A Groupe Ride from Nyon to Les Fruitières with Tête de Course

Yesterday we left Nyon through the "secret" passage that takes you from near Place St Martin to the lakeside. We had to take this route because of the défilé des enfants. Roads were blocked so some drivers might have been trapped for an hour or two. On a bike I was blocked from going one way so I went another way, and then I walked to the meeting point.

Tête de Course is a group that meets on Wednesday mornings, at 06:30, Thursday at 18:00 and on Saturdays it depends, in so far as I can see. I am still new to the group.

The Morning Ride

The Morning ride is open to riders that can ride twenty five kilometres an hour or more. On Wednesday it involved quite a bit of climbing but I was able to keep up with the group and will almost certainly ride with them again next Wednesday. Riding at 06:30 is nice because the roads are empty, but also because the temperature is still relatively low. At the end of the ride you can have a coffee and croissant before getting on with the rest of your day.

The Evening Ride

The Evening Ride is split into three groups. Group 1 is the fastest, most demanding group. They ride fast and do the full loop. Group 2 rides a shorter route at a slightly slower pace. Group 3 is a more relaxed pace. In theory if you can’t keep up with group 1 you can drop to group 2.

My first ride with this group was a group 3 ride. Initially the idea was to ride a shorter ride up the Baudichonne climb, stopping at the P’tit Bar. I rode to it, had a quick snack, and then continued riding upwards. I was the only person from group 3 to get to the top. That’s why this week I decided to ride with group 2.

This week group 2 rode to Les Fruitères de Nyon. It’s a climb up the Jura to a farm from which you have a good view of the Léman and the Alps, including Geneva.

What struck me about last night’s ride is that we were riding as a peloton, up steep gradients, and keeping as a tight group. It’s the first time I ride in such a group, where we stick together until a certain point. Eventually as people grew more tired the group elongated.

Near the top group 1 flew by group 2. At the top we stopped for a few minutes, to appreciate the view, before heading back down.

How Does it Compare to Bike Club Switzerland

Whilst Tête de Course (TDC) starts from a café in Nyon Bike Club Switzerland (BCS) starts from a bike shop in Les Grottes by Cornavin train station. It uses meetup.com and has clear and distinct groups for relaxed rides, moderate rides, peak rides and gravel. So far I have focused mainly on relaxed with this group.

The relaxed rides are meant to go at 20km/h or so but can trend upwards depending on the level of the group and they try to be around 50 km long. Some relaxed rides are long, and thus 80 or more kilometres in distance.

With the relaxed rides you stop for coffee at some point. Within this group climbing is at your own pace.

I cannot comment on moderate to peak rides yet as I have not tried them. I do joke that we did a recovery ride one sunday at 29km/h or more. This is not a criticism. It amused me.

And Finally

I enjoy riding with Tête de Course. I enjoy that it is local to me. I enjoyed riding in a peloton part of the way up the Jura, before fatigue encouraged me to have more space between myself and others. If you love to climb on every ride then this is a great group. Tomorrow they are going along a route that will have 1400m of climbing. I could be tempted, if I didn’t think that I need to give my body time to rest and recover. That’s where BCS comes in.

If you live in Geneva BCS rides are from 40-80 kilometres long, but if you live in Nyon then every ride is a century. It is possible for me to do 100+km rides consistently because relaxed rides are at a pace that I can sustain for longer periods of time. Tomorrow I might ride 120km. I suspect that I will catch the train from Geneva to Nyon, or Coppet.

I am enjoying these bike rides.