Biiiiiicycle, biiiiiiicycle
When it came time to decide whether or not to bring certain things to Europe from Australia, I was ruthless about most of my possessions. The idea of being free of a good proportion of my belongings was attractive, and cleansing, and I went into it full throttle. But two of the hardest things to decide what to do with were my two bikes. The first, my beloved cross-country-made-commuter, was about as loyal as a piece of metal can possibly be. For many years it was my primary form of transport, and rain or shine it got me where I wanted to go. The second bike was an absolutely gorgeous machine I saw in a shop window, fell head over heels for, researched, test rode, bought, and adored. To my shame - and, yes, a certain thrill - it was the more beautiful and far less practical of my two bikes that I brought with me to Europe.
From Australia to the streets of Europe.
To call this bike impractical is to do it a disservice, because it's actually just great in almost all circumstances. It is phenomenal to ride. It is very fast, very comfortable, precise and agile. I ride it as a single speed and the simplicity is beautiful. Over the winter it sat in the basement and waited for the spring, and over this last weekend I finally got it out, put it back together, and took it for a spin.
Of course it is absolutely not a coincidence that this weekend was also the weekend that Tanya bought a bike!
We rode to the lake, then along towards Vevey and Montreux. We passed through Pully and Lutry, where we stopped for a refreshing crepe. During the ride it occurred to me suddenly that I feel more like I live here in Switzerland now that Tanya and I are able to jump on bikes and ride somewhere. How strange to feel more at home because of bikes. But there it is - unmistakable. Each corner we got to we wanted to see what was around the next one, and we ended up in the vineyards of the Lavaux wine region.
One thing to note is that Lausanne is not exactly a flat city. It is on the steep banks of Lac Léman and it is fascinatingly multi-levelled, which I suspect makes it a challenge on any bike. Certainly the first few (read: many) times I ride around Lausanne on my single speed it's going to break me like a twig in the wind. Out on the hills in the wine terraces I think I approached a rock-climbing-style "pump" in my legs. That hasn't happened before. That being said, this ride did prove that I can happily ride a single speed around in Lausanne if I'm happy to push a bit harder on the hills, and perhaps walk up the particularly steep ones. The absolute joy of the simple, beautiful, fast bike remains. And that will be the way it is, until I get my hands on a more practical but less beautiful machine, and who knows when that will happen.
