The Relaxed Long Ride Around the Mole and Back Via Mole

Yesterday I set off at about 07:20 feeling slightly tired and under the weather. While I rode into Geneva I felt that I couldn't push too much and I questioned whether I should abort the ride.

When I got near Geneva I thought "If I stay in my apartment I will be as warm as if I am outdoors, but without the breeze. I decided to go on the long variant anyway. The relaxed group, in my mind was not relaxed. On a flat section we were riding at 31 kilometres per hour, sustained.

If everyone in the group was riding at that level then I would have been made an effort to ride at that pace. As several people were slower than that I felt it moral to slow down for the slower people in the group.

I like group riding, but I don't like forcing myself to be fast. I prefer for the entire group to remain within visual range, and if the group is relaxed, to remain at 20-25km/h. To ride hard and fast there are moderate, peak and other groups. If I wanted to ride hard I could have gone with the Nyon group.

This week I rode up to the top of the Jura twice, and that is not easy. That's why I chose to go with the relaxed group. I knew the distance would be long, but I expected a slower, more comfortable pace.

It's not that I don't want to ride hard and fast. It's that I don't want to ride hard and fast after two hard and fast rides on Wednesday and Thursday. My secondary goal for yesterday's ride was to have another 120 kilometre ride. Fourty four between Nyon and Geneva, and eighty nine on the Geneva to Mole loop.

For a day or two before the ride I was thinking that I would ride to Geneva, do the loop, and then take the train home if I was tired. It's because I felt I had energy left over that I rode from Pont du Mont Blanc to Nyon, and then towards what I thought would be Prangins, and then Gland. I rode to Gland, and then I took the quiet route after Schilliger towards the train station, up to the motorway, the roundabout, and turned left. I then headed towards the road works and rode back down to Nyon.

My one hundred and twenty kilometre loop became a one hundred and fourty eight kilometre loop. By slowing down to be more inclusive I saved energy, ready to attempt a new personal distance record, which I achieved. When I got home I could still run up and down the stairs and my knees still felt fine. That's a sign that I rode within my limits.

Heatwave Ride

The air temperature when I rode through Gland was 37°c and it was warm for most of the ride. It was so warm that whenever we stopped people went into the shade to rest, and every time we came across fountains we refilled our bottles. I had one and a half litres of water and I refilled at least three or four times.

For the first time I emptied a tube of electrolytes that was almost full, in a single ride. It was hot, and I drank plenty, and all of it evaporated off of me. In theory I lost seven litres of water during the ride.

The Sun

In the morning I put suntan lotion on. During the ride I felt fine but the ride home was at the UV maximum for the day and I did not reapply suntan lotion. Today I can feel that I should have. I suspect that my skin is fragile rather than burned. I will stay in the shade today.

Normally I always put more suntan lotion on during a ride or hike. When we took a break for lunch we sat indoors in a place with no breeze so I went to sit in the shade of the trees where I could feel a cooling breeze. It's rare for me not to reapply suntan lotion two or three times in a day.

I think UV radiation was my personal challenger.

And Finally

Next week I plan to do the Wednesday morning ride, which I expect to be challenging, and then Thursday I will do the group 3 ride with TDC to have a rest day and then on Saturday I might try a moderate ride with BCS or a Saturday ride with TDC.

I could also be tempted by a slow, relaxed, ride that is both slow, and relaxed. We will see what the options are by Wednesday or Thursday.