The First Metric Century of the Season

Yesterday I set off from home at around 08:00 for what I planned would be a one hundred kilometre ride. The rational was that I would cycle to and from Geneva, around 50 kilometres, and participate in a group ride with Bike Club Switzerland, another fifty kilometre ride. It’s because it was easy to add a few kilometres that I decided to bring this first one hundred kilometre ride to fruition.

I consider myself lucky with the routing. I was expecting that we would climb from Geneva, into France, go around the foot of the Jura towards Divonne, have coffee, and then ride back. I expected that the ride back would be the route that I had just ridden to get to Geneva.

In fact the opposite was true, and that’s great. It meant that the ride out of Geneva was on the road I had just taken, and the road back to Geneva was different. It made riding back to Geneva a rational thing to do. I then rode back to Nyon via Versoix before going up from the Mies roundabout to Coppet, before then riding back down, into Nyon, and then up through Nyon before heading home.

This ride was relaxed for the entire route. From Nyon to Geneva I made sure to cycle below my maximum, even resting, without pedaling for stretches. I also decided to take a new route that I have done with groups, but not solo, through the forest above Commugny. It allows the trip to be away from cars for longer. There isn’t much traffic at 8am on a Saturday.

I arrived to Geneva with half an hour to spare before the start of the ride. I was surprised by how great the conditions were. It was nippy, and I definitely felt that I would have been happier with an extra layer or two, but those layers, on a bike, are hard to carry once it gets warm, so I chose to run slightly cold. It paid off.

A Good Pace with Less Climbing

I appreciated that the pace was more relaxed, and with less climbing for once. I enjoy not having to push for the entire ride, to keep up, and not to have to get through too many climbs. It also helps that the weather is good, and that the wind is calm.

Why Relax?

People are often surprised when I choose easlier rides but I prefer them. When I went on difficult run, after difficult run, and then more difficult rides I push myself to the point of just heading home and recovering. According to Garmin, Suunto and Apple I was pushing too hard.

When you walk, and run, and hike, and then cycle you’re changing from one system of muscles, to a second and then a third, and it needs to adapt. I was pushing too hard so I struggled at the end of several activities.

Recovered

Yesterday I rode for four to six hours, for a total of around seven hours of being out. I rode to Geneva relaxed, and the group ride was relaxed. It was so relaxed that on a climb where I am usually knackered, and dropped, I coped with ease, such ease I rushed up the final climb, and then turned back to rejoin the group.

On the ride back to Nyon I made sure not to push too hard on the long flat bit towards Versoix, and that climb, and then I went up via Mies, before heading across to Coppet, before heading back down to the lakeside.

When I got to the UEFA traffic light I had enough power left to race cars on the road that goes by the plage de Nyon. I kept up right up to the Débarcadère before heading up, and towards home.

And Finally

To give an idea of how much energy I had left after 100 kilometres I was at the Emil Frey traffic light, waiting to turn right, when I tried to push and I felt the chain block. I had to dismount the bike, move to the pavement and identify the issue.

The chain had jumped off the cassette, between the cassette and the spokes and jammed. I then had to try to work it loose. In the process I either bent or loosened some spokes so that the wheel lost it’s alignment.

I might have had plenty of energy when cycling, but I was too knackered, when I got home, to go to a cycling shop to get them to check the bike. I have to wait for Tuesday to get the prognosis. Ideally it’s checking the rear derailleur and tightening wheel spokes, not more serious.

For once I think I fared better than the bike. We’ll see whether I have to take a break from cycling while the bike is fixed.

Most importantly, if I had refrained from sprinting to keep up with cars I would have been even more rested/relaxed.