A bit of an eventful one today! First there was the weather. It dawned dry but under heavy cloud that was hanging right down to the valley floor. As we set off so the rain began – and it has been raining at least steadily – often hard – all day.

Then there was the accident. After a couple of miles we crossed a level crossing. The track was at a shallow angle to the road and I was leading. But I didn’t turn to take it at right angles and got my front wheel caught in the slot. I went down heavily. Helen failed to stop in the wet and on the slippery rubber between the tracks and went down on top of me! Bikes, bags and bodies everywhere! Helen hit her head hard on the road (the benefits of wearing a helmet) and we suffered minor road rash – but we soon disentangled the bikes, got out the first aid kit and began to patch ourselves up. But we had forgotten that we were in the middle of a level crossing and just then the warning sounds started to indicate that the barriers would soon come down! Queue another burst of panic as we dragged everything right off the crossing. Strangely enough I didn’t think of taking pictures.

Then there was the shortcut. We had crossed a gentle pass out of the Emmental valley and had a downhill run on a fairly big road all the way to Lucerne. But the valley we were in did a large dogleg to the north – and I had seen a minor road cutting the corner. I knew it must go over a ridge – but hadn’t bothered to check the spot heights. Needless to say, it turned into a classic little climb up into the clouds, up a series of beautifully engineered steep zig zags. I loved it, but Helen did not seem impressed! From the pass there was a gem of a descent through classic Swiss pasture land – all still in the driving rain you understand. As I may have said at the bottom – cracking shortcut Grommit!

Finally, there was the tourist office in Lucerne. From what we could see through the rain, this looks a lovely place, but a hotel seemed more attractive than the tent. So we stood making huge puddles on the desk, and the floor, whilst our newest friend Irene told us that Lucerne was full – what with the Blues festival tonight and the Swiss national air display tomorrow. A queue of normal people began to build up behind us as we dripped and listened to the lengthy account of Lucerne’s attractions. But our luck was in and we grabbed a cancellation in a hostel – where the rain continues to fall. But at least we are in the dry.

Helen’s track of the day:

Wed – Elbow: Starlings because I have enjoyed the droll northern humour of this song a lot.

Thursday – Cyndi Lauper: Girls Just Want to Have Fun, heard at the breakfast stop today and seemed to stick with me during the day.

Today- to be honest the last 2 songs stayed with me all day, but by rest time tonight I needed something calmer, and enjoyed Fleet Foxes, Tiger Mountain Peasant Song which reminded me of my ponderings during the day about how mountain people live with all this rain.