exploration – Richard's blog

Cycling With Different Levels of Fitness

Byrichard 15 July 202315 July 2023

Originally I wanted to write about following route 50 from one village to Romainmôtier. I changed my mind as I created the title for this post.

Yesterday I cycled with two people on electric bikes on my normal bike. I didn’t feel that I was making that great an effort, especially since I was cycling at a relatively slow speed compared to usual. I actually felt that I was taking it easy.

Calories Burned

It’s when I looked at calories burned that I realised that what felt like an easy ride to me, was actually a huge effort. It didn’t feel that way to me, because it is normal for me to make such an effort, and I usually push myself when I ride alone.

Three Times More Calories

By riding with people with electric bikes I felt that I was having a relatively easy day. I burned three times more calories than them. It shows to what extent being fit affects how we perceive effort, but also how much energy electric bikes save.

Perfectly Within My Comfort Zone

A window seat and table, from the days before planes and trains

I was surprised by the huge difference in calories burned because I felt comfortable. I didn’t feel that I was struggling to keep pace with the bikes, or struggling on hills whilst they glided with ease. That’s the beauty of cycling a lot. Effort becomes ordinary, and fitness makes electric bikes harder to justify. Why get an electric bike when you can cycle with people with electric bikes and keep up?

Cyclists and Non Cyclists Riding Together

There are two types of people. Those that invests hundreds of hours over several years to boost their cycling fitness, and those that use electric bikes, to keep up with those with experience. I would argue that the strength of the electric bike is two-fold. The first is that it encourages non cyclists to cycle and experience the pleasure of getting from A to B under their own steam, but the second is that electric bikes allow non cyclists to ride with cyclists, and get a taste of what we enjoy.

Visiting Romainmôtier by bike

Romainmôtier is a nice destination to cycle to. The road takes you through a nice quiet road in the forest. The woods are the Bois De Ferreyres. The route that I took was undulating, with some climbing and some descending, but these ondulations are not extreme like cycling up to La Dôle or up to La Rippe, so manageable.

Cycling Destination

Quite a few people cycled to Romainmôtier and I noticed that a few went into the grounds of the Abbaye and rested their bikes against the wall, before having a drink. By taking the bike parking is simplified, but as well as parking being simplified, you get to experience the landscape first hand. You’re faster than a hiker, but still get to experience the winding roads, the ups, the downs, and the freedom to stop with the bike, more conveniently than with a car.

Recommendation

If you are not a confident cyclist, and don’t want to spend hundreds of hours getting fit, then electric bikes are a fantastic short cut because they give you the freedom to explore, without the dread of having to get back, despite being knackered. Electric bikes are more forgiving than cycling without a motor. With an electric bike you just ask for more assistance and you’re comfortable.

cycling

Cycling From Haute-Morges To Nyon Along the Top

Byrichard 16 June 202316 June 2023

Yesterday I cycled from Haute-Morges to Nyon along the top. I did this because I was curious to see what route the GPS would recommend. The natural thing to do would be to cycle downhill towards Rolle and the lake.

The Route

Instead I cycled upwards towards Montricher. From there I cycled west vila Mollens to Bière, and from there, down and across towards Saurraz, Marchissy, Le Vaud before Bassins, Le Muid and then finally down from Genolier towards Trelex and from Trelex down through Grens before heading down towards Nyon.

My expectation was to cycle uphill for a little bit, and then to cycle downhill for the rest of the journey home. In reality that wasn’t the case. In reality I did a lot of climbing. I had to climb over 450 metres.

Although it felt flat when I was cycling from Nyon, towards these places, when you’re cycling the other way you get to encounter all the climbs. Despite wanting to go down the hill, if you follow the Jura, you end up on a roller coaster. If I had been knackered I could have just followed the road signs that would take me to the lake road, but I didn’t.

Avoiding Rush Hour

I was cycling from 1500 onwards so I was cycling when parents, and people who work short days were commuting. If I had gone down to the valley of the Lac Léman I would have been pestered with cars and annoyed drivers. By staying at the top I burned a lot of energy, and it depleted my “battery” as Garmin calls it, but I had a pleasant ride.

Armour and Books

During this ride I was amused to see the armours in the windows of one shop. I always stop to look at them. I find it interesting to look at them. I also passed by several book lending libraries. One was sheltered with a fountain, the second was in an old phone box. The third was the library of Le Vaud but I didn’t enter. It’s nice that on such a ride we can look for books, should we desire to do so,

And Finally

The route is nice but I am not sure that I would ride it again. If I had gone up and around the Vallée de Joux I would have had a harder climb initially but then it would have been quite flat until St Cergue and then it would have been an easy downhill. If I had headed down, from Haute Morges, rather than up I would have had an easy ride to the lake, and then it would have undulated a little, but nothing like the Alpine route. I made it, within two hours, as expected, but it was more energetic than planned.

cycling

To the Rhone and Back

Byrichard 12 May 202312 May 2023

Today I cycled for three hours. I cycled to the Rhone and back along cycling lanes. Initially I had planned on a little 20km loop but because of dog walkers walking with their dogs, off of leash, I decided to ride along the road for a bit, before joining the voie verde again at the lac De Divonne.

Swiss walks

Visiting Buildings

Byrichard 9 March 20239 March 2023

There is a rule that you should often visit churches and other buildings, if you are authorised to. You can often find something interesting. In the case of the Temple De Crans-près-Céligny it’s the kitsch paintings and blue colour.

The other reason is for the view when you are outside, especially on a clear day. You can see from Geneva and it’s Jet D’eau to the other side of the lake, with the Alps and occassional trains.

The third and superficial reason to visit is that you can get a Camino De Santiago Stamp. The stamp is inside the church, on the left as you enter. What’s amusing is that just one village away, in Celigny you can also get a Camino Stamp.

I have seen many intereting sites, in churches, which is why I like to visit them. It’s not about religion, but about culture and local context. In Gingins there is a very old tombstone, in another there is a block of marble that Michelangelo started to carve but never finished. In the church above the thing that struck me is the blue. Usually churches are painted white or left gray. This one is a strong blue. It’s lighter, and more vibrant. It feels warm. It has a wooden organ in the back but I forgot to photograph it.

Missing Bees

Today when I walked by some woods I noticed that the beehives have gone and I am not sure why. Was it because of the storm winds, where owners chose to keep the bees safe, or to avoid the coming rain? It’s a small detail with big consequences., When I have walked that path, in summer, with the sunflowers on the other side, I have seen a bee superhighway. If the bees have been moved permanently then it will be quieter.

Video

An Interesting Structure In the Mouth of a Cavern.

Byrichard 14 February 202214 February 2022

I find the image in this tweet interesting. I don’t know the context of this location. I find the wooden building interesting. I also find it interesting to see the lighter patch around where the chimney exhausts. It is something out of the ordinary and could be interesting to see in person.

https://twitter.com/nicola98923617/status/1492856083441983488

To find out more about this building you can watch an SRF Ding Dong episode in German. They speak about this home about six minutes in. The program reminds me of a Swiss German Grand Designs or similar type of program. The structure looks normal. There is a space behind the building where you can walk between the building and the rock.

Swiss walks

A Saturday Walk During A Pandemic

Byrichard 6 March 20216 March 2021

Last week it was comfortable and warm so it was tempting to go cycling. This week it has gone back to being cold. Yesterday it was cold and windy and today was cold but sunny. I went for my usual walk but rather than listen to a podcast I watched TikTok videos as I walked at full speed. I am so used to the paths that I do not always need to pay attention.

The paths are dry. It hasn’t rained in days. The rivers are lower than they’ve been in a while and in theory river walking may be possible once again, as long as you don’t mind cold feet.

What was out of the ordinary today is that I saw people walking through fields on two separate occasions. On one occasion it was a trio of older people and their behaviour made no sense to me, for the simple reason that you can very easily walk around the field, and that the field has crops on it. If you’re going to walk through a field make sure that it has been harvested, that it is fallow or that no cows are using it.

I later saw a duo of people doing the same thing on another field and this does seem odd. Why would two groups of people have the same discourteous behaviour of walking over a crop?

Rather than walk along the usual routes I cut through the forest, walking through leaves, over dead branches, between trees and more. I filmed the progress I made. At the moment walking through forests is easy because none of the undergrowth is out yet. Walking between trees is easy, and so is navigating. When the undergrowth grows in spring such explorations will no longer be possible. That is when cycling will be more fun. I look forward to the cycling season starting properly once again. I went to be on the bike, and to explore. I also want to feel that something is finally changing.

I saw a Trio of older women and I thought that they may be having adventures like the three men in Last of the Summer Wine. A trio of friends going for mischievous adventures in nature during their afternoon walks.

environmental | Swiss walks

Day Four of Orca in Switzerland – Exploring the Trail Less Travelled

Byrichard 19 March 202019 March 2020

Today is Day Four of Orca in Switzerland and I saw that the Canton in which I live has the most active cases of COVID19 so my motivation both to go to shops and to go for walks has taken a hit. At the same time I don’t know whether it’s COVID 19 that is having this effect or the fact that I walked a theoretical 197.2 kilometres since the start of this month for the March Activity challenge.

All I have to do now to complete the challenge is walk 7.8 kilometres a day for the next ten days and I’m done. Easy goal. I’m impatient for this challenge so that I can return to cycling, no matter whether it’s on the indoor trainer or outdoors.

Exploring The Trail Less Travelled.

Today I went off exploring the trail less traveled. I walked towards an Ingress portal and then I took a right turn and walked along a trail. I could have taken the road and crossed a bridge to get to the portal but the muddy path is an excellent option because it keeps me away from people.

The path wasn’t too muddy but I did have to scramble over a tree that had fallen to the ground and avoid slipping on mud. I captured the portal, full deployed and then I went off exploring.

A nice little hidden waterfall just 30 centimeters high.

I love walking along this river because you would never believe that you’re so close to Eysins and Nyon. If you stood quietly you could probably hear both. It’s nice because it’s secluded but it’s also nice because you could imagine children playing by this river on a hot summer’s day.

I walked beyond the waterfall but at this point the path becomes more challenging. I could have gone across and towards Nyon but I chose to go down towards the river. The river, is less full of water than it was a few days ago when the rain was heavy so I could sneak a little further than on previous explorations.

The layers of rock strata, and trees growing up around them

The image above shows a safe bit of cliff but there are moments where you feel that it’s precarious. Erosion is slowly eroding the soil away and trees are falling forward, into the valley. I wouldn’t recommend exploring certain segments on a rainy day.

During the quarantine, the message is to stay away from people. By exploring snickets in forests you achieve this goal easily. No dog walkers, no families on a walk, no one.

Quarantine can be boring, and it can be lonely, especially for those of us living in solitude who still have the fortitude to endure loneliness for society at large. Exploring is a nice way of living in the moment. It’s a way of finding things to write blog posts about, but it’s also something to show others, once solitary people, are once again allowed the company of another human.

Staying Local

During this pandemic, I am trying not to use the car and I use the scooter as little as possible. I try to stay within walking distance for everything. My logic is that by traveling further I would come in contact with more people and I might bring the virus from an infected region to one that was clear of the virus.

At the moment we know which Cantons are affected but we have no idea of whether villages or towns are clean. If we knew that villages or towns were clear of the virus we could go into reverse quarantine. Rather than keeping people isolated, we could keep them insulated. By this, I mean that shops, handshakes, and social life could be restored. Of course, this is unfeasible.

Before I stop writing for today I did see people start to wear masks, and gloves, attempting to isolate themselves from the risk of contagion. I’m still washing my hands, and simply staying home when not on a walk, and washing my hands as soon as I get home.

What is your pandemic footprint. Mine, is just two at this moment in time.

observation | Video | youtube

K2 With a Drone

Byrichard 6 May 20177 May 2017

K2 with a Drone is a documentary following Petr Jan Juracka, a scientific photographer’s trip to K2 with Klara Kolouchova with two drones. He performed extensive testing before setting off on the trip. He flew the drone in a hyperbaric chamber to see how it would react. He flew it in freezing conditions to check that the batteries would cope and then he flew in other places.

He had already flown his drone in a multitude of countries and Pakistan was the latest challenge. We see the journey to base camp. We see images of the snow and ice, of rivers, of challenging roads and more. The documentary mixes fixed camera footage and drone footage in a pleasant to watch manner.

Thanks to God, to a lot of work of professional kindergarten teachers, great support of my parents and a lot of eye-training I see. And I see perfectly! Since the times my vision went good I enjoy every detail, every color and I admire any type of light. – Petr Jan Jura?ka

For some of the cold weather testing:

As I watched this documentary one question I wanted to have answered is how he powers his drone and other devices. Apparently he has a set of solar panels that he can deploy outside his tent. When acclimating at base camp solar panels would be ideal. There is no need to carry a heavy generator and fuel. You just bring a few weatherproof panels, deploy them on the side of the tent and wait for various batteries to charge. In that shot we see that the weather is overcast.

Overall this is an interesting documentary that I would expect to see at events such as the Alpine Film Festival in Les Diablerets or the Montagne en Scène events. Combined with more footage of the climb of K2 it could provide for a more complete documentary.