August 31, 2018
Thusis - A Perfect Day to Test the Wet Gear
Chur to Thusis
It was truly a perfect day to test the wet gear. We woke up to rain. Real rain, not a mere sprinkle. Everyone in this part of the world is thrilled. We were told this is the first rainfall of more than an hour in two months. We lingered over breakfast, and lingered longer, thinking it might let up. It really wasn’t noticeably better when we decided to go for it, just a short ride to Thusis. Our hope was to get to Thusis and then ride the Viamala unloaded to see the gorge.
There were two other bikes in the dungeon with ours and this morning, like us, their owners were loading in the front hall of the hotel, avoiding the rain outside. They were a couple from just outside Frankfurt. We forgot to take a picture. We had a great chat about riding in the rain and the merits of trains and the four of us were off, in different directions.
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As is always the way with such things, it is never really that bad. We have the gear for it and once we were out in the rain we were happy to be riding. We had made a reservation in Thusis which was only 30 km away (there are limits to what even modern wet gear can take) and so we knew we were fine. The CN manoeuvred us out of Chur seamlessly and it was a lovely ride from the start. The surface was paved for the first bit...I am not sure how far because I had my Garmin snugly tucked away. It is supposed to be waterproof but I felt better not using it today. When the surface changed it was still good, hard packed fine gravel. We stopped to watch some golfers who were undeterred by the rain.
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At this point the riding surface became a little more questionable. We came to one of those Swiss bike signs that informed us that we would climb 100 m in 1 km. Most of it was just fine, but at one particularly steep bit the wheels started to slip in the wet gravel, and we both had to walk.
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It was a very pretty ride through the forest. Despite the rain we were really enjoying ourselves. As it was flatter at this point the surface was just fine for riding.
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6 years ago
"The Reich Labour Service (Reichsarbeitsdienst; RAD) was a major organisation established in Nazi Germany as an agency to help mitigate the effects of unemployment on the German economy, militarise the workforce and indoctrinate it with Nazi ideology. It was the official state labour service, divided into separate sections for men and women.
From June 1935 onward, men aged between 18 and 25 had to serve six months before their military service. During World War II compulsory service also included young women and the RAD developed to an auxiliary formation which provided support for the Wehrmacht armed forces."
"RAD members were to provide service for mainly military and to a lesser extent civic and agricultural construction projects."
6 years ago
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It was a beautiful ride, despite the rain, which never stopped. It was never a deluge though, just a nice steady rain. We passed through a village with two castles overlooking it, and found a dry bench under a building for our picnic lunch.
There was some history in this region...I wish I spoke German because I was doing my best to read this sign. I will be doing some research tonight.
Before we knew it we were in Thusis. It is a tiny place but right on the Viamala. We were hoping to bike up there unloaded after checking in, but we were pretty wet. Instead we explored the town and we may explore the hotel sauna and steam room later. We have made no decisions about tomorrow. The weather forecast is more of the same, so we will see 😀. Keith is talking about a train to Bolzano. That would be a surprise. The original plan was to bike to St. Moritz.
Today's ride: 30 km (19 miles)
Total: 276 km (171 miles)
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6 years ago
Dave and Lauralea
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