Walking

Walking from one Valley to Another

Sometimes when we go for a hike we walk along a route that makes getting back to the car quick and easy. For tomorrow’s walking getting back to the car would take three trains and more than an hour. For Londoners this is a familiar routing situation, but for people in Switzerland it might not be. When I was looking at the route I found that the best place to park might be near Cossonay and another town.

Walking with Others

Yesterday I walked from Vevey to villeneuve with a stop in the castle for a visit before taking the train home. In the process we walked about fifteen kilometres along the lake. This was an easy pace for me. It was slow enough for my heart rate to be at seventy eight beats per minute, while walking, rather than over a hundred when I walk at my pace. For me this was a stroll but I thought I could hear the others short of breath.

The Desire to Participate

I saw that there is a hike taking place nearby. I would have really liked to join it but I would have been participant eleven with a limit of ten people. I wanted to participate because it would have required walking to Nyon, and taking the train de St Cergue to St Cergue and then walking for a few hours, before taking the train back down and walking home. Both my carbon footprint and my travel time would have been small and the environment would have benefited.

The Kindness of Drivers

Recently I have been walking and running into and out of Nyon and in the process I have had to cross busy roads regularly and what has struck me recently, especially when running is that people stop to let me cross the road, even when they don’t need to. I really appreciate this. When you cycle and walk between villages cars skim you, fast and close, and after several years of it I grew tired of it so I shifted to walking towards Nyon, along pavements, and avoiding busy roads when I could.

Incline Walking for People in a Flat Country

Today I followed a link where a writer wrote “My every-other-day workout is walking three miles, fast, on a high incline on the treadmill—often times with hand weights too.” and I find it amusing. It’s amusing because in Switzerland, and especially in the old town of Geneva, Nyon, Lausanne, Neuchatel, Fribourg and other towns it is impossible to go for a walk without having a steep climb or a steep descent.

Self Driving Cars and Mobility

Today I filled in a survey with the premise “Impact of automated vehicles on walking” and it gave me an opportunity to share my views on this topic. The short version is that I’d rather see more bike sharing opportunities, and more safe routes for pedestrians between villages and towns, than self driving cars. The reason for this is simple. It takes a few seconds to unlock a publibike, six minutes to get to Nyon Station, and then catch a train.

A Two and a Half Hour Walk

Yesterday afternoon I was convinced that I would have a short easy walk, just to get out of the house. In reality I walked from Nyon to Bonmont and back along roads, but also farm paths. I walked this route because I decided that going for a walk would keep me cooler than if I stayed in my apartment. At first it was going to be a short loop, but eventually I thought “If I walk slowly it doesn’t matter how long I walk for so I modified my course and walked towards Cheserex.

Walking to La Grotte aux Fées and Bisons

It’s good to browse Komoot because sometimes you find nice hikes to enjoy. Today I drove towards Vallorbe and specifically Juraparc. Juraparc is a park with bisons, wolves, alpacas, goats and bears. I saw the goats, the alpacas, the bison and deer. I didn’t look for the bears and wolves. The hike itself is quite short but it starts with an “alpine” section that almost a scramble. It may feel dangerous to proceed beyond this point but in reality the more challenging part is quite short.

By Train or By Car

For many years I could go to work by car so I did, because I had a parking. When I worked for other employers I took the train for a simple reason. Parking near work would cost 36 CHF per day whereas taking the train would cost about 14.50 CHF per day. I stopped using the car to commute for a simple reason, the cost of parking 20min just had an article about how the Swiss are bad at leaving the car at home, to replace it by the car, and for me there are two reasons.

A Reminder of Why I Stopped Using the Garmin Watch

Yesterday I was reminded of why I stopped wearing the Garmin watch, replacing it with Casio watches instead. It’s because Garmin, Suunto and Xiaomi don’t count walking as real sport. Imagine, you’re wearing a watch twenty four hours a day, seven days a week, every day, and charging it every month with the Garmin Instinct, and every few days with the other devices, and you see the absurdity of certain trackers.