Training Log Archive: Torino

Forgot to record the end.

Jog/hiking my favorite loop but still don't feel up to par (still bone tired somehow), but being out and up high felt good. At one point where I needed to cross a fence a cow was lying right where my food would have come down. And there was a whole herd of cows resting so I did a far-out detour and it took me some time to find back on the trace of trail again. Missed Urs on top of Mt.Racine so I found him down at La Sagneule nursing a beer.
Cows up there are always a bother and they warn people from mother cows with their calves. And cows are so curious wanting to check you out or start running with you. I'm starting to become paranoid about them. My whole life I was never bothered by them, but I think the cows are wilder where we live.
A beautiful day out.

Ride in drizzling shower up to Sandra's house to check on things after strong thunderstorms and some hail. But everything was ok. In the kitchen where they left a coccon (they had fed a caterpillar until it wound itself into a cocoon) and I was sure that it had died as it looked so lifeless these past 10 days, I found a beautiful butterfly!! Wow, I never experienced such a wonderful transformation from a hungry caterpillar to a lifeless, grey cacoon to a big, beautiful butterfly. I coaked it outside of its vlies cage but it didn't want to or was too dazed or something. Eventually, I turned the cage around and put a small stick close to it which he then grabbed. I gingerly lifted him out and set him in the grass. I guess it needed to discover its wings as it didn't know what to do but could finally close the wings bc of the constant drizzle. I then carried him over under a fern so he was more protected (I hope) and left some carrot greens under his nose in case it wanted to eat. Now, I didn't know what else to do, so I left it and hope that his life will take its course. Such a beautiful creature.
Then I biked back home kind of cold. What a difference after our heat wave.

Exploratory jog near Haute Nendaz. In mid-morning I felt my bone-deep tiredness creep up again, so the best against it was either a nap or getting some oxygen into my system. And Urs kicked me out the door, in fact we walked together to the center of town, then we split at I checked out the statue trail but as it was too short, I continued on a trail along a very steep slope in the woods which then turned in an arch back and steeply down to merge again with the little road I started out on. So I finished the little trail and when Urs called I headed over the hill into the town to the coffee place he waited.

In town there were festivities for a alpine horn gathering with lots of groups in costumes and music everywhere (Swiss folk music and yodeling).

Then, in the afternoon we headed to Vevey as we had tickets for that night's "Les Fêtes des vignerons" a huge celebration of winemakers which happens only every 20-25 years. The stage they constructed could seat 20'000 people and over 1500 lay people are performing an incredible, colorful spectacle of 2 1/2 hours. But it was cancelled for tonight and postponed for next Saturday over lunch due to looming thunderstorms. The last 2 nights had been kind of touchy with one complete evacuation on Thursday evening due to lightning and pouring rain. We were disappointed, of course, but better to know ahead of time and readjust than to come and have to go home in the middle of the show.
So we still went to Vevey and spent 3 hours (rainless) being on the busy promenade along the lake with tons of food stands, wine drinking (of course), fun, music and marching bands. The downtown of Vevey was also full of people and tons of restaurants tending to people's appetite and thirst.

Hike above Haute Nendaz first on panoramic trail with Hedwige, then only Urs and I up to Dent de Nendaz then following the very rocky crest and then steeply down. It didn't record the end which added about another 2 1/2 km and 150 m climb.
We escaped the heatwave at home to be a little higher up. But now thunderstorms are moving in and will bring some rain and cooling off to Switzerland and I guess to the rest of Europe.