Day 35: Monday, 13 June 1983

Start: Hotel, Nyon, Switzerland

End: Campground, Cheyres, Switzerland

Alarm goes off at 7:30. It's pouring rain, but my hotel tab will be sky high, so I won't stay here. I don my Gore-Tex and splash down the road. 

It lets up a little, but not for long. Whenever it gushes down I try to pull over under a little cover until it slacks off a bit. During a heavy downpour I stop for an early lunch. Back into the rain, down the road aways, and I'm still getting soaked despite my Gore-Tex. Pull over at a convenient barn, find an almost dry spot under the eaves, and write a letter to my sister. Ride farther in the rain. Another deluge. I go into a bar or restaurant or something. Hard to see when I'm not wearing my wet, smeared glasses. Despite dripping all over the floor, the lady (manager? waitress? owner?) laughs at this drenched fool and gives me two mugs of steaming tea on the house.

The rain never really lets up, but I spent way too much on the hotel last night, so I bite the bullet and find a campground. The smallest and cleanest so far. US$3. Right beside a boat basin on Lac de Neuchatel. 

The June Bug is always a bitch to set up in the rain, because I can't really put the rain fly on until last, so the interior always gets wet in the process. This is no exception. Maybe I just don't know how to do this right. Anyway, after I rustle up some food the rain finally tapers off. I'm still pretty soaked, but the proprietor of the campground and his wife invite me into their cabin. He beats me in a long, tense chess match in front of a roaring fire while his wife knits and laughs. "My husband," she smiles, "is not accustomed to such a strong challenge!"

The rain stops by the time I get back to the June Bug.

Conditions 

Distance: 84 km  

Weather: Cool, heavy rain 

Road: Good 

Traffic: Light 

Terrain: Some hills 

Mechanical: All is well 

Physical: Feeling good but wet