Speed and Serendipity
A sense of urgency and some luck
Keeping moving and keeping my eyes open
Stumbling upon two moments of beauty
Twice this past week I was in a bit of a rush and didn’t quite know where I was or what I was doing. The first described briefly here was in my run from Lake Geneva uphill to CrossFit Lausanne d’Entre-Bois.
I was trying to get there by 6:30 AM Monday (repeated Tuesday) and was confused why they estimated it at over an hour on foot for less than five kilometers. Answer — one of the steepest urban runs I’ve ever done right through the heart of Switzerland’s most beautiful city. I wouldn’t have run if I didn’t need to make it to class but it was a highlight of the trip. Four separate times during the run, the directions read “take the stairs” which were ancient, steep steps up through cobblestone paths. The route could be published in guidebooks as a perfect intro to Lausanne. Stay in the Knight’s Suite complete with gargoyles, never miss a workout by dropping in at CrossFit Laussane and then climb the steps to the Lausanne Cathedral tower.
Another moment of speed and serendipity was between Grindelwald and Lausanne. There was construction on the normal route towards Bern so I took the direct route across the Jaun Pass. Speed limit: 80 km / 50 MPH; my heuristic is to go about 15% above the speed limit which I’ve found to be about the sweet spot in terms of maximizing speed net of speeding tickets. So I read 80 km/hour as about 58 MPH. But then I got to this road, first built in 1878 when the average speed was probably well under 10 MPH.
Shoulders: none. Drop off: far. Margin of error: none. You could look just past the wheels and see blue sky. Even at 40 MPH, one contemplated eternity. The roads were perfect, with no bumps or rough spots. You could only hear the sound of the engine. But it had the sharpest alpine passes that I’d ever seen. I felt somewhat emasculated by taking this at under the speed limit but I legitimately don’t think I would have survived this at 50 MPH:
I just stumbled upon it and had a ball (given the lack of death) in a moderately sporty Audi, but if you really love driving, consider renting something sportier in Geneva and see what you can do on this road. Even at the posted limit, you will be fully engaged by keeping your tires on the pavement. If you want to preview before trying it live you can get a feel for the turns here. Watch for rather intrepid bikers and hit this at sunrise for the best driving experience — daylight but no traffic.
