Straddling my bicycle, I looked at the steep hill in front of me. “Thank goodness we are not headed up that
hill,” I said to Barb, and when
she smiled nervously, I knew.
“Were we actually climbing the
Swiss Alps?” I asked myself.
“You can see the best view
of the mountains at the top.”
And off she zipped, as if to say,
“There’s only one way up.”
I switched the assist function
on my electric bicycle to high,
started to pedal and felt the
extra power surge beneath. At
that moment, I understood the
difference between my bike at
home and the electric bike, my
new best friend. I couldn’t help
but sing “Climb Every Mountain”
to myself as I easily rode up
the grade I would never have
attempted on my standard bicy-
cle. At the top of that intimidat-
ing climb, the Alps spread out in
front of us, and it took what little
breath I had left away.
Photos by Feduck
and Swiss Tourism
