It All Depends on Your Point of View

The Zurich weather has, at last, allowed us to start the cycling part of our training for the upcoming (mini) Triathlon. I say “us”. There are now three grand old men, attempting to show that the body is not aging as fast as it looks. Younger runners are just getting faster.

In this cycling training, the motorist is now the enemy. Passing too close, despite the “Dotted Line” or coming out of a side road and pushing out too far. Traffic lights are a regular scrummage, although I think that this can be avoided by adopting the Swiss cyclists’ view that stopping at traffic lights is voluntary. In fact, Motorists should be banned, at least when I am cycling.

Back in the car later in the day, roles are reversed. Cyclists hog the white line. They ride side by side (requiring a quiet, but satisfying hoot) and randomly turn left without any indication. In fact, they should be banned, at least when I am driving.

On the ski slopes, the same principles apply. When I first took up skiing, I had a minor fall with a snowboarder. In the (Zurich) office, the next day, describing this and accepting 75% of the blame, I was told that it was the snowboarder’s fault. I wanted to explain how it happened. However I was told, that this is not the point. It was the snowboarder’s fault, as a “matter of law”. Well that’s a relief and introduces a certain simplicity into the debate.

I am not a snowboarder, but I have no doubt that the opposite laws apply.

Into this emotional equation comes the walker. This breed is very cautious and generally stays well clear of skiers and snowboarders. However, when walker meets a skier on a walking path, then the result is highly uncertain. Most recent experiences suggest that walkers can come off best if they hold there ground. Fun can be had by all, by the mutual exchange of insults and recrimination (in English, of course). The walker has the advantage here, as the skiers are by now downhill, and snowboots make a chase impossible.

Additional layers of complication are added by the presence of tobogganists, who take precedence over everything.