Bicycle!

This morning I set off in search of a tube for the bicycle pump that I found here so I could pump up my tires...but I didn't get very far. I found a bike repair shop that didn't have anything that worked, but offered to pump up my tires for me. They also recommended that I do it weekly, and that it's worth the investment to buy my own pump. They could order me one, for about 85 CHF...I'm going to shop around a bit first. But for the record, 100 psi = 7 bar (their unit of measurement).

There are quite a number of festivals going on. In Carouge (a small town that borders Geneva, where I live) there was the "braderie de Carouge" which is basically a massive city-wide garage sale. I picked myself up a nice bike for everyday use (ie I won't cry too hard if it's stolen) for 75 CHF. I circled in front of their stand a few times before I worked up the courage to talk to them and try out the bike. It was actually marked for sale at 100 CHF but I only had 75 on me (for real - it wasn't a negotiating tactic!) and they were ok with that. It's a pretty good price for the bike - used bikes can easily run 200 CHF around here. Yup, Switzerland is expensive.

Another festival is the "fete de sport". One of the local cycling clubs organized a 20km. They went at a very relaxed pace and it was very nice going through the countryside. There were only 9 of us in total and everyone was very nice. One lady was very excited that I was Canadian because her daughter (who is 26) is somehow very taken with Canada...so after the ride we passed by where her daughter works (really close to where I live) and she was like "Look! I found a Canadian!". The lady actually lives practically across the street from me (what a coincidence!) and was really really nice. Here's a map of today's route...somehow it doesn't display all of it...we actually make a complete circle (use your imagination):


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