Thursday, September 4, 2008

Swiss Break Time

From Life through a Lens

After 2o hours of riding, a day of rest was on the agenda at Camp Hillseekers. Thank goodness!
We were all ready for some serious refueling.
From Life through a Lens

We haven't consumed near enough chocolate in the past few days to make up for all the climbing that has taken place. While Raja raided the stores to stock up on the goods,
From Life through a Lens

Frau Buggy and I got serious with some stretching.
From Life through a Lens

Poor Herr Gustav was not as lucky as we were today. He had to gussy up and get all serious in a different sort of way.
From Life through a Lens

"Bye Papa. Have fun at the coal mines." Somebody's got to pay for this expensive Swiss training camp! (Jeff has true banker's hours. He sauntered out the door at 9ish)
From Life through a Lens

But he doesn't use the typical banker's mode of transportation to get to work. Sometimes he uses the car, sometimes the bike, and sometimes the kayak. Yes, it has its own parking space at home and even at the office. (He paddled to work last Friday, and usually at least once a week)
From Life through a Lens

With a riding schedule like we've had, a rest day is essential. But it's awful hard to do when in a gorgeous place and the weather is perfect. So it helped that today was cloudy and we didn't have to feel too guilty.
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Raja is taking precautions with his delicate knees and using one of Jeff's disco anti-inflammatory wraps. Surely if Jeff can run 6 days through the Sahara desert and recover using these, then Raja can too.
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I have been diligent on this trip to take ice baths after every ride. In Meiringen, the water was so stinkin' cold, that it felt like you were in one of the glaciers we rode by earlier. There's no need for ice. Check out the lovely tile in this bathroom of our hotel;-) At least we had a bath tub. That's highly unusual for a smaller hotel in Europe. I also lucked out in our hotel in Bulle with a tub!
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This hotel was hilarious. I was especially fond of our duvet covers! hehehehe
Kind of fitting for me I suppose, seeing as how I always act like a silly little girl.
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While I'm posting pictures of bathrooms; I had a fit over this one at one of our gas station stops. I want a chandelier in my bathroom! Hmmm, toilet and chandelier, goes together like peanut butter and chocolate.
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Jeff has his own version of my Janusz where he gets weekly massages. Emma was leaving for Africa today, but was kind enough to fit us in for a work over.
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I thought it was so cool to find out that Emma is also a dancer, and toured in Italy in Notre Dame de Paris. She too has performed in Germany and has a friend that dances in the Hamburg Ballet where Janusz was once a principal dancer.
Coincidence? I think not!
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I don't know what it is about those dancers, but they have hands of steel and can work you over good. Becky and I both felt like new people after an hour of Swiss "torture", the good kind!
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I didn't stop there though. Once we got back home, I took another ice cold bath to keep the acid flushed out. Gotta get ready for some more riding!
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After a couple phone calls, I got us a hotel lined up in Castelrotto in the Dolomites. Tomorrow we head to northern Italy for a few days.
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Hopefully by the end of camp, I will have earned my Bad Arse Calves badge (and these are just the girls calves, if you're a girl like Kate).
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Even rest days are fun at Camp Hillseeker! Tomorrow we're heading over to Italia to the Dolomites to hopefully find some more epic adventures. Last year we never could get on the internet in Italy, so I may be silent through the weekend. But it doesn't mean we're not thinking of ya!

Wishing all you happy campers out there a great day!
From Life through a Lens

4 comments:

Al said...

ACK!

CG in bed, CG in the bathtub, CG gettin a rubdown, I feel all dirty. Please don't tell Raja I saw these!

al.

Becky said...

You have been good campers! Keep working on your "happy camper" song and you just might earn another badge to add to your sash ;)

Looking forward to more adventures with you both this weekend!

Becky said...

I was asked to post this comment for Jeff's aunt if possible:
"Absolutely AMAZING photos and adventures!!! Your comments that there are no words to adequately convey how beautiful the scenery is are right on. I'm Jeff's aunt and my husband and I were there with Jeff's parents right before you all arrived. While our activities were quite different than yours, we also had an unbelievably wonderful time. Buggy and Gustav are the ultimate hosts! Thanks for sharing your visit and photos!!! Thelma Wells"

Blair said...

What a wonderful journey. Keep the beautiful pics coming CG. It helps me escape from the office...