Cycling

Yesterday I was stung by a wasp while cycling and when I tried to remove the stinger I couldn’t. I was in pain and almost stopped cycling. I was in distress as a bus passed on a main road. I was on an agricultural path by some apple orchards. I stopped where the agricultural road reached the main road. 

It’s almost twenty four hours later and my lower lip and one of my cheeks have swelled up. A few weeks ago I had a similar incident with a bee but I was able to remove the stinger while cycling and my quick action prevented too much poison from being pumped into my lower lip. When that incident occurred I was surprised not to have any swelling. 

Yesterday I rode an e-bike over 5km and played with the eco, touring, sport and turbo modes. I experimented with the gears and I experimented with a variety of gradients and surfaces. Through this trial I got to understand how e-bikes work. 

Gaining momentum

E-bikes are great for helping you get up to 25 kilometres an hour and after that, if you have the strength then you can ride the bike at over 25 kilometres per hour for as long as you last. When you start to get tired the engine will kick in again when you slip down to below 25 kilometres per hour and assist you for the rest of the journey.

Assembly

It took me one hour this morning to assemble a single beltdrive bike. It was relatively simple, unbox it, assemble the saddle, add the handlebars, add the pedals, add the front wheel, inflate the tires and I think that was it. The part that took me longer was finding where the front wheel bolts were. They were in the plastic inserts to stabilise the bike in the box.

First test run

I then went for a bike ride on a variety of gradients to assess how it felt on each. I found that I wanted to instinctively change gears but I couldn’t. It required me to get out of the saddle more than I would with a geared bike but other than that the ride was pleasant. 

My average time riding a bike over the last four weeks was seven and a half hours per week. When I’m not riding the bike I’m usually using the scooter but that’s mainly because I don’t want to leave the bike unattended. It is for this reason that I’ve been looking for cheap alternatives. I’ve looked at folding bikes but they cost as much as a scooter and I’ve been looking at electric bikes but they also cost as much as a scooter. 

Two days ago I started playing/training with Zwift. I tested it on my phone, the ipad and the laptop and it worked with each. Pairing both the apple watch with the iOS app on mobile phone and ipad worked well. Pairing between the bluetooth cadence and speed sensor as well as the suunto movesense heartrate monitor worked well with the laptop.

A set time or distance limit

When you are riding loops in the real world it’s easy to plan on a one hour ride and end up taking two hours as you add additional segments because you feel good. Sometimes you get home and two to three hours have elapsed. With Zwift training programs will last for a set amount of time with set goals. 

I have been thinking of replacing the scooter with an electric bike for a while now. I am discouraged by the cost of electric bikes. Electric bikes range in price from one thousand to four thousand francs or more and their range is from fourty to one hundred and eighty kilometres. They are also limited to 25 kilometres per hour if you want to preserve the right to use cycling paths in Switzerland. 

This summer I was thinking of buying a car until I found out that my contract break was for six months rather than three. As a result of this my ability to buy my own car vanished. I used the scooter, my feet and eventually the bike to travel thousands of kilometres. 

I rode the scooter for at least four thousand kilometres and I cycled for around 1000km. I also hiked 

Yesterday I tried cycling to the Vallée de Joux and succeeded. A few weeks ago I cycled up to St George and I saw a sign that said that the Col De Marchairuz was less than 6km away so I decided to try it. When I succeeded that I saw that getting to the Vallée de Joux would be possible. 

On Sunday due to the weather I thought that I would go for a small 30km loop to avoid the bad weather and rain. I felt fresh when I got back to Nyon so I decided to go further and I headed towards the Col De Mollendruz but took a wrong turn and arrived in Bière. As I felt tired I changed course and headed back for home. 

Yesterday I cycled my first 100km ride. It started as a simple ride towards Geneva and back but by the time I got back to Nyon I felt that I had enough energy to go further so I set the goal of getting to Rolle and after Rolle I set the goal to get to Morges before getting distracted and heading up towards Bière. 

During this ride when cycling towards Geneva I saw a peloton cycling together and taking turns leading and sheltering behind each other. I continued cycling outside of the windbreak zone and managed to keep up. If I had wanted to I could have overtaken them but it’s lucky I didn’t because I’d have burned out sooner. 

The Elite Qubo fluid is a home trainer using a viscous fluid to provide resistance when you’re cycling with your road bike indoors. It is easy to assemble and within minutes you can start using it. 

https://youtu.be/ulhpwTRvAfo

These devices cost less than apartment bikes and allow you to train with your existing bike within the comfort of your own home or garage over the winter months when wind, rain or snow would make cycling outdoors less practical.