Yesterday I went back to cycling after breaking my arm and letting it recover. My lower body is fine despite not cycling for a long time but the left arm still feels vulnerable. I could feel it when changing gears and when going over bumps.
As silly as it sounds to wait for weeks before getting back on the bike I see that it was justified. When I tried to shift gears I could feel that the muscles for shifting gears have not entirely recovered. The bone has fused, but all of the muscles that were seldom used during my injury still need to grow back and strengthen.
Changing gear is so simple when you are feeling normal. You do it without noticing. Now there were instances when I felt that I was lacking the strength to push the lever.
I could also feel that my upper body was getting tired. I had to take a break or two during this ride. The longest break was when I was waiting for a person walking two horses to get off of the rural road I was on. I didn’t want to get kicked. I also had no reason to rush.
I took an unsurfaced road for part of the ride to avoid traffic. During this section of the ride I was slower than usual. I checked for potholes and had no intention of putting more strain than needed on the arm. I actually thought about turning back after this section.
On the straight road that goes down from the farm, past the observatory and down to the roundabout I didn’t pedal as hard as I could. I cruised instead.
We will see how I feel the next time I ride the bike. I expect it will feel better. I need to get my arm used to these strains, and to strengthen the muscles accordingly. At the end of this winter I should be back to normal. Imagine if i tried snowboarding with this weak arm.
Hermance is a place where I have dived frequently and so it is only natural that I hard to ride from Geneva to Hermance on a bike. The ride is an easy and pleasant ride. It takes you out of Geneva and through the fields to the East of Geneva before taking you down to Hermance where you have a good view of the lake. The ride back takes you through a few villages before getting back to Geneva.
The landscape undulates with only one climb as you leave the lake and take the back roads towards Pallanterie. From that point you follow the road until you get to the French border and cross to the left and head straight for the lake. It’s at this point that you start to see signs for Hermance and follow them down a steep road to the lake side.
I love for the GPS track of my rides to be a loop so to ensure that this was the case I cycled back via the lake road. There are bits where you are with cars but for the majority of the route you have a dedicated cycle path.
The 2019 Tour de Zwift event is a 9 event cycling event on Zwift. it takes you on nine different routes across five worlds with hundreds, and in some case more than 2000 participants at a time.
Zwift Tour description
“…the Tour is a celebration of Zwift and the worlds within. You’ll experience the best of Zwift, together with thousands of people riding by your side. It’s not a race, but a giant party on wheels and a great way to experience Zwift.”
This event is different from others in that it spans several days. It also varies from other events in that the range is from 1-4 watts per kilo for A, B and C categories. Category A is the long distance course for women and men. B is the short distance for women and men. Category C is a Women’s only category.
Stage One
Stage 2
Stage Three
Stage Four
Stage Five
So far the experience of riding these events has been fun. I have also rode in other events in the gaps between TDZ events and I’m happy to have the occasional sprint or climb to do. I look forward to going up the Alpe De Zwift yet again. You’re not riding in the real world and you can’t really converse with people but it’s fun to have a group to keep up with, or a group in the distance to catch up with. I look forward to the last four stages.
My usual loop is around 30 kilometres but for the last two bike rides I have extended them, to reach 50-60 kilometres respectively. I cover this distance in about two, to two and a half, hours. Cycling is good at the moment because plenty of people are on holidays so the roads feel safer as there are fewer commuters on the roads.
On both of these trips I ended up in Geneva. The first time I came from the lake side and cycled upwards by the UN buildings. on Via Appia etc before heading back towards Vaud. The second time I did the opposite. I cycled via the top, but through agricultural roads to avoid being exposed to cars, although I was exposed to dogs and walkers. Luckily I could take alternate routes to avoid dogs and walkers.
On the topic of walkers, why is it that when I walk alone I am at the side of the road taking 50cm of space and yet couples take the entire width of the road? At one point I went through the mud and grass to avoid having to wait for people to clear the road. Specifically, why, if people are walking across the entire width of a secondary road, aren’t they constantly looking back to see if bikes or cars are coming?
Cycling by the airport is now a mess. Before when you cycled by the airport you could go by the runway for a bit, before cycling by Arena etc, before continuing on. Now they have removed that cycle path, or at least downgraded it, encouraging people to cycle along narrow pedestrian bridges, with little to no indication of which route to take. It’s paradoxical that as you hit Geneva, you lose track of where to cycle.
In one case I continued going straight and ended up with a staircase in front of me. If I was on another bike I might have descended it but not on a road bike. I turned around and had to go back up.
There is one part where you are on a narrow high pavement. It’s impossible to avoid another bike safely. They spend millions on re-routing roads, without thinking about providing proper cycling routes. It felt safer before than it does at the moment.
I cycled down by the Intercontinental, Place Des Nations, then right at UNHCR before going through the tunnel towards the Palais Wilson, before crossing the road and heading back towards Nyon.
Perle du Lac is another mess, for cyclists, because cycling routes are not clearly marked so you don’t know if you’re on a pedestrian only path, or combined. They say “cyclists, slow down”. I would prefer a clear route being indicated for cyclists to take to get from around the Palais Wilson to the World Trade Organisation, before heading along the lake. Here too, you find chaos as you get to Bellevue. In Versoix cyclists and pedestrians share the same pavement, but even on a quiet day pedestrians take up the entire pavement so you’re forced to cycle on the road.
The road is limited to 30km/h and I cycle at that speed so theoretically I’m fine, but cars still overtake. I eventually went on the cycle path.
Cycling is a pleasure, when we don’t feel that our lives are in danger. The last two rides have been good because the roads have been quieter from cars, than usual. The result is a more pleasant cycling experience. People make a fuss about more trains, buses, and so on but the solution is simpler. Make every village and town pedestrian friendly. Make it safe to walk between villages, without having to walk on the road.
I use the car for recycling, and shopping, and little else. We don’t need need to use cars daily, especially if we make it safe for pedestrians and cyclists to walk around without the big cage around them. The “big cage” is, of course, a car.
Yesterday I was stung by a wasp while cycling and when I tried to remove the stinger I couldn’t. I was in pain and almost stopped cycling. I was in distress as a bus passed on a main road. I was on an agricultural path by some apple orchards. I stopped where the agricultural road reached the main road.
It’s almost twenty four hours later and my lower lip and one of my cheeks have swelled up. A few weeks ago I had a similar incident with a bee but I was able to remove the stinger while cycling and my quick action prevented too much poison from being pumped into my lower lip. When that incident occurred I was surprised not to have any swelling.
In previous years I have been stung twice to my right leg and at least once to the stomach. I had no adverse reaction. Being stung when you’re riding a bike or scooter is normal. Usually the windshield on the scooter protects your body so that’s where bugs get splattered. I often hear when bumble bees and other larger insects hit my helmet. There’s that little “poc” sound on almost every ride.
If you look at car radiators, windshields and side mirrors you will see a graveyard of insects. This year I have seen flying swarms of small insects and I’ve tried not to have my mouth open by accident when going through them.
I am tempted to get a face mask, to protect my mouth. I already protect my eyes on every ride for this very reason. A face mask would be a logical next step.
For those who like to cycle in a group of people there is a critical mass event organised for the 29th of August from 1830 onwards in Geneva. The meeting point is the île Rousseau. From there they will cycle around the city of Geneva. At the moment of writing this post the weather is meant to be good with sun and 29°c.
When I cycled with a group of people in London I had fun. I found that the city of London was much smaller than I had thought. If you don’t know a city it is an opportunity to discover new cycling routes and if you do know the city it is an opportunity to meet new people.
The group cycles at a speed that is comfortable for everyone. Those who are confident have time to stop and take pictures or place ingress and Pokemon Go and those who are not as fast are not abandoned.
Although not a critical mass bike ride when I met with a group to cycle in Geneva we travelled about 40km. The advantage that I have when I cycle in and around Geneva is that the landscape is flat compared to where I cycle in the countryside.
Geneva has bike and bus lanes in the centre and when you get out of the centre you have cycle paths that are separate from road traffic and pedestrian traffic. When youn get to the Geneva countryside the roads are relatively quiet so you do not have to worry about cycling in traffic.
There is a critical mass cycling app to make finding the group easier if you meet the group after it has started cycling.
I have ascended the Alpe de Zwift 5 times since i started using Zwift. My first climb took about one and a half hours, and then about one hour and sixteen minutes and finally just 57 minutes. I managed to get down to 57 minutes because I participated in Stage 6 of the Tour De Zwift event.
On previous rides I had ridden up the Alpe de Zwift alone. The first time I took it slow. My goal was simply to get to the top without worrying about how fast I did it. When that goal was achieved I went up once more alone and managed.
I participated in the Revo Climbers events twice and because we stopped several times to wait for people to catch up I was not going to get a personal best.
With the Tour de Zwift event things were different. This wasn’t a race but at the same time this wasn’t a group ride in which we had to stop and wait for people.
I rode slowly from the start of the TDZ event to the base of the Alpe De Zwift and then as we started to climb I started to pedal harder. I got one star, and then another, and then another. Eventually I started to feel tired and slowed down for half a segment before boosting again. I pedalled with a power of between 160-200 watts for most of the climb. I sometimes went up to 220 watts or more.
One of the great things about climbing up the Alpe de Zwift event is that you’re cycling with a group that is so spread out that you constantly have the opportunity to leapfrog from one group to a second, and then to a third and eventually you see that you’re at 800 metres and that you only have about three hundred metres to climb and you think “I can start to rest a little” but you don’t because you see that your time is faster than usual. You think to yourself “if I don’t push on to the end I will have wasted a lot of energy without getting a personal record so you push harder.
How hard did I push? Hard enough for a leap in FTP from 202 watts to 218 watts and I shaved 9 minutes off of my previous personal best. I got 22/22 stars for this climb and now I’m going to regret it because I will need to work on getting my ability to put out 230-240 watts for an hour. I have an interesting fitness challenge ahead of me.
If I continue at this rate then by this Spring or Summer when I have the opportunity to ride up the real thing (Alpe D’Huez) I will have a good time. My riding around Switzerland and its cols will also benefit.
What’s especially nice about this is that I didn’t really suffer. I didn’t doubt that I could make it to the top and my heart rate didn’t increase too much. I could have continued riding around Zwift but as my challenge was to get up during the event I was happy to let gravity drag me back down to the gate where everyone who has called it a day stops.
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