The Tuesday Solo Ride

Yesterday I didn't dress for cycling. My plan was to see if I could get the power meter to work and then go for a short ride. In the end I found that as one device failed to detect them I would try a second. The second worked after a few seconds. I calibrated the pedal, and then I went for a short ride.

The short ride I speak of became a longer ride. At first it was a small loop, and then I headed downhill before heading towards the road where I had seen two women walking with donkeys a week or so ago. I turned left, and then I road along the contours towards a Moulin before eventually heading upwards. I headed towards L'Isle before changing my mind about heading up towards the Col. II turned left, and then followed a cycling route towards Montricher before heading back down.

During the trip down I crossed the Mardistes cycling their loop. At the time I was tempted to try to join them. When I looked at the stats for some of the people who flew by I saw that they were cycling at an average speed of 31 km/h or more. I would have to work hard to keep up with this group.

There is bias in the data. Those that share their rides are probably strong riders, and those that were in the main group were possibly riding at a pace I can keep up with. I saw them and felt the desire to ride with a group.

Riding at 100 Watts

IIn the rolling hills above Morges it is challenging to ride at 100 watts. Either you're going down a hill and there is little need to pedal, or you're going up a steep hill which requires 200-300 watts. I also found that I was riding into the wind while heading up towards L'Isle. As soon as you're fighting the wind you make more effort.

Usually I ride without a power meter so I have no idea of how much power I am putting out. I haven't had power data since I was Zwifting so this has been my first time looking at a power curve since 2018. My peak is half as strong as iit was but I suspect that this is due to wearing barefoot trail glove 7 on clipless pedals.

And Finally

I could ride near Nyon tonight but I don't want to go towards Nyon during Paléo. I was hit by a car when driving the scooter by a Caribana festival goer. I don't want to repeat that experience again with a festival goer for Paléo. They also announce rain, and logistically it would not be fun, getting to Nyon.

If the forecast for tomorrow is wrong then I would like to try a loop that I have partially ridden iin the past.