Strava July Cycling Elevation Challenge Success

For seasons, or even years I saw the Strava Elevation Challenge and I thought "I won't even try this challenge, because I will fail". This month I tried it, and I succeeded. Not only did I succeed to climb the 7000m suggested by the challenge but I got to 10,415m. I overshot by 4000m so far and I have a ride planned for this afternoon.

The ride I went on yesterday was 89 kilometres with over 700m of climbing. Around three weeks ago I went on a ride with 1600m of climbing. For every ride that I do with Tête de Course we go at least part of the way up the Jura, as is the case with LeCercle.

When I go for a bike ride with Bike Club Switzerland we have 500m of climbing included within the ride but I also have the climbing that comes before and after the ride, as I head from home to Geneva, and as I head home after the ride.

Weekly Stats Based on Four weeks

According to Strava I ride 208km a week, with 2600m of climbing. Yesterday I could feel the difference. I was riding at 29-31km per hour and when I was climbing I could feel the effort but I still had some power left. I could still push on uphill segments. I can feel positive benefits from all this riding.

When walking I noticed that walking at a comfortable pace my heart rate is down to 86 beats per minute from 100-110. When I ride on familiar routes I find that my feeling of fatigue comes later than before.

LeCercle and Tête de Course

When you do the morning Wednesday ride with Tête de Course or the afternoon ride with LeCercle you need to be a strong rider to keep up, especially on the climbs. These groups push me to be faster. They push me to have more endurance. They help me to improve my speed on the flat, and my speed in climbs. With LeCercle I was encouraged to practice my drafting technique when I couldn't keep up.

And Finally

It's because I have three groups to ride with that I ride so much. When you ride alone, cars often overtake in an unsafe manner. When you're in a group they are more inclined to slow down and wait for an opportunity to overtake safely.

When it comes to the amount of climbing there are two key reasons. The first is that Nyon based cycling groups like to ride up the Jura so it's easy to do several hundred meters for each ride.

The other reason is that when I ride with Geneva riders I need to ride to Geneva and back, so that adds several hundred meters of climbing. I could take the lake road, but I find that taking the middle road is quieter and more relaxed.

We will see if I achieve the same elevation gain next month.