Three Days on the #5

I rode off on Friday morning on what was to be my last bike tour of the season. It's not often I have a three day weekend, and even less often that the weather forecast is agreeable. Mind you, not many people would consider highs of 10°C 'agreeable' for a bike tour, but I digress. It was perfect and just required a few extra layers of clothing.

I went west along a familiar route towards Zürich, and got onto the #5 Mittelland Route near Uzwil that continues another 350km to Lausanne. I traveled this route during the 2005 Tour de Schwiiz, but this time only wanted to get as far as Neuchâtel. The morning fog muted the fall colours, but were warmed by my rose tinted sunglasses. It's strange wearing these sunglasses since they look like something you'd find at the Zürich Street Parade, which is definitely not my scene. Being Friday on a cool day, it was hardly surprising that the trails were so empty. I had the most peaceful ride through the forests with only the sound of the wind and the leaves crunching under my tires.

A small aside here, so bear with me. Last month in Canada I had my eyes corrected with LASIK eye surgery. There is also LASEK eye surgery, which I learned after the procedure is not a typo of LASIK. It's a different procedure. I knew it had to be cheaper in Canada than in Switzerland, which is one of the reasons I had it done over there. My prescription wasn't strong and some people asked, 'Why bother?' My vision was blurry enough to annoy me when I went hiking or cycling, and I didn't like having my glasses fog up whenever I walked inside from the cold. The procedure went very quickly, and more time was spent in the waiting room and having tests done. After an uncomfortable 15 hours with plastic shields over my eyes, I left the clinic with 20/20 vision. Simply stated: Wow! The worst side effect was not being allowed to do any sports for two weeks.

Those two weeks of no sports got extended a few more weeks due to a bad cold. Come to think about it, I think I had two colds. This bike trip was my first outing since the eye surgery, and the first chance to test them for the very reason I got them done. Everything I saw became an eye chart: I looked at signs as I approached them and looked for the moment I could identify the word or letters. What an improvement! The landscape looked glorious and I could see the defining shape of each autumn leaf. It's exactly what I wanted and hoped for. It astounding to me that a few minutes under a high precision laser can rid me of glasses and make such a minute but wonderful change to my vision. And the cost of LASIK in Switzerland? Double.

I rolled into Baden shortly before sunset and checked into the Linde Hotel. I've seen the world 'Linde' used all over the place but never knew what it meant, until today. It means lime tree, which explains the apparent abundance of lime trees on the Under den Linden boulevard in Berlin. I'll need to take a closer look the next time I'm there. Anyway, I stayed the night at the Lime Tree Hotel and payed more than I should have. My choices were limited with Baden's crappy selection of hotels, and I was too lazy to double back to the Youth Hostel. I had supper and a few beer at the Pickwick's pub, and crashed early for the night. I hoped the breakfast buffet the next morning would make up for the cost, but that was also a disappointment.

The next morning I left Baden with the goal of reaching Nidau (near Biel). I had some pains in my left knee reminiscent of the pains I had last year. The day before I had modified the position of my new Brooks bicycle seat, and wonder if that could have played a role. That, or perhaps it came from not biking for five weeks? Either way, the pain subsided after a few kilometers and I made it to Nidau. There I stayed at the Lago Lodge bistro, brewery, and backpackers, which I also stayed in a few years ago. Supper was delicious, and the beer even better.

I would have slept well had the guy on the top bunk not kept turning and snoring all night. He was originally on another bed in the room, but switched to the top bunk after another guy took the bed immediately next to his. Homophobic, perhaps? I couldn't wait until morning and was relieved when it was.

I continued a short distance to Neuchâtel and caught a direct train to St. Gallen. Direct connections are the best since you can doze off without care until you get home. I enjoyed retracing the tour I did in 2005, and reliving some of the memories of that trip. It helped clear my head after all that has happened these last few months. I'm sad the bike season is over, but am looking forward to winter.