Verbier wknd...

Fellow ranchers...Gimondi and Eazy-e and Riderchiche do not feel quite ready yet...too many Zurich sausages for Eazy-e and no climbing training for Riderchiche brought the pair to the slopes around Verbier for a weekend of soul searching and plain old training.

Riderchiche lands in Zurich airport and secures a very respectable Focus Estate that fits comfortably the two ranchers and the bike. Eazy-e shows up rather late and off they go on the road...

...surprised during the trip learning that Eazy had forgotten the pump (after three reminders, the last one of which after he had left his house)...at least he provided the pair with everything that his refridgerator had (top-quality cheeses, eggs, hard bread, strawberries, butter, fungus-infested broccoli and other delicacies that would be devoured over the weekend). Arrived in the chalet within 3 hours of departure and off they went to get a plate of pasta before going to bed to rest for the night (clean living = no drinking or partying --more on this later)...

Saturday was nice and sunny, not too cold for this time of the year. The day started with a classic egg and bread breakfast and the ranchers were ready to go (or I should say ready to try and find a pump!). The ride took them down from Verbier, up to Champex Lac, down again and up to La Fouly before heading back to Verbier...after over 3:30 hours the un-trained Ranchers decided to leave the Verbier climb for Sunday and headed back up in the gondola...

Saturday Ride stats:

3:39:19

73.67km

141 avg heart rate (min 66 - max 179)

ascent 1,785m

2939 calories burned

downhill: chilly

uphill: sweaty

Upon reching the top, smell directed them to the rotisserie where a small-sized roasted chicken was waiting for them. Chicken and pasta for dinner and the tired pair went to bed early to rest the muscles...

Sunday morning showed a slightly more cloudy day but still a very nice day. RiderHowe had mentioned the night before that he was in town and definitely up for a ride. At ca. 10am a coughing voice answers Eazy-e's call and asks for a 60-minute delay (later extended another 15) in start time so he could be ready...the reason: a 4:30 bedtime after a night of Vodka-Red Bull...




...now the three Ranchers were ready to go...off again down the Verbier slope and immediately across to head to Fionnay...the Ranchers found a very nice pace and were cruising graciously up the slopes of a scenic detour up until a roadblock threatened to halt their way. Where many others would simply turn around, ranchers stay strong....bikes on the shoulder to make their way...

...unfortunately the roadblock did become "blocking" and the ranchers had to turn around (but not before trying!)...

...so it wasdown the 4 or so km we had already climbed and up again to Fionnay on the regular tunneled climb that would take us even higher than when we started in Verbier...down again to the base and, after a quick good bye to Howe who chose the gondola, Eazy-e and Chiche took on the 8.5km climb to Verbier holding a not-very-fast-but-steady pace all along to clock a just-under-1-hour split; after 51 minutes or so the ranchers saw a familiar face flying down the hill: yes, Lonewolf said "present" to this Ranch weekend and was heading to do the same ride after skiing with the little ones in the morning (nice life, huh?)...

Sunday ride stats

2:57:17
45.61km
147 avg heart rate (min 74 - max 177)
ascent 1590m
2762 calories burned
downhill: chilly
uphill: sweaty

...riderHowe was showered and sporting a very "mountain" shirt by the time Eazy-e and Chiche made it back to the flat and they all shared chicken leftovers with some freshly made pasta...later a bit of chilling in the afternoon before heading back to Zurich in the evening...Chiche woke up at 5 to catch the 7am flight back to London and Monday was just another day in the office, or is it?