The Desire to Challenge Myself With a Different Group

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Yesterday I arrived to the cycling meeting place by 08:07 and the Peak group were still there, getting read to set off. It was understood that I had planned to ride with the group and I was tempted to try. The issue is that I already rode quite hard with the Wednesday group and the Thursday group.

The other issue is that they were going on a 100km ride with quite a bit of climbing so I would have struggled to keep up. I was also not ready, food and snack ride to do such a long and physical ride.

Having written what I wrote above, I did ride with a relaxed group on a small fifty five kilometre loop. I was fast on the climbs because they were shallow, and short. I'm getting used to cycling up and down the Jura.

I am slow with the Nyon groups, but getting fast with the Geneva groups. I need to try riding with the moderate and peak groups from Geneva because I suspect that I am ready for their riding style. I will be slow in the climes but I recover quite fast.

Yesterday I felt strong riding into Geneva. I felt that I did not push out of my comfort zone. During the entire ride I was comfortable and I practiced climbing fast. and then waited for the group at the top.

In one case someone said "This isn't the top" but that didn't bother me because the climb was shallow. I see the benefit of cycling up the Jura two to three times a week now. On Wednesday morning I will have a 300m climb from the lake up part of the Jura for four kilometres and then there will be a steep gradient. In the vineyards I have encountered one or two steep gradients where I almost stall and fall.

Of Stamina and Conviviality

When I go for rides I enjoy having the opportunity to converse with people when we are on roads or voie verte that facilitate this. I also enjoy the coffee stops, and stops to see the view. Yesterday people wanted to stop to take photos of sunflowers. I live next door to such fields.

I like the idea of seeing the same people regularly. I like establishing friendships. If I change groups too often I will know of plenty of people, but I will not know individuals.

Less Solitude

My key reason for doing group acitivities isn't to boost my fitness. It is to reduce my solitude. So far I have found plenty of people with whom to do things, but it is less persistent than I would like. I would like it to extend to week days, and outside of group activities.

Ready to Push Harder

Two Saturdays I ambitiously went with a group that rides quite hard and I could keep up with it, except for the climb of Marchairuz but I believe this was due to fatigue from cycling during the week. I also believe that if I had pushed slightly less, especially when going down from Marchairuz I would have been fine.

With more snacks, and the reflex to drench my head when the opportunity presents itself I can ride with moderate and peak groups.

And Finally

I suspect that it is curiousity, rather than desire. It feels empowering to keep up, but it also feels nice to have some reserve on bike rides. I believe that the ride between the Pont Du Mont Blanc and up from Versoix pushed me right to the limit of my reserves because that's when we sped up as we were two people riding together rather than a group.

I chose yesterday's ride based on the course, and effort. If I could choose a ride solely based on course, and be comfortable with all difficulty levels then that would be ideal.