The Tour De Romandie Small Reconnaissance Loop

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Yesterday 60 people went to Morges to cycle the Tour De Romandie Morges stage ahead of the race today. There were two loops, a 90+ kilometre loop for an average speed of 29km/h on the flat and another loop for an average speed of 25 km/h on the flat and a distance of 57 kilometres.

When I got the GPX for the 90 kilometre loop I considered doing that loop, until I considered that with an average of 30 km/H I would be tired, especially since I rarely cycle 90km loops at the moment.

The Right Choice of a Loop

Choosing the 57 kilometre loop was the right choice for two reasons. The first reason is that I have cycled the distance two or three times recently so I know that I can do the distance. The other reason is that my average speed has been 24.4 or so kilometres per hour over two hours for two or three rides in a row.

Familiar Roads

What I liked about this ride is the route. I know some segments of the path, but not all. I know them from driving and cycling in the region. That is an advantage for fatigue and pacing. If you know what’s coming up, then you can budget effort, and you know when efforts will end.

An Unfamiliar Climb

I would say that the more challenging climb was from L’Isle up the Route Du Mollendruz until the turn to the Route De la Traversaille. It’s the last steep bit of the loop. I was second for part of the climb but then I dropped a few places. It’s not that I slowed down much, but that others sped up, I think. If I do the climb again I will know how long the effort lasts, to push.

We had drinks and snacks in Montrichet before heading back down. The downhill part was easy for the most part. You go down from Montricher towards Ballens, but rather than head into Bière you head down towards Lavigny and then follow the signs for Lavigny and St Prex after that. The road between St Prex and Morges is hellish on a Saturday, on a bike, because of traffic. There is at least one incident of a car overtaking where it shouldn’t being flashed by a car coming from the opposite direction.

The End of the Route

The end of the cycle rides was at the Piscine de Morges with crudités and drinks as well as a screen to watch the Tour de Romandie stage end.

About the Groups

From what I overheard the long loop was mainly guys, rather than women. I expected the opposite to be true. With the smaller loop the mix was of a few men and women split into two groups of fifteen to have less of an effect on traffic.

I thought that more young women would join, and by young I mean up to my age. This wasn’t really the case. I won’t elaborate because it’s an impression, rather than knowledge.

Using the Train Rather than the Car to Get to Morges

I experimented with taking the bike from home to Nyon and the train from Nyon to Morges, before riding from the train station to the meeting point. It worked well. I paid the supplement for the bike, as you’re meant to.

Morges to Nyon on a Busy Saturday

For the way back I cycled from Morges to Prangins along the lake road. When I got to Prangins I went up via the hospital to avoid the lakeside of Nyon as it would have been busy. Cycling between Morges added another hour and 30 kilometres to my bike ride. My left knee needs a rest now.

And Finally

With the Skoda group from Divonne it feels like I need to push myself to keep up but with this group I felt that I could ride at a comfortable pace, and slow down, or stop pedalling. The only bit where I struggled was above L’Isle, before turning towards Montricher. That’s why I felt that I had enough reserves to ride back to Nyon.

I would do something similar again, if the opportunity presented itself. That’s why, out of the five activities I had to choose from I chose this one.