Years ago I was interviewed by the RTS to speak about Twitter and my conclusion is that it would never pick up in Switzerland because there are too few users and they’re too dispersed. That is still true.
Social networks that are alive and well are Meetup, GoSocial, Strava and Whatsapp. It’s absurd that Whatsapp is in the list given that it is owned and controlled by Facebook, so people that hate Facebook would, rationally avoid Whatsapp too, but they don’t.
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.
I think that tomorrow I will wake between 05:00-05:30 to be ready at the meeting point to go for a bike ride that starts at 06:30. The start is early because it is meant to be a “ride before work” for this group.
The pace is tempo. On the flat I expect to be okay. It’s on the climbs that I expect to be left behind, between Tartegnin and the turn where if you go right you go to Signal de Bougy and if you go left you go through cement roads.
Two days ago I was cycling with a group and someone commented that the relaxed rides are no longer relaxed and that got me to thinking about organising a real relaxed ride, where the aim is to cycle at 20 on the flat. If I had had this option then I could have tried group rides much sooner. In fact the group rides that I tried last year would have been more comfortable.
The most beautiful sight I saw on today’s ride was a murder of crows sitting at a water fountain. They were there because it offered water. When I cycled by it forced them to take off and scatter. With them were a few birds of prey. If you have watched The Birds by Hitchcock then the experience would have been bad. For me it was the highlight of my solo ride.
I am in the process of forming a new habit and that habit is to cycle on Saturday mornings. In cycling on Saturday mornings I keep Saturday afternoon free for other things. I can take care of washing clothes and more. It also gives me time to rest and recover before Sunday.
By accident I signed up for a hike and now I am torn between going for the hike, which requires trains, and potentially meeting two or three people, or sticking to my usual plan of going for a bike ride.
On Saturday I went for a ride with Bike Club Switzerland from Geneva. The ride itself was planned on an 80km loop that went from Geneva via Vich up to Begnings and then towards one or two more places before heading back towards la Rippe, across the top, and eventually down to Grilly and Geneva.
The Planned hike was meant to be moderate, at around 22km/h and 82km in distance. To get to the meeting point I had to cycle 22km just to start the group ride, and then 82km with the ride, and then 22km or more to get home.
Tomorrow there are at least three hikes and three bike rides that I know of. The hikes are via GoSocial and the bike rides are via Meetup. On Sunday I know of at least two to three GoSocial hikes and one Meetup hike. I have plenty of choice for what to do on weekends. In fact the choice is broader than that.
Over a week ago I signed up for a hike but over the last two weeks I have seen people say “I want to participate” without ever being told “sorry, we’re full”.
This weekend I went on two hikes. The first was from Jaun to Gruyères across fields filled with flowers. The second was a loop around the Aiguilles de Baumes. Both hikes were interesting although I prefered the size and pace of the second group.
This weekend I was reminded of the “Hike Your Own” phrase that American thru-hikers like to remind themselves of. I had to remind myself of this phrase on Saturday, but also on previous group hikes with GoSocial.
This weekend seems to be quiet, hiking wise. So far I see just one event, organised. Sunday would have been an option, except that it could be stormy in the afternoon. If light rain falls, then that’s fine, but if it is hail then it is better to avoid. I think that’s why we have gone from five hikes in a single weekend, to just one.
Yesterday I studied the logistics for this hike, and I got everything ready.