The Desire to Participate

I saw that there is a hike taking place nearby. I would have really liked to join it but I would have been participant eleven with a limit of ten people. I wanted to participate because it would have required walking to Nyon, and taking the train de St Cergue to St Cergue and then walking for a few hours, before taking the train back down and walking home. Both my carbon footprint and my travel time would have been small and the environment would have benefited.

As I write this it isn’t that I don’t have a social thing to do this afternoon. I will go for a bike ride. I suspect that my bike really needs a service. I suspect that the rear wheel needs to be taken apart and cleaned so that the ball barings are as efficient as when they were new.

Riding with slow people, this doesn’t matter, but this afternoon will be a hard ride. I will be slowed down, not by the lack of power in my legs, but the loss of efficiency in the bike. That’s why a walk would have been better.

If things had gone to plan yesterday afternoon I would have swapped the old bike with the new bike, at least for this ride, before leaving the old bike for a service. It hasn’t been serviced in years and now it’s starting to show.

I considered sneaking onto the activity. I could easily have walked to Nyon, and accidentally crossed paths with that group and joined in, under the radar. If I had had no backup plan I would have tried that, but since I knew about the bike ride for weeks I had no valid reason to "break rules". If I had been told "no, go away" I could have, with ease.

The Weather

Yesterday was beautiful and sunny but cold and today is overcast and bland, so by not going on the walk I am not missing beautiful weather. The weather is good, up above, but it will be cold. At this time of year you get the thermal inversion by going to the mountains.

And Finally

My desire for that walk was based on it being local. I don’t know the participants and according to recent years whether I socialise or not, my solitude does not change.

By going for the bike ride, as planned weeks ago I am breaking new ground, personally. I’m used to riding when it’s sunny and warm but I am not used to riding when it is barely above freezing. If I am not too uncomfortable during this afternoon’s ride, then I will have opened the door to winter cycling in cold weather.