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.

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.

Yesterday I rode with Group 2 rather than Group 1 with TDC. I believe I could keep up for a second time. I also believe that when you’re cycling hard three times a week it takes a lot of energy.My experience last Saturday showed that I was pushing myself too hard by riding by cyclists stronger than me three times in a week, especially after riding close to my max on Wednesday, Thursday and then Sunday.

For years I have used Sportstracker, and then Strava and Komoot and others. Whether I use one platform or another isn’t much of a concern. I can send my data everywhere. The question is whether I make that data public, private, or a hybrid compromise. With Suunto and Sportracker I usually keep almost everything private because I can’t highlight zones that I want to keep private. With Komoot it requires cropping the start and end point to hide where you live.

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.

One of the strangest things, in my observation of other people, is that they dress as if it was warm when it was cold. They dress in shorts and t-shirts to walk in the mountains in spring. That’s quite absurd, given how the mountains, in April tend to be cold. Others dress in shorts and a t-shirt to go running when it is barely above freezing and I find this behaviour absurd too.

Yesterday I came across something interesting and frustrating. Apple watches don’t need to be obsolete, themselves, to be unusable. If you try to pair an iphone 8 plus with an Apple Watch it will refuse because the OS is two generations too old. I tried to sync with the Iphone SE from 2020 and I am also having issues. The OS is 18.x so it should work fine. It’s not just the watch that has to be kept up to date.

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.

Today I am resting. Yesterday afternoon I was planning to go for a bike ride with the easiest group and went with the hardest, after it was recommended that I do this. The result is that today I feel fine, but I’m still taking a rest day. Tomorrow I will have a physical 89 km ride with one thousand six hundred meters of climbing. I expect to be tired during the second climb.

Two or three weeks ago a friend asked whether I wannted to go to the outdoor cinema so I thought “maybe” and last night I did. We went to see La Venue de L’Avenir by Cédric Klapisch. Years ago I wrote an essay about Klapisch within the context of the Cinéma de L’Auteur. Author theory Cinéma. The concept is simple. Some directors are so individual in their art form that it stands out.