Weekends in the height of the Holiday Season make for congested traffic... even in the most remote parts of the country. We wanted to escape the mountains... move on from La Clusaz in the French Alps down to Annecy on a lovely lake. This is a short drive... only 100 kilometres or so... which was about as much weekend traffic you can handle and come out smiling.
The short distance allowed us to take things slowly... so, instead of me tailgating slowcoaches trying to find a place to pass... I was the inconsiderate driver at the head of the queue. The relaxed 1.5 hours of driving provided time to contemplate road dynamics.
Cyclists
The most frustrating feature of mountain driving are cyclists. Drivers make concessions to the cyclists each time one is overtaken... you slow down... wait for oncoming traffic to clear... then swerve into the oncoming lane to allow the biggest margin of error possible. "What is wrong with that?" I hear you ask. Nothing... not a problem... if there is one bike per kilometre. But the alpine regions attract bike riders from all over the world. They are like cockroaches... hiding in dark valleys only to scatter when your car comes round the corner... you deal with one lot... and think the problem has been solved... only to discover another infestation around the next corner. Does a cyclist ever acknowledge the inconvenience you have suffered to execute a safe takeover? Never... he continues to keep his hands on the handlebars... focussed on maintaining his speed and his line of approach into the next corner. Does a cyclist ever inconvenience himself to allow a long queue of traffic to pass? Never... he has his PB time to beat... and that is more important than your reaching your destination on time. Does a cyclist make any contribution towards road maintenance and improvement? Never. We were surprised at the high proportion of female cyclists... in particular, females riding alone through the high mountains... there are no ill-feelings towards female cyclists. Nor are there ill-feelings towards the best of the cyclists on their downhill runs. They clock up speeds over 60 kph... race around hairpin curves faster than a Maserati...one false judgement and he is minced meat. (I have friends who are endemic cyclists... we need to have a quiet conversation to resolve our differences.)
Mobile Homes
What is to be made of Mobile Home drivers. They don't fit on alpine roads. They don't fit into parking spots in alpine villages. They don't have engines strong enough to keep up with traffic on steep mountain passes. If there is a long queue of cars on a mountain pass... and no cyclists are in sight... you can bet the lead car in the queue is a Mobile Home. They make a minimal contribution to the tourist economy... doing their grocery shopping in the large towns... where the prices are lower... but crowd out the scenic spots along the road and parking spots in the villages.
Hang Gliders
The number of hang gliders in the skies today is phenomenal... and the displays of flying are remarkable. It seems that every valley has dozens of them... some hugging the cliff edges... looking for the best updrafts... some thousands of metres in the sky... probably gasping for oxygen... some doing aerial gymnastics. Many flights have two passengers in the hang gliders... one being a paid instructor. We saw lots of fighting and landings... all without mishap. I wish I was 40 years younger to start developing those skills.
As you can see... the trip was not long enough to solve all the world's problems... but we made a start.
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