeks. It makes sense to run the engine, recharge the battery and ensure that it doesn’t get depleted before I need to jump start the car. By back and forth I wil refresh the battery and the likelihood of being stranded with a dead battery will be lessened. I still care for the environment. I was even toying with the idea of dropping off the petrol car at home, and cycling back for the electric car at another time. If I do that I will tire myself, and with winter coming I could easily regret it.

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