The Energetic Cycling Rest Day
On Sunday evening I saw that a ride was planned for Monday evening. Usually I would hae skipped this ride because I felt that I should rest. According to Garmin I should have taken a rest day.
I intended to have a calm bike ride, until I got onto the bike and started to pedal. I went through the road I find is dangerous, before taking a second road I find is dangerous, before taking a third road I find dangerous, before finally being on safe roads.
The roads are usually dangerous because cars drive too fast, and too close. To boot, I was cycling at rush hour, when people are impatient to get home, and bad tempered. Having said this drivers did not make me feel unsafe or afraid.
I believe that turning back, and looking at drivers, letting them see that you are aware of them, calms them down. They usually slow down, and overtake with a good distance. For not ignoring cars, cars don’t ignore us, and that’s safer.
It’s interesting because the route I chose was not the easiest, or the quietest. It is the route that I often rode along in the past, but gave up on, due to my feeling of being in danger.
When I got to Versoix I went through the woods, along roads where I was almost alone. At this point I could have slowed down but I didn’t. I kept riding at a comfortable, high pace.
When I got to Grand Saconnex I raced people on e-bikes and saw that at least one was going above 25 km/h so it should have been classed as a 45 km/h e-bike.
It’s good to be more cautious around urban cyclists. I stopped at the lights but urban cyclists either ignored them, or went ahead of the lights being green for us. I still chased, and then overtook them. It is nice to feel fast.
The group ride pace felt quite fast. It wasn’t as relaxed as it would be with others. On climbs I took advantage to ride faster, to push a little more. That’s how I got a few new PRs.
When you do a 13km climb with 1300m of vertical gain, shorter 100m climbs feel comfortable. I didn’t want to push too hard, but I pushed hard enough to be second on the two main climbs.
Riding is funny because when rides are short, and there is a lot of traffic we ride as a group but conversation is more challenging. It’s a solo ride in a group.
When the group ride ended I headed for Place Des Nations, before heading down to the lake. It’s at this point that I began to push, to pedal hard and fast. I treated it as a time trial to get from near Agip to the Décarcadère in Nyon.
For the most part the cycling path was quiet so I could keep pushing. I maintained 30 kilometres per hour which is slower than when I was with the two time trialists but I was maintaining that speed. I could feel myself getting fatigued, especially near Crans and the swimming pool. When I got to Crans I saw normal cyclists and they were slow, in contrast. I flew by.
When I got to Nyon I was hopeful that the lights would be cooperative and they were, so I got to the débarcadère I mentioned before but that light was green, as was the one to head up to Tête de Course. I couldn’t stop to rest and breath so I continued on towards home.
What surprised me about this ride is that Garmin said I should rest so I felt that I should. When I cycled I found that I felt powerful for the entire ride, that I had enough torque left over to keep pushing for speed. This is a nice feeling.
And Finally
Despite the 1600m of climbing on Saturday’s bike ride and the 30,000 steps of walking on Sunday I still had plenty of energy for Monday evening. I drank three 700-800ml bottles worth of water during the ride and I kept an average speed of 25 km/h for three and a half hours of riding.
The group ride was 40 kilometres and I covered 88. I probably could have been slower between Versoix and Nyon but I like to minimise the time I ride at night.
I made sure to be on the protected cycle lane for almost the entire ride back. Luckily night set when I was almost home. I should wear my bright cycling clothes for future rides to Geneva at night, to be really visible. With a 1300 lumen light on the front, and the Varia 515 I was visible, but I could have been even more visible.
I’m glad I could cycle home rather than take the train. It’s more fun.