From A to Z

No, not of the running variety sadly. The Boy, Art of Geneva and I biked from the Zurich Hauptbahnhof to the scenic town of Rapperswil 3 weeks ago. We did it "Gangsta Rapper" style of course; the Boy on a retro mint green bike, Art of Geneva in all of his 6'2" glory on a bike that was fitted for someone of a 5'4" stature and myself, of course looking fabulous in barely warm enough gear.

Let's visit the mint green bike the Boy now proudly owns. I am sure if you live in the States, particularly the deep south, you have witnessed the "Real Men Love Jesus" bumper sticker. Here, I am thinking about making a "Real Men Ride Mint Green Bikes" sticker. The bike is pretty rad, however it has been pointed out in jest that it is a woman's bike. The Boy pulls it off though, in style, without impacting his manhood in the slightest.

Coincidentally "bike" is "Fahrrad" in Deutsch. We purchased our rad "Fahrrads" at an outdoor used bike sale in Zurich 2 months ago. There were hundreds, if not thousands of bikes to choose from and if you ever observed what new bikes cost in Switzerland, you leave feeling like you just pulled one over on Switzerland. "Pssst, Switzerland...guess what? I just made a reasonable purchase. Whatchoo going to do about that??? Oh, you are going to charge me 100 francs for a Turkey, ok then...you win" It is still a small consumer victory and I encourage anyone in the market for a bike, especially a street bike, to find one of these bike fairs. In addition to scoring a bike, you can get all your gear, bike registration and tune ups done in one of the many kiosks framing the fair. It really is a one stop shop.

Rapperswil is located 35 km southeast of Zurich on the Zurichsee and hosts a cute town centre (um, of course) and a castle and giant examples of poor dental work and/or hygiene:

Is it me or doesn't this outdoor fireplace at the foot of steps leading to a castle remind you of some shady dental work? Oh, and it isn't often a sentence consists of "outdoor fireplace at the foot of steps leading to a castle". Oh Europe, you are so complex and magical.

35 km works out to be roughly 21 miles for my American readers. For folks like ourselves whose longest bike ride to date may have been 10 miles, this was challenging although fortunately for us, mostly flat. The ride skirted the Zurichsee which lent to its flat gradient. The road we rode on was rather busy, we were passed by roughly 20 serious bikers, but we refused to let the 9 year old boy, who was gaining on us, pass us. Again, small victories are still victories.

We of course visited the Castle of Rapperswil which is one of its main sites. It was indeed a nice castle however I thought the views from the castle were its greatest asset:

The views seem to inspire the Boy and Art of Geneva into thought provoking conversation. My best guess is they were discussing Nieztsche and the Existentialist Movement or Bratwurst. My money is on Bratwurst:

We ended our day at a Swiss cafe, each enjoying a piping hot bowl of Aelplermagronen and a light beer. Aelplermagronen is the Swiss version of mac and cheese, complete with macaroni, potatoes, cheese sauce, crunchy onions and a side of apple sauce. Art of Geneva said he has had better versions, but after biking 21 miles we all agreed it hit the spot.

After our Swiss lunch we gathered ourselves, our gear and our inflated bike egos, and then headed to the train station where we trained it back to Zurich. Biking 21 miles to nowhere is not nearly as tantalizing as biking to an actual destination. Rapperswil was a beautiful destination spot and proved to be the perfect end to a wonderful day.