Impressions of the Škoda WLC

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Most of us will associate Škoda with the Tour De France and vice versa. When my brother got a Škoda that’s what I associated it with. Škoda France has a team of people that organise group cycling events to promote the Škoda brand.

## Critical Mass and Others

I have cycled with groups before. I cycled at Critical mass events in london, but also one or two smaller cycling events in Geneva. With critical mass bike rides everyone is dressed in normal clothes, on normal bikes, cycling at a sociable pace through towns and cities.

## Skoda WLC

The Škoda WLC events in France are a little different. Everyone is dressed in cycling clothes, with road bikes. They’re also fast cyclists. It’s not just that they’re fast. They also have endurance. By fast I mean that they’re faster than a critical mass event, and a sociable group cycle via another platform. They also have greater endurance.

## About the Ride

The bike ride today was about 50km. This is at the limit of what I would usually cycle because it burns a lot of energy, and requires refuelling along the way. The other challenge is that this year I have just 240 kilometres of cycling under my pedals, but at least 1360 km of walking.

The leader of the group had 7000 kilometres of cycling for this year so far. That’s why it was hard for me. That’s why I was slower. If I cycled more, then I would find the group ride much easier because my muscles would adapt to cycling. At the moment they’re optimised for walking every day for one and a half hours a day, every day of the year.

## You Get Pushed

You can tell that the group ride was hard because I achieved 21 achievements in a single ride. That’s why it’s good to ride with such a group. If I ride by myself I push myself but on a route that I’m used to. With a group I am pushed where I would take it easier. I could have pushed more but I could feel that my energy was running out.

It ran out so badly that when I cycled from Divonne to home I had no more energy in the tank. I limped home. Usually I sprint up the last two climbs but not today.

## About the Group

From what I see the people in the group are avid cyclists that cycle regularly so they have a good level of cycling fitness. They’re also used to riding in a peloton so they don’t get as tired as those of us riding on the outside. By participating in more rides I learn to ride safely within a peloton. For now staying within a safe distance is better.

## Hard but Enjoyable

Despite struggling and being slower than many nearer the end the ride was fun and I want to do it again. I learned of a road between La Rippe and Divonne that is at the base of the Jura. I was familiar with another road that has a warning. That one had none. It was a Douanne warning.

### Sheltered Within a Group

One nice aspect of riding with a group is that you’re more sheltered than when you ride alone. It’s harder for people to overtake you dangerously so they are less likely to. They overtake with plenty of space, especially if you’re slotted behind the group on the right, away from traffic.

It’s also interesting to see how indications are used to say “get into the side” when cars are coming from opposite, or “move right” for another obstacle.

## A Zwift Feeling

More than once during this ride I got a feeling that it felt like Zwift. You’re riding to catch up with a group, or you can wait for another to catch up with you, and then coast behind them. If a hiking group is 10 people or more it feels like a crowd, but when 10 or more people are cycling together it feels good.

## And Finally

By going for this ride it woke my desire to cycle more, to go to the slowup next week. Cycling is a nice sport, and it would be even nicer if there were more routes that are free of traffic. I have wanted to find a group to cycle with for a while, so it’s nice to have one at last.