The Energetic Bike Ride

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Yesterday my intention was to cycle along the Voie Verte from Crassier to Grilly and then back down towards, the lake, along the lake and end up back in Nyon. I didn’t follow this plan through. I was thinking “I don’t want to do the steep Mies climb so I’ll go to Nyon, but on the way to Nyon I thought of going to Prangins. In Prangins I then decided to head to Aubonne. In the end I did ride to Aubonne.

The Lake Road

For the most part the lake road is wide enough for a lane to be dedicated to cyclists, so, for the most part it feels safe. People do overtake too fast, and too close, but for a lot of it cyclists have a dedicated space. As you arrive around Rolle the cycle lane is on the road, sharing the lane, and this part feels dangerous. This part feels like it should be watched, for police to fine people for dangerous driving around cyclists.

Luckily that segment is small.

No Signal de Bougy “summet”

I considered riding towards the Signal De Bougy and back down from there but decided against it for a simple reason. It’s Sunday, and parents of children are driving dangerously along that road. Dangerously, for cyclists. Drivers do not consider how frightening it is to be passed by a car at 80 km/h or more, when struggling up a steep gradient.

The narrow space left to cyclists heading up to Aubonne

Drivers Need to be More Considerate of Cyclists

I love cycling, but I hate that we have to play chicken with impatient drivers. I wish that drivers would treat cyclists with more respect. I love cycling. I hate feeling threatened by dangerous driving. That’s why I ride on Sundays. On Sunday you don’t have angry Saturday shoppers driving on roads. I’m not stereotyping. When I used to drive all the time I suffered from the same immoral character. That’s why I stopped driving except for shopping. That, and the pandemic, and the broken arm before that, and the winter of night shifts a few years ago.

The Via Rhone Back

View from the vineyards

For the ride home I took the Via Rhone once I spotted the signs. The beauty of the Via Rhone is that it takes you away from traffic and onto agricultural roads. Instead of getting in the way of angry drivers you are on rural roads with other cyclists. You overtake a family on a bike ride at one point. You pass people cycle touring at another moment. In theory you could even drop by the Coop Pronto stope at the Aire De La Côte. I did not check whether it was accessible. Some are.

A chocolate factory

Ride Effort

The ride lasted for about three and a half hours but I was moving for about three hours and ten minutes or more. Of that time I spent 17 minutes in zone five(maximum), 1hr15 in zone four(threshold) and 1hr11 in zone 3(Aerobic). Usually when I am on my daily walks I am within zones one and two, so to get to spend so much time in zones three and four is good. It shows that this was a real workout.

Graph of time in fitness zones generated by Garmin connect

If I had had snacks, and if I felt that I had the energy reserves then I would have summited at the Signal De Bougy before heading back down but I could feel the start of fatigue. From Aubonne home I felt fatigue. I felt that I was running on reserves. If I had planned to do such a long ride I would have made sure to snack every half hour, or every hour.

According to SportsTracker I spent one and a half hours in zone four.

Energy burned

According to Garmin I burned 1535 calories. According to the Apple Fitness app I burned 1762kcals. That’s why I should have fuelled better. According to the SportsTracker app I have a recovery time of 84 hours and a tss of 225.