Jared Bloch
GENEVA, Switzerland-Wine, wheels…and wet. In spite of the lousy weather accompanying the Geneva Caves Ouvertes last weekend, the excellent wine on offer and beautiful Geneva area scenery left me with a smile on my face. Here’s a sampling of what I saw. Enjoy.
Jared Bloch
Final call for Saleve airlines...
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – How’s this for a quick getaway; hop a bus to Veyrier, grab the first gondola up the mountain and catch a flight on Saleve airlines.
Saleve Mountain Instructor Hubert showing the "ropes"
The Etrembières based paragliding school joined the Saleve Mountain Bureau, the Saleve Tramway, Horizon Restaurant, the Maison du Saleve cultural centre, Illico Travel, Segwaygeneve, the Geneva South Port Convention Centre and the Annemasse les Voirons Tourism Office on Thursday afternoon for a mountain top exhibition of their respective services.
So I went for a solo parasail… Not quite, but I did get the lowdown on what it takes to get your parawings – about two weeks of flying instruction and 1,200 CHF.
Jared Bloch
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – If you read this blog, you know I don’t care much for moto-hogs – motorcycles the size of a small house that will do everything short of brushing your teeth.
Therefore, I was all tooth and grin last week as I scoped out the 2012 Triumph Tiger 800 with WRS’ Susan Flory, at the local Geneva Triumph dealership, a fine balance of athletic muscle and off-road machine.
Check out Motoring On and listen to what I found not only about the Triumph bike but also on the Honda VFR750.
Jared Bloch
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – I have always loved back roads and highways seen through an early morning lens. Biking around the sweet two-horse lanes in Canton Geneva and neighbouring France this weekend, I stopped to capture some of the sights.
Lemanic Basin
Jared Bloch
Honda Jazz hybrid-smart just got smarter
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – The 82nd Geneva Auto Show closed this past weekend with the usual fanfare and plenty of eye candy on hand, but the standouts for me were the omnipresent exhibits of zero emission concept cars, hybrids and e-vehicles.
The “green theme” this year seemed to dominate, not only in the Green Pavillion, where eco-friendly vehicles were available for testing, but throughout the show.
Renault "plug n' go"
In addition to a range of market-ready plug-in vehicles from Chevy, Citroen, Ford, Mercedes, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Renault, and others, the plethora of hybrids and smart diesel machines boasting +/- 4 liters/100km was impressive.
As a stalwart BMW fan, I was pleased to see a Five series hybrid sedan, in spite of the drab two-dimensional traditional exhibit. While Volkswagen featured club music and flashy multi-media presentations to show off their full line of eco-friendly “Blue Motion” vehicles.
Jared Bloch
Chevy Volt-Go ahead, make my zero emissions day
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – No, this is not an infomercial and yes, for the first time in several years I found myself checking out Chevy’s new lineup, as I perused the wares at the 82nd Geneva Auto Show.
Chevy’s Volt, which premiered in 2009, was awarded European Car of the year for 2012 based (partly at least) on its ability to travel nearly 60 km propelled solely by an electric engine, after which it can continue another 500+ km (numbers vary by usage and between US and EU ratings).
Plug 'n go Volt
Sixty kilometers may not get you to grandma’s and back but consider that people in Switzerland “travel” an average 33 km per day. That translates into a lot of zero emission milk runs.
With a CHF50,000 base sticker price however, it may not fly off the shelves as Detroit is finding out, production has been temporarily suspended due to an overstock.
Jared Bloch
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND -Since the massive introduction of electric or e-bike culture into Geneva traffic culture, I have been skeptically watching this trend as I dodge errant commuters on their SUV bikes weaving carelessly between vehicle and bicycle lanes.
And therein lies the problem.
Know your lane - beware e-bikers
As the Swiss daily 20 Minutes documented last month, e-bikers are accounting for an increasingly growing number of two-wheeled run ins with traffic on the road.
Imagine, the motor vehicle department handing out motorcycle licenses to anyone willing to pay 1,500 francs, or the cost of a modest e-bike – this is after all a motorized vehicle. Only many riders have never been on two-wheels before, let alone with a motor attached.
In the first two months of this year, I have been cut off in the bike lane at least a dozen times by e-bikers who neither follow bike etiquette nor the rules of motor traffic – they are neither nor, and therefore answer to no one.
As an avid bicyclist, I have little tolerance for the cigarette puffing e-biker veering from the car into the bike lane at 25 km per hour – last week – or the reverse, the commuter who jumped from the sidewalk into traffic tonight on my way home.
As a pedal-power cyclist, you know the limits of your maneuverability and adapt accordingly, not to mention looking for other vehicles that can decimate you in an instant.
E-bikes? Great idea if in fact they cut down on four-wheeled congestion, but as with any other vehicle, LEARN HOW TO DRIVE!!!
Jared Bloch
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – With my car out of commission last weekend and the need for a good outdoor fix, I grabbed my backpack, snow shoes and a pocket full of change and ran down to Gare Cornavin to catch the number eight bus to Veyrier.
Jared Bloch
Ready to climb
LA PÉTROULE, SWITZERLAND – This year I am preoccupied, maybe obsessed with dreams of snow.
This is the first year since I have lived in Switzerland that I have gotten more than a week’s consecutive use from my down parka, and I have realized, I really like a good winter. And, I am liking it even more having rediscovered back-country skiing.
The view up top
At less than one hour from Geneva and with a nice combination of gentle pistes backing up to open space, La Dôle-St. Cergue is a great morning/afternoon ski fix.
Arriving at 11 AM on Saturday to an all but empty parking area, I happily noted a few seasoned back-country fans packing up their equipment after an early outing.
Jared Bloch
New Versys 1000, back to basics
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Riding home tonight on my bicycle I was caught up short at the sight of the new Kawasaki Versys 1000 sitting out front of my neighborhood motorcycle shop.
Versys face-to-face
Versys profile
Most of the recent Japanese bikes leave me completely nonplussed aesthetically, but Kawasaki’s new Adventure-Tourer strikes just the right balance of technological innovation and no-nonsense styling.
The big in-line four cylinder engine (1043 cc) reminds me of my old KZ and Gpz, 700 and 1000 bikes and indeed the motor is borrowed from Kawasaki’s z1000 naked sport bike (which was apparently designed by a Manga artist).