Anything to do with adrenalin

I am constantly in awe of the adventure possibilities here in Zurich. To be able to bike up a hill (Uetliberg, 871mtrs) in the Albis mountain range from your doorstep in the city and look around, surrounded by the Swiss Alpes, is special. For the last week, I’ve been running and biking around the Albishorn and Uetliberg which overlooks Zurich, from the west. Initially, I wasn’t sure if biking would be possible, as there is a lot of icy snow on the ground, but yesterday we attempted an attack on Mt Uetliberg and to our surprise, it was a success!
A tough ascent from Wiedikon, a suburban area of Zurich, we climbed the 800 metre high Uetliberg pretty fast, despite the shocking gradient (today we ascended from a more forgiving northerly approach) The mountain was a hive of activity with sleds whizzing down at an almost unavoidable speed. I had an encounter with an out of control sled which knocked me off my bike!
The easiest way up Uetliberg is the tram which shuttles tourists and locals to the top of the mountain, where the view of Zurich and the snow covered Säntis massif is breath taking. One can also grab a coffee and something to eat at the restaurant on the top, or the little bistro. I tried a Mandelsomethingorother on the top, which was delicious and then we started the single track descent. Oh boy, its quite difficult, the only comfort is the knowledge that if you fall, you land on snow. Its hard to predict whats going to happen when you bike on snow. Its like biking on the muddiest trail, I guess the trick is to lay off the brakes as they only make the wheels slide around but thats easier said than done! Its great practice for your bike handling skills however!
Today we tacked on a bit more to our session and biked along the northwest side of the ridge. I got really cold and of course even colder on the descent, so the last 40 minutes of the trip were in silence as I tried to get home as fast as possible, easier said than done as we kept on meeting with very slippery paths. Almost in tears when we reached home, I had already revealed my worst weaknesses to my new training partner, the cold and hunger! Next weekend its ski time, I’ve been warned I need to get skiing if I am to have people to hang around with on the weekends, and its expected to snow next week so the conditions should be perfect.
As for my German, it hasn’t been getting any better. I have to knuckle down, but first things first and thats finding a job. Easier said than done too! Switzerland is one of the richest countries in the world, having gotten used to living in countries where being Irish opened so many doors for me, here I don’t feel particularly special at all! So its taking a little readjustment, but I’ll get there. Always one to step up to the challenge.

Today is the first day of 2009, and instead of tearing around Killarney and Torc on my bike as planned, I’m laid up at home with a cold! It isn’t that bad (I think thats the Neurofen Cold and Flu speaking), but its better to rest now than be really sick tomorrow. Yesterday was such a perfect ending to 2008. With a group of friends, Chris, Mags and Niall we clocked up 45km around the Dingle Peninsula.

We mounted our bikes in Dingle town and made our way to Annascaul, turning left at the famous Tom Crean pub, ascending increasingly narrowing roads towards Annascaul Lake. From there, following an old bog road, we made our way up to the saddle overlooking the lake and the magnificent Cathair Chun Rí (Town of The Kings as gaeilge).

What followed was exhileratingly superb! Niall took us over some bumpy bog, maintaining our altitude until we came to the ridge of a valley where we began to descend along the most perfect little single track created by sheep and farmers all the way along the side of the valley until we reached its floor and ribbon lakes. The downhill was perfect although Chris and I both agreed we would like to give it another go and let it rip, now that we know what to expect! I’ll be back again asap.

We then biked up the Conor Pass, a hard slog to the top, not popular with everyone (Niall!) Then from there we headed off-road again, down into Dingle town over the bog, surprisingly fast yet slushingly slowing you down when things started to get out of control! I noticed a few other bike tracks there too. There was the potential for more, to add on the fabulous route included in The Turas World Series, however with none of us being able to decipher if we actually still had toes left or not (brrrr), we decided to call it a day and try some of Dingle’s finest chowder in a warm bar.

The New Year celebrations were more tame than last years Edinburgh escapade. A few drinks with my family in Falvey’s Bar in Killorglin and not an all-night fiasco. Falvey’s was like a cave full of madness with a few regular legends crowd surfing and bar-diving into the arms of very merry locals. All in all, a good way to end 2008 and ring in 2009.
I hope to be able to continue to improve this year and become a better biker and have all the health and happiness supporting me in this mission! Here’s to 2009…bring it on…wishing you happiness and prosperity.