WORLDTEMPUS – 17 June 2011Louis Nardin – Veloptuous Times/ Logbook
Meyrin – Nyon – La Bassine – Le Sentier – Vallorbe – Baulmes – La Chaux – Sainte-Croix. Km: 125.
The land of watchmakers plays with contrasts. Full sun and torrential rain against an emerald lake and savage forests – all in the same day. Views beating to the rhythm of bike pedals, the variations become incredibly obvious. Uneven routes crisscrossing the countryside add to the contrasting enjoyment.
Leaving Meyrin, near Geneva, the Veloptuous Times participants passed through Nyon before directing their bikes straight for the forests leading to the Vallée de Joux. Last night, we stopped at Sainte-Croix, though Lake Neuchâtel took up a corner of the visible landscape.
The BMC bikes supplied for Veloptuous Times lend a sense of the extreme technical to the expedition in addition to the watchmakers we have been visiting. After more than 100 kilometers on these solid, technical machines, one can only thank their designers. Disk brakes, aluminum frame, and derailleur gears regulated to the millimeter make the comfort and security level of these bikes immense.
The first few wonderful kilometers between Agenhor in Meyrin and Hublot in Nyon posed no problems whatsoever. Warming up our limbs, this relatively short distance permitted us to take care of some last-minute purchases and details. Having left Jean-Marc Wiederrecht and his warm team at Agenhor, the members of Veloptuous Times moved on to Hublot. On the improvised menu was spaghetti carbonara, which was served to us by the brand within its micro garden in the industrial zone surrounding Nyon. Marine Lemonnier, in charge of communication, received us with a great smile –smiles being constant companions since we began this amazing adventure. Unfortunately, Jean-Claude Biver was detained from meeting with us.
It was already 3:00 pm when the two charged-up bikes began ascending the first of the Jura's foothills – there will, of course, be others. The sun was full and the air was heavy. The countryside slowly rolled by, splendidly full of the colors brought on by the end of the afternoon that was approaching. The shadows and the hills grew ever more as we ascended. The change in speed changed nothing else: we ascended and we got hot.
We stopped at a point that allowed us to see half of Lake Geneva. The essence of the trees changed. The leaves of the hardwoods were left behind for the pointy firs that now dominated the forest. The terrain chiefly comprising fields relented as the two-wheelers wandered between hills and valleys. The air became fresher as the altitude passed 1,000 meters. Now we needed to find a place to spend the night in our tent: a path led off the road toward a farm. It's as if the moment we needed water, there it was. And, fantastically, Alpine cheese and dried sausage as well.
The next morning, the cold was stimulating, which led us to quickly get ready and head out on the road to Rocheray, a town on Lake Joux. The road brought its share of surprises with a fox and a deer that scampered to get past. Finally there, Janek Deleskiewicz, director of design at Jaeger-LeCoultre and Marina Shvedova, in charge of international press relations, were waiting for us to share a breakfast.
Then we followed the emerald rivers of the lake, an exhilarating descent leading us in the direction of Vallorbe. After a time, we noticed some black clouds following us to the little village of Baulmes. It was from this moment, as the day was progressing within its comfortable Dr. Jekyll persona, that it switched unexpectedly over to Mr. Hyde. The storm broke, and for a good hour torrents of water struck out at us without pause and the temperature plunged. Climbing the slope at the same time, it suddenly showed 13 percent declivity for about eight kilometers. In contrast to the previous day, the next rise did not seem to end and finally ended in gusts of rain that was more than invigorating. Many turns of the pedals later, we arrived full of determination at De Bethune's workshop. Denis Flageollet, watchmaker-inventor and co-founder of the brand, welcomed us with open arms – two thoroughly wet and chilled figures – for an interview.
We spent the night exceptionally ensconced in the warmth of Sainte-Croix before departing for la Côte-aux-Fées the next morning.
