Day 5: 14 July 2010

After a great sleep it’s always welcoming to see the sun and hit the road bright and early. So I did. Good to their word, the old couple from the Netherlands were up and away at 5am and so for the next hour I contented myself with broken sleep. By 7am I was packed, a quick breakfast and then sit around and wait for the slowest, smallest most expensive coffee in the world. Almost 3euro for something I’d give to a child. Ah well, it was warm and refreshing. I updated the video diary I’ve been doing over the past few days and then I was off. The sad thing was that through some of the best riding that I have had so far the video camera has not worked and after an hour this evening, it seems that it really doesn’t want to work anymore. It may be the charging unit, but whatever it is, it’s getting so that there are more downs than ups. Every day something is a challenge. What more can I say...
I rode through the mountains of Switzerland and experienced a dry heat I’ve never had before. I’ve been to America and Egypt, Egypt where you’d really expect it, but nothing like this. As you exit a tunnel there it is waiting for you. With the decision made, I rode for Geneva and a cultural centre of Europe, I rode past the United Nations building, but there is nowhere to stop as it is situated by a set of traffic-lights and with the treats of bombings over the past few years, they won’t let you park within 500km of the building without a permit or reason, and a photo is not a reason. That is the one thing I have noted all over Europe thus far; the absence of police, anywhere. Thus far (with the exception of the UN Building), I have seen just 3 officers and that was at a roadside accident in the hills. They all stood, drank their coffee took the occasional photo and chatted. There didn’t seem to be much in the way of crime fighting going on, but I bet the coffee was good.
As I neared the French border I rode through a tunnel which takes you down inside a mountain, for those that have seen Lord of the Rings, all I could think was... ‘You shall not pass.’ It was 3.3km long and had a smooth bend to the left as it ran and the wind rushed up the tunnel to meet you, the cold rock-face cooling the wind as it rose. Truly, truly assume.
I never knew that the French side of the mountains, were as fantastic to see as those on the Swiss side, same mountains I guess, you just don’t think of it in that way...
Still the scenery looked like it had come off a chocolate box (your mum will know what I mean kids) and through all the gritted teeth of the camera not working, it was still assume. If this journey has been an experience of culture then that has really happened. I have seen things and places that were as I had imagined, and yet I have also been regretful of people’s lack of love for the history of their own cultural past. So much has been destroyed, modernised, or discarded, that one city begins to look no different from any other. It’s only out in the valleys and the villages that anything seems to remain, and that is a shame. As much as a ride for charity, the ride is also about learning and experience, and just a bloody good ride, but something else should be there and the only thing that I seem to miss as I ride is the history.
I rode from Geneva to Lyon and on the way saw some wonderful scenery, Lyon itself is a beautiful place, with many old building which line the river down to the port, yet behind this scenic view (one street back) rears the ugly head of capitalism and poverty, modernity and change. I see nothing wrong in any of those things, except when it strips the things we can learn the most from... our past. Still the chateau stands on the hillside as it has for centuries and shins across the sunlit city.
Tomorrow beckons and I ride for the south coast, Monaco, Marseille, Nice and to Perpignan. Well that’s the next couple of days covered, after that, we’ll have to wait and see...

I know there are no photo's but for whatever reason, this campsite has a server that kicks you out if you want to upload photo's to the net... Not annoying at all. Anyway, tomorrow...