Cycling

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.

Yesterday I was playing with Strava Flyoveers and I tried to share the videos of flyovers but rather than sharing the video as I had wanted to do it shared a hyperlink to the activities that were already shared. I then tried to share via Instagram but the result was a pixelated mess with a line.

What is a Flyover?

A video flyover is a 3d video of the ride, hike or other sport that you have just completed in the same style as you see ahead of Tour De France Stages and others. It allows you to see the speed, altitude and landscape as a rider or hiker may see the view. Here is an example of a LeCercle Ride I participated in.

Yesterday we were cycling up towards Marchissy when a combine harvester began to follow us quite close. The experience of being followed, while cycling is quite something. These machines are large, with big tyres, and the driver is centred rather than to the left as with other vehicles. Luckily the gradient of the climb was not too steep.

After riding in two groups in a single day I expected yesterday evening to be relaxed. I had set my heart on riding with group three, as it’s a relaxed group, before seeing someone I knew who wanted to join group 2. As I had the course I offered to help with guidance.

Yesterday I went with a morning ride with TDC, which felt relaxed, before going for a ride with LeCercle in the evening. This group has a high level with many of the cyclists riding thousands of kilometres per year.

Yesterday I wrote about how groups that are large enough can cater to fast, and slow people. LeCercle feels like a smaller group of highly engaged cyclists who ride regularly.

Until Genolier I was able to stay with the group comfortably. It’s when we hit the climbs that I lost a lot of time. I’m riding with a bike that is heavier, and I have a casesette that is more suited to London than mountains. Having said this, with other groups I climb faster than others so I am not using equipment as an excuse.

Meetup and Strava are two sites filling specific niches. Meetup is a dinosaur of the web. It dates back to 2005 when the web was still looking for a way to be sustainable, and thus, more fun. Meetup was good for people in big US cities, London and other metropolitain cities. If you lived in Bumbleduck nowhere it was not. (Intentional spelling)

Strava in contrast is a young company. It was created in 2009 and became popular among the cycling community for a while, before eventually including running, hiking and then climbing and many other sports. The point of Strava is that it is a social network for sporty people. Meetup is a social network for sedentary, as well as sporty meetups.

A few weeks ago two individuals in a car yelled abuse at a group of us who were cycling. They were mad that a cyclist did not pull in for them to pass easily. At this point I thought “Despair is not sat on a bench as in the proverb, he is sat in a car.

Years ago, after yet another speeding fine when driving between home and a scuba diving spot, or vice versa I was flashed and I thought “expensive cars are a waste of money, because the motorway is rarely quiet enough to drive at the speed limit, let alone to speed. In effect you’re spending a huge amount on a machine that will see you stuck in traffic and grumpy.

Yesterday I arrived to the cycling meeting place by 08:07 and the Peak group were still there, getting read to set off. It was understood that I had planned to ride with the group and I was tempted to try. The issue is that I already rode quite hard with the Wednesday group and the Thursday group.

The other issue is that they were going on a 100km ride with quite a bit of climbing so I would have struggled to keep up. I was also not ready, food and snack ride to do such a long and physical ride.

Today on two segments, specifically I rode fast. I rode fast because I know them well so it is easy for me to assess effort without feeling drained, or at least not too drained, and then I slowed down to the speed of the group.

The rest of the time I was making an effort to keep up. I know this because today the ride was short but my legs feel pumped, as if I have been on a hard ride.

Over the last week I have cycled, and climbed over 3000m. Yesterday I climbed 1664 meters over an 89 kilometre ride. It was divided into the first climb, from the Léman towards La Cure, then a flat bit, ridden fast, before getting to the climb to Marchairuz and that is when I ran out of power.

I wasn’t hungry, or thirsty. My legs were fatigued, after climbing up the Jura on Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday. Thursday was a very hard ride, after which I felt fine, until the sprint back to Nyon. That’s when I was knackered.

A few days ago I went on a group ride. I noticed that a high percentage of bikes had bike radars so I checked to see the price of these devices once again. For a year or two I have considered getting a bike radar but didn’t because I found that the price was too high. I believe that recently either the price went down or the offer of cheaper alternatives improved.