The Daily Walk Re-Routed

Reading Time: 4 minutesA year or two ago there were road works along a bit of road. Now the road works are back, on the same bit of road. Due to it being spring, and due to rain being quite enthusiastic this year, the route (pronounced root, not grout), is impassible. It’s not impassible because of mud, but because of long grass. In the past I would have walked through the long grass to get from A to B, or I would have walked along the river side walk, but because I wear different shoes than before, and because I don’t want ticks, I no longer walk that route until the works are finished.

My frustration with these works is that they’re working on providing better drainage for a road that already has a fallow field and trees to the side. Water has a river, and fields to drain into so drainage is not essential. What is essential is a safe path for people to walk and cycle. In this area rainwater has more rights than pedestrians and cyclists.

You don’t encourage people to walk if there are no safe walking paths between villages.

I also tried a proof of concept ride yesterday, with the electric foot scooter. I went to recycle PET bottles using secondary roads that are for agriculture, rather than normal traffic. They’re in an awful state. One of the paths as degraded due to hundreds of trucks filled with gravel rolling along. The concrete that had been quite fresh is now ruined, so riding a foot scooter along that route is now likely to destroy the wheel connector. I can roll along the path but the lifespan between services will be greatly diminished as a result of this.

## The Silver Lining

There is silver lining. The first one is that although I can go to the recycling centre for my village, if I am cheeky I can go to the ones that are permanently open, at Portes De Nyon or two or three other places. The other silver lining is that I found James Bond books at one of the lending library so I took them all. I know that I have read most so my aim is to confirm that I have read the books I have read, and then spread the books I have read, among various lending libraries during walks.

If it wasn’t for the road works then I would be walking into the countryside rather than towards, but not into the centre of Nyon. Thanks to the road works I picked up two or three language dictionaries and the James Bond books.

The road works should last for another week or two, and then I can return to the route I walk daily. It’s the last route that I have for walking. Every other walk has become too toxic and unsafe for me to walk along.

It would be interesting to see how previous generations feel about walking paths becoming more and more unfriendly to pedestrians. I really do think that farm roads should enforce that only agricultural vehicles are allowed, because if they don’t, then we need to become part of the problem, by getting into cars, to enjoy our daily walks.

## The Half Fare

As I write this blog post I am very seriously considering getting the swiss half fare again. I see that every trip I do costs about 58 CHF. If I had the half fare I would pay half of that price. The other advantage is that if I have the half fare then I could gain a lot of freedom with my walks.

Instead of walking around in big loops around the villages nearby I could range further and do linear walks, for pleasure. I could do the Toblerone walk, for example, starting in Arzier and finishing in Nyon. I could also walk from home to Coppet and catch the train back.

## No Busy Roads

One of the most alluring aspects to taking the train is that I don’t need to think about parking, and logistics do become simplified. If I don’t drive then I don’t need to think about how to get back to the car. I also don’t have to worry about traffic on the A1 around Morges or other places. It also gives me a chance to converse with people on the way to and from events. For loop walks the car makes sense, but for linear walks it makes sense to take public transport.

## The Social Aspect

One of the reasons for which I am tempted to take the train for group activities, rather than the car is social. When people go by car we often stop for a drink before driving home, but with trains we have a tendency to run onto the train and whoever came by car is left behind. Having this experience twice was enough for me to consider the train. That, along with complex logistics.

## And Finally

Growing tired of local walks, after six years of walking the same paths almost every day is natural. It’s good that I want to range, once more, and explore new places. I bought the half fare ticket while writing this blog post. The half fare train ticket makes the cost of taking the train comparable to taking the car, so it makes the car rational, when travelling along routes where the train is comparable to the car.

If people do not stop for a post hike drink, then I am happy to head to a hike, and back, on a train.

The half fare costs 190 CHF and if we assume that we save 30 CHF per trip by using the half fare then it is amortised within 6.3 hikes, so it is amortised within six to seven weeks.

Time to explore new walks.