Apertif des Paul

Well, I have been silent until now. The trip was uneventful. Got to the flight on time and boarded only to remember never to fly Swiss again. I think the Swiss must be a small people, ( Rodger Federer and Fabian Cancellara seem normal size, but they probably don't fly swiss) but it was good practice for the tuck position on the bike. Our guide Bruno picked us up at the airport and delivered us to the hotel at the start of the event; part shopping mall complete with the biggest indoor climbing wall I have ever seen, part water park, and part bizarre as it all sits in an agricultural suburb of Geneva. Very strange but comfy enough. Met a couple of nice Quebecois boys and latched on-built in translators. ( turns out those French have a different word for everything). A night on the town in Geneva then back for a well earned kip.
Saturday we reassembled the bikes in a Walmart sized parking lot. Pretty smooth until I found that the master link on my chain was missing. A quick drive to the local bike shop and back in business. We took a short warm up ride to the base of the first climb of the event: started up the 13% slopes and came to our senses. We got the idea and wisely turned around and went looking for lunch-not an easy task at 2 pm when everything closes for the afternoon. A lousy sandwich from the local grocery and then an afternoon at the water park reading in the sun, watching the French dance to remakes of techno music in French.