From Champagne to flat tire - Easy start with champagne - CycleBlaze

September 8, 2024

From Champagne to flat tire

We had a perfect start for our one week trip through half of Switzerland. My bloke Dan and I my met at our friends house. „You have to come by for a coffee before leaving“, Marina and Chris said.

Ready for take off
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We kept word and showed up with our loaded bicycles, t-shirt, prepared for a trip from Berne to the lake of Biel, to Jura, Geneva and a tour round the lake. We started with black coffee and Marina‘s self made bread. Delicious. 

At the river Aare.
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The weather didn‘t look as bad as the app said. In the last days we checked every damn app but it looked always horrible. Rain, rain and storms. Anyway it wasn‘t that bad. After coffee we opened a bottle of champagne and cheered to our ride which was about to begin.


The start was easy. I have to admit that we do the tour on our e-bicyles. I hope we don‘t loose too much credit… We drove along Wohlensee, we saw some egrets and red kites on our ride to Erlach. We were in flow, laughing, joking and arriving easily in Erlach at the lake of Biel. As we arrived it started to rain.

Lots of cormorans at the lake.
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We checked in a bed n breakfast and suddenly saw that Dans tire was loosing air. Oh shit. We first had to organize some tools to take the tire off. First two people we asked could help us out with the tools we needed. To get the new rubber in was easy. But to put the tire back on was quite an exercice. 

We could do it till the last fifth of it. Luckly Kathleen and Keith drove by with their bicicles. They are from Canada. For the second time they’re on a tour through Switzerland. Keith helped us but the damn tire resisted. „How many men does it take to put a tire on?“ Thats how Kathleen wrote about it on her blog (on cycleblaze).

Kathleen, Dan and myself in Erlach. (Foto by Kathleen)
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Karen Poret“Double trouble”, alright ! I just finished reading this in her journal 😮
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2 months ago

They continued their tour to Neuchatel and we watched another youtube Tutorial. Dan put the wheel on the ground, kneed on it, 5 seconds later the tire was in. HEUREKA!



Good thing about this action was how everybody was eager to help us. Kathleen said: „In the news they tell you how bad the world is, but on tour you realize how helpful people are.“ 


What a relief. We enjoyed two beers and some fish for dinner. Afterwards we watched some football. The Swiss team got in trouble against Spain and lost 1:4. Doesn‘t matter. Tomorrow is a new day. 

Our tour in Switzerland: Bern - Erlach - Yvonand - Lac de Joux - Geneva - Evian les Bains - Lausanne- 382 km



Today's ride: 47 km (29 miles)
Total: 47 km (29 miles)

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Kathleen ClassenSo happy to see this blog! Don’t worry about e bikes…today we took the train. The wind and rain were right in our faces so to the train station we went. We are in Thonan Les Bains tonight. We took a ferry too.
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2 months ago
Zar LierSounds like a lovely adventure. Enjoy the ride and life
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2 months ago
Keith ClassenGlad you got that stubborn tire on. Great to meet you two and welcome to the Cycleblaze community. Safe travels and no more flat tires.
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2 months ago
Steve Miller/GrampiesYou never lose cred on Cycleblaze for e bikes. That is part of what makes this such a terrific cycling community. Glad you got to meet Keith and Kathleen. They are truly stellar people. Oh, and welcome to Cycleblaze.
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2 months ago
Karen PoretGreat addition to the CB crowd, you two! I am merely a reader and “ write comments” only.. I am not brave enough to venture into the real world of photos and videos!
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2 months ago
Mike AylingHi Rod

See my forum post about a tool kit.
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2 months ago