Bike, chill, bike, chill, Moscow, chill....May in Euroland!

So with the snow finally melting and temps rising biking season is upon us. This past weekend was a long one in CH and we planned to make the most of it. Temps had been in the 20c+ all week and Saturday turned out to be a nice one for the annual Tour Du Lac. The tour started 15 years ago by this guy Bill (an yes those are panties and yes he is a teacher):

The tour is essentially a bike riding/eating/drinking/getting together with friends 3 day ride around Lac Leman. This year KK and I decided to do one leg which was from Lausanne to Geneva (60KM). We meet the merry Tour crew at the hostel in Lausanne and we were off down the lac for our ride. There was about 20+ of us riding at a variety of levels. KK and I were on road bikes, so the pass of the tour was a little slow but we had a great time. The start:

In Morges:



..a little water break:

On the way we stopped at a local vineyard for some wine and food. The owner was nice enough to even give a tour. He actually is not open for the season yet but the tour has been coming here of many years:




After a very leisurely 60KM ride we were in Geneva. KK and I said goodbye to the crew and headed back to Carouge. That night we met up with Pedro and has a few cocktails at La Terrasse on the lac.

Sunday turned into a very relaxing day. We talked about going skiing, but is was going to be 25c. KK and I went to the local pool in Carouge and had a nice after of swimming and reading. Later in the day Peter, KK, and I headed to Jays for a BBQ. As alwyas Jen and Jay put up a nice spread. We returned to Geneva around 11 and got ready for the first day of DH.

Monday came and Peter picked me up around 7:30AM. Another perfect day blessed us and we were of to Metbief a small ski/bike area in the Jura range. We met up with Jay and Tom for the first DH trip of the season. The day was perfect with all of us having a great shaking off the rust and transitioning to the bike season:

The boys!



View:

G:

The day ended with a little fall for moi after a very good day that left me with the biggest bruise on my side:

...but after a visit to the doc it is just a bruise (Mom I bought some better pads to protect my side :-) Overall a great start to the season!

Teusday it was back to work, but Wednesday I left for Russia. This was my first time every to Russia and Moscow. After a 3+ hour flight I arrived in Moscow, bruise and all for 2 days a meetings. In between the meetings I was able to see some of the city which is right out of my Social Studies books in high school. Taking the train to Red Square:








I didn't get to see a ton of the city, but it is a crazy mix of old buildings, Soviet-era trains/cars/etc, and modern western capitalism. Very cool and hope to get back there someday soon.

As always life has been a little hectic. This weekend we went to Annecy on Saturday and are going to stay in Carouge today. More to come! -G