A Weekend of Hiking and Cycling

This weekend has been physically demanding. On Saturday I rode with people who do nothing but ride, so they’re far fitter, on a bike than I am, so by the end of the ride I was struggling to keep up.

The Options

I fully expected the weekend to be difficult, Originally I considered the Tour D’Aï walk but that would have been a long climb, followed by a long descent. It would have also been exposed to the sun during a sunny hot day. The first hot day of the year. It would have required hours on trains. It’s because the bike ride was close and convenient that I chose to do that instead. No commute, or at least no commute by public transport.

Fatigued

Yesterday I woke up. I could feel my knees. I walked around, opened windows, to see if my knees would warm up and feel better. They did, so I showered, and eventually I decided that I would go for the walk after all. This is despite my right knee telling me that it wanted to rest.

I walked to the train station, waited for it, and one hour twenty later we started hiking from Le Pont to Vallorbe, via the Grotte Au Fées and the Grotte De Vallorbe.

The Caves

The Grotte au Fées is more interesting because it’s actual exploration but the Grotte de Vallorbe is interesting because of its scale. I would have explored more of the Grotte au Fée if other people had been equipped to explore, as I was. As they weren’t I did not explore.

We went to the Grotte de Vallorbe and I had forgotten how large it is, but I had an advantage over other people. I had a head lamp with me so I could light the cave, to see more. That’s how I found that there is either salt, or some other type of cristal at the bottom of one hole that I was able to light.

I had also forgotten about the scale of the Cathédral portion of the cave. It’s large and it made me think of the Planet Earth caves and caverns episode. It would be impressive to explore a huge cave.

What made yesterday’s hike different from others is that I was already physically tired from the previous day of cycling. It’s not often that I ride 60km in a single day, especially not with the harder part at the end, with people who are fitter than me.

Twenty Nine Thousand Steps on Sunday

Yesterday I felt tired from the start. Despite this I managed to walk from home to the train station, and then 13-14 kilometres on a trail, before walking in a cave, and then to the train, and then from the train to home. I toook 29,000 steps despite feeling low on energy. On a “rest” day I walked 22.3km according to Garmin.

And Finally

This was an exceptional weekend. Saturday was difficult, especially when climbing from Nyon but Sunday was an endurance challenge. I started the hike tired so I had use up reserves. I can hear it in my voice. I sound tired today. Today I may have a short second walk, just to flee the noise pollution and heat.