Sunday

This was day three of my training camp with coach Tim. We both awoke sore and creaky and excited. Saturday there were unbelievable conditions up at La Vattay, and the place was jammed with all sort of people. I skied about 20kms with "le maitre" circling around and doubling up most of the climbs.

Today I felt a bit better. I'm acclimated to the altitude and the legs are starting to come around. There's a lot of minute technique involved in skating, and watching the smoothness and grace of the locals who have no doubt been on snow since birth is awe inspiring! I think: "relax, glide on the heel, stand up, flex the knee, relax, power out, bend the knee, relax, strong arms, glide on the heel, relax". I'm sure the locals aren't thinking, just skiing!

Today we tackled Le Noire de Divonne, an 18.5km loop that descends way too far down the Divonne side of the Jura and then up for 5 minutes, then down for a bit, then some false flat, then climb for a solid 10 - 12 minutes. I came out with about 25kms this morning: Well on the way to my goal of a 30km ski.

Now to get it to look easy....

The Spire of Cathedral St Pierre

This afternoon, we drove Tim into Geneve to his next meetings, and Meg, Kenzie, Sue and I had a wander into some uncharted territory. We circled the old city for a bit, ran into the Grande Theatre, and Conservatoire and the Wall of the Reformers, then up into the winding streets of la Vielle Ville, past the cathedral and back down to the river. It was a nice little tour!


There are lots of private banks in Geneve.

What the.....