Tyre fibres showing through as the rubber has been torn away

A Worn Through Tyre

Byrichard
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There was a time when I would change the rear tyre regularly. I was changing from an indoor trainer tyre to a road tyre and back regularly. I developed my skill at this art and then the pandemic occured and I stopped changing tyres as regularly. Recently I went for a 74km bike ride and when I checked the tyre a day or two later I noticed that the rubber was gone and the fibres were showing. I went for one last bike ride, and then I swapped the old tyre for a new one. 

Tyre fibres showing through as the rubber has been torn away
Tyre fibres showing through as the rubber has been torn away

Frequent Changes When I Used Zwift

Swapping tyres, once you know how to do it takes a minute or two, with the right tools and right level of experience. It took me 15 minutes. It took that long because I haven’t replaced a rear tyre in three or four years so the right habits had to resurface. When they did the process was quick, and painless. 

In the past when I changed tyres I pinched my fingers, or hurt myself in other ways. This time I didn’t even draw blood. That’s a smooth and efficient tyre change. 

Wait Until Punctures?

I intended to wear it through until the first puncture. The tyre damage was clear. I swapped it. It’s better to swap the tyre at home, rather than have to swap and inflate the tyre on a bike ride with a tiny pump rather than the proper home bike pump. 

What’s Next?

The tyres that I have on my bike have been discontinued so I have to choose which tyres to replace them, several thousand kilometres from now. The rear tyre is brand new, and the front tyre looks fine. Indoor trainers ruin tyres because they wear them out unevenly. The bottom is flattened but the sides are fine. The front tyre is fine. 

Good For Another Two Years

if I ride like I have been riding then I’m good for another two or three years before I need to swap the tyres. I’m using continental Grand Prix 4000 S II tyres and they last for three or four thousand kilometres before needing a swap. 

And Finally

I’m tempted to shop for new tyres but it isn’t urgent, as tyres can last for years, or thousands of kilometres before being swapped. By the time I need new tyres new technology will have come out. I can also buy new tyres when the price goes down. At the moment they’re 10-20 CHF more than at their low point. 

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E-bikes, autumn and the changing seasons.
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E-bikes, autumn and the changing seasons.

Byrichard

One evening this week I was walking in the countryside at the foot of the Jura enjoying the evening when I walked by a couple. They were sitting on a bench looking across some fields towards the Mont Blanc, the Alps and of course the Lac Léman. Leaning against the bench were two e-bikes with good suspension.

It made me think about retirement and free time. It encouraged me to think about the freedom and pleasure of exploring the landscape on a bike without having to make the same effort as if you were on a conventional bike. I thought of the range it would offer and the gradients you could climb. It would in essence give you the freedom of a car with the practicality of a bike.

Of course there is a barrier to enjoying this pass time and that is the price of these bikes. In Switzerland they cost as much as a scooter. They lack the range and flexibility though. Electric bikes, in relation to road bikes are in fact cheap.

I already alternate between a car, a scooter and a bike and with the change in weather I prefer the comfort of the car or the speed of a scooter. If it’s raining then I would much prefer to use the car. It is a shame that they have this promotion at the end of the pleasant season. If they had this promotion at the beginning of summer then I would have taken advantage of it. I will take this option if they offer it next year.

 

 

The Zwift Everest Challenge

The Zwift Everest Challenge

Byrichard

This summer I climbed over 8848 metres in a single month and now I have just completed the Zwift Everest challenge as well. This challenge, on Zwift, is much easier than in the real world because you are not carrying water, the weight of your bike, dealing with keeping yourself balanced on your bike or traffic. 


Using a Fluid Trainer.


I don’t use a smart trainer. I use an Elite Qubo Fluid trainer and to climb I use information on speed to decide how hard to work. If I feel lazy I can pedal at 100 watts for a long period of time to get to the top but that isn’t in my nature. I like to push myself. I push until I get tired and then I recover, and then I push again. I also loe to sprint to the end and try to beat my previous time. Yesterday I rode up at a relatively lazy pace. When I got to within 1.5 kilometres of the top I really put out a lot of energy and when I reached the summit I was spent. 



I put out an average power of 291 watts for an effort of 2 minutes 29 with a peak at 612 watts and a cadence of between 100 and 121 pedal strokes a minute. It might seem strange to put out such a lot of energy on a bike indoors but the feeling of accomplishment is the same as if you had done it in the real world. 


I like climbing challenges because I live in a mountaineous landscape therefore reaching long ride distances is more challenging. It’s not that I don’t have the ability to ride for four or five hours but that if I ride four to five hours I travel one hundred kilometres because I have to climb cols if I want an interesting GPS track. 


Stamina and technique


Stamina and technique do improve as you get used to climbing. You might be in the easiest gear going just above “stalling” speed but you endure up that hill until you get to the top. On Zwift you ride your bike in the physical world but a top of the range frame and wheels in the virtual realm. This means that you’re achieving times that you could never reach in the physical world with your current bike setup. 


With a dumb trainer like mine, in contrast to a smart trainer with force feedback, you only see that you’re climbing because A) your speed decreases and B)The gradient indicator tells you that you’re on a hill. With a smart trainer it does get harder and you may want to switch to an easier gear Some people even add a gradient machine at the front to tilt the bike. 


With what I describe above there are two things that you do not get with virtual climbing. The first of these is a sensation of altitude as the air gets thinner and colder and secondly you do not get that fantastic ride down. On an indoor trainer whether you’re going up or down you still need to keep pedalling. In the real world when you’re going downhill you rest and recover unless you’re one of the top descenders of the Tour De France or other cycling races. 


Conclusion


I haven’t tried a smart trainer so my experiences and opinions on virtual climbing are based on theory rather than practice. I have used recumbent bikes but they give you a power to achieve rather than a sensation of climbing. Virtual climbing, as I have experienced it, is easier than climbing in the real world because if you go to slowly you don’t fall, and you don’t have the sudden very steep gradients that you sometimes experience in the physical world. Most indoor trainers are blocked at 12 percent if my memory serves me well. In the real world they can reach 23 percent or more. 

From Nyon to Vesancy
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From Nyon to Vesancy

Byrichard

In 2015, I was exploring on a mountain bike when I found a road above La Rippe that was closed to traffic, so I decided to explore it. I managed to cycle a certain distance before I met a rockfall blocking the road, so I had to turn back. I then tried again in 2018 and I got quite close to the top but decided to give up and turn around. Within the last three weeks or so I have attempted the ride again, and this time I have made it up not once, but twice.


The first time I attempted it this year, it was exploration. I used Komoot to set the destination point, and then I started cycling up. This ride is a challenge because it starts steep, and it stays steep almost the whole way up. I read a comment that once you get to 1200 meters it gets easier. That’s almost at the top of the climb.





It is easier to do this type of climb if you look at distance remaining, rather than altitude. It is the type of ride that you do one kilometre at a time. Every kilometre is earned. One nice aspect of this ride is that you have more wildlife. You hear rustling in the leaves, and you hear things scuttling around. I saw at least one Chamois, one snake and quite a few hikers. Hikers do not count as wildlife. You see some people walking upwards, and others walking downwards.


I like to find routes that either have very few cars, or no cars. Cars often drive too close and too far. The further we are from cars, the safer we are. It gives us the time to focus our attention on the effort and the challenge, rather than on safety. I wear normal shoes, rather than cycling shoes, for this climb. In a previous attempt I found that I wanted to stop but couldn’t, so I was stuck with continuing to climb until the gradient was gentler. That was not fun.


View of the Alps through the trees
View of the Alps through the trees


On this ride you have a good few of the Lac Léman as well as of the Alps and the Mont Blanc on the right day. When you get to what I consider the top there is nothing to do. I could go further and explore on the french side, but during a pandemic I prefer not to cross borders, especially on foot, with a bike on my back. I could go up on foot, and explore from the other side, and eventually link the two. In theory I can go up from La Rippe, over the top, across to the West of La Dole, rejoin La Cure, cycle to St Cergue and come down the fun road. We’ll see next summer.

A Return to Cycling

A Return to Cycling

Byrichard

For three years I did not cycle. For one year it was because I broke my arm while cycling, The second year it was because we were in the first wave of this never-ending pandemic so I preferred not to stray too far from home. The third year it was because the pandemic was still not over, but it felt as if we had a chance. This year is different. This year we know that the Swiss government doesn’t care either way. For the Swiss the pandemic is over, whether that is true, or false.


A dry landscape view during a bike ride between France and Switzerland


In light of this we could continue to self-isolate and to avoid doing anything away from home but cycling is one of the rare things that we can do that doesn’t A) Require a car and B) Doesn’t require being indoors with others. For both of these reasons cycling is a good sport to practice when Covid denialism is government policy.


For this bike ride I intentionally went into France, to explore a little. Usually I forget the passport or other documents but not this time. It feels good to explore the old places, once more. Despite the never-ending pandemic, at least solitary cycling can range further afield.


My mental health would do a lot better if I knew that various European countries were working towards Covid-Zero, but as has become the tradition now, European countries are pretending the pandemic is over, so that there is another Autumn and Winter wave. This has become the new normal. The new normal is not moral. There is little we can do about this as private individuals except self-isolate.


Over the last day or two I have taken a break from JavaScript to look at Ruby. It feels like a very different type of language so it’s good to see how things work in another programming language. So far I am struggling with transposing the knowledge with some things, but others are clear. I decided to write the JS equivalent name in my notes, to help with comparing the two. I might continue in this line for the weekend, and resume my regular studying on Monday.

Experimenting with a single speed bike in a mountaineous landscape

Byrichard

My average time riding a bike over the last four weeks was seven and a half hours per week. When I’m not riding the bike I’m usually using the scooter but that’s mainly because I don’t want to leave the bike unattended. It is for this reason that I’ve been looking for cheap alternatives. I’ve looked at folding bikes but they cost as much as a scooter and I’ve been looking at electric bikes but they also cost as much as a scooter. 


Aside from the issue of price folding bikes weigh from 17 to 23kg or more. For a bike that is meant to be portable it is grossly overweight. Can you imagine riding that around a mountaineous country like switzerland? I did see a cheap folding bike for about 169 CHF. It would be nice to keep in the car. You could park in an area where it’s free and then explore towns and cities without the hindrance of public transport. 


Yesterday I rode to Geneva on the bike and an e-bike limited to 45km/h overtook me and I did enjoy sprinting after it and trying to catch up with it. I matched the speed for a little bit and then turned onto another street. E-bikes that go at 45 kilometres per hour are meant to follow the same rules as motorbikes and scooters so they’re less interesting than those limited to 25 kilometres per hour. Those limited to 25 kilometres per hour are no longer interesting because I can cycle at an average speed of 21-24 kilometres per hour on three to five hour rides. 


I also looked at mountain bikes, trekking bikes and other options. The issue with these is that the affordable ones are heavy and the fun ones are expensive.  I finally found an option that would be fine in a flat country like Belgium or Holland but could be regretted in Switzerland. A single speed bike, or a fixie. 


My logic in this choice is that it’s apparently easy to maintain, it costs little and it’s probably easy to place in the back of a car without making a mess. The one I was tempted by has a belt rather than a chain. The version with a chain is cheaper but it’s around two kg heavier. The fixie with a belt weighs around 11kg, the same as the road bike I use.

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Another Pandemic Weekend Without Plans

Byrichard

Normally at this time of year, as the snow melts and the temperatures increase the opportunity for spring and summer sports returns. These sports are via ferrata, outdoor climbing, hiking and more. This year is different because although today is Friday no plans have been made for the next two days. There is a excellent chance that I will either hike or cycle alone. Usually I avoid cycling on Saturdays because that is the day when people are anxiously driving between their homes and their shops.


Walking feels like the safer option on such days. It’s usually on Sundays that I like to go for a bike ride, to range a little further than when I am on foot, and to enjoy different sensations. During this pandemic my favourite route is not possible because it crosses the Franco Swiss Border in two places and I prefer to avoid crossing the border unless it is essential.


At the moment the prospect of everyone being vaccinated, and of everyone being able to meet in groups of ten to fifteen to do via ferrata, hike or climb seems unlikely. It would seem that this is another year of relatively solitary sports. Hiking and cycling are good solitary sports because we often go at our own speeds anyway. These are also sports with almost no carbon footprint. You just walk out of your house and enjoy.


Scuba Diving, Climbing, Via Ferrata and other sports sometimes require a two or more hour drive to go to and come back from the activity location. With cycling and local hiking you burn no petrol, except for the rubber soles of your shoes but those wear out quite slowly. We’re speaking grams, rather than litres.


During my walks I often visit the old phone boxes that have been converted into libraries. I browse through the books. Some villages have a good selection of free access books. No one has thought to block access to them during the pandemic.


If I wrote a blog post for every walk or bike ride at the moment it would either be a clockwise or an anti-clockwise loop that always begins and ends in the same place. The main change are the crops, the animals and people I see, and the weather.


Yesterday I did meet someone in the physical world, for a walk, and I came to the conclusion that I much prefer to meet people for bike rides. The problem with walking with people during a pandemic is that you don’t have the freedom to walk into a field or patch of grass as you’re walking “with a person” rather than alone. You’re also working on set paths.


I like to walk along roads and other paths, and I like to change route as soon as I see people come the other way, or to climb up an embankment, or to choose a path between two fields. When I walked in Geneva yestreday I decided to take off my mask because I thought that there would be an opportunity to always be two or more metres from people but this wasn’t the case. If I was alone I would have put the mask on. In this context I didn’t feel as free to do so.


Cycling, during a pandemic, in contrast is excellent. The first reason for this is simple. You’re going at 20 to 30 kilometres per hour so whatever you breathe in or out is going to be diluted into the turbulence that is behind you. The second reason is that you’re on a road or path and the pedestrians you encounter are close for just a second or two, not even two breaths.


The other advantage is that you’re on some type of agricultural or normal road and there are usually not that many people on the same path so it provides us with greater freedom. People are cautious of bikes, but not of other pedestrians. Being on a bike makes us safe.


During my walks I often see people on bikes. Today I was surprised to see three women riding alone. Usually it’s two or three guys at a time, riding together and talking. It makes a nice change. Having said this the conditions today were unpleasant for cycling, a cold strong wind. These are the right conditions to make cycling cold and tiring.


I hope that Sunday will be good for cycling.


How far will we cycle in pandemic solitude? We will have to see.


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