According to MétéoSwiss, as the app is called, if you have your iPhone in English, it is currently 34°c in Nyon, that 16°c hotter than the norm for this time of year. After the summer of heat waves the heat persists at least until the anticipated storms this evening.
The storms, yet again, may be torrential. Cycling earlier today around the Vallée de Joux saw me fighting a wind from the west on the way back towards the car. It was strong and persistent.
There are four types of ride. The first is a solo ride, where you ride where the wind takes you. The second is a solo ride where you draw a route on a GPS and then go out and explore. The third is a group ride where someone draws a map and you follow them, and the GPS track on the device you’re using for navigation.
The fourth is that you go for a ride where you know you want to explore a route, but you haven’t drawn it on a map, and you haven’t spent hours seeing whether it is gravel, tarmac, or other.
The cycling season is almost over and this year I barely cycled for three reasons. The first of these reasons is that during the cycling doldrums I took up running. The second reason is that the cycling group that I very often cycled with stopped organising such regular rides and the third reason is that after an intense summer of cycling last year I experienced a solitary winter.
Cycling is a great sport, and I really enjoy it, but to cycle with groups you need to be at the same level as they are. This means that you need to be very fit, because usually people who cycle as a group are exceedingly fit. The second reason is that cyclists often invest in light, aero wheels, and efficient group sets, and aerodynamic bikes, and light bikes. This means that for the same effort, on a 1000 CHF bike you’re going to exhaust yourself compared to the person on the 10,000 CHF bike. Cycling rewards financial investment. Scuba diving has the same issue but that’s another topic.
More often than not I need to decide between different runs, and different rides. I rarely get an opportunity for both. At first I thought that the run, and the ride would be simultaneous so I was ready to make a decision eventually.
Within a day or two of the event I noticed that they were offset. The run was at 07_50 for an 8am run, and the ride was planned for 09:30. Distance wasn’t an issue. 5km for the run and 19km for the ride, so nice, short, and relaxed.
Yesterday I woke up and went from a social run from 08:30, for 7km before returning home, and dressing for cycling. I then cycled 77.48km according to Strava via Garmin. What surprised me is that I wasn’t knackered at the end of the ride.
The run wasn’t slow. The pace was sustained for 7km with some gradients and trail running through a forest. It’s when we stopped at Colovray, and stood in the sun that I felt like I was overheating and in need of shade. That’s why I left the group early to change into cycling clothes. I had already checked tire pressure and more.
When you ride solo, or with a group it is easy to ride along routes that are familiar but it is more fun to add a little variety. I believe that seeing a path, and following it often leads to developing “The Knowledge” for local bike rides.
I use “The Knowledge” to link to the familiarity that London Black cab taxi drivers have with London. As you cycle, and as you explore all the different roads, so you develop a mental map linking everywhere to everywhere else. You know which routes are flatter, which roads have fast cars, and which ones are more convivial to ride along. You also find the roads that encourage you to ride sustainably.
There is a high probability that we well get stung at least once per year. When I am cycling I often notice bees, bumblebees and wasps bounce off of me. Sometimes I feel something hit me but luckily I’m fine. Yesterday I wasn’t that lucky.
Yesterday I hit a wasp, bee or something else and it stung me. I went to my lip to pull the stinging insect away and threw it away. I continued to cycle for a bit, and then I stopped in the shade to send a message that I had been stung.
INTVL is a new game that you play by running, cycling, or both. The concept is simple. Every time you go for a run you capture “territory” from others and every time others go for a run they do the same thing. For this game you don’t need to stare at your phone. You simply walk, run, or cycle.
I write walk but it’s counted as running by the game. I also speak about walking because with Ingress the concept of fielding is similar, except that you need to capture portals, and then walk between portals and link them, before creating fields. Some fields are huge, because people use bikes, trains, cars, planes or trains, and others are small because local portals make it easier.
It’s worth noting that after my historical post was deleted from a group chat I aborted my run with that group. The reasons were rational, rather than emotional. Something else came up and by the time that something was over the run had started. I also expected it to rain very heavily and storm.
Yesterday the forecast was similar but I chose not to just sit at home and miss out. I could see that a storm was coming for 18:50 and again a few minutes later. I thought “If I wait too long it will be cancelled and I will have had a second day in a row without sports. That’s why I got dressed and cycled to the shop. I said “I expect the ride is cancelled”, and it was.
On Saturday morning, for the first time in weeks I had no running plans so I decided to cycle to Geneva for the 8am relaxed ride to Crans. Since I live near Nyon I set off at 06:50 and cycled towards Geneva, arriving with plenty of time to spare. I then cycled with the group towards Crans. It’s at this point that I saw that I had half an hour before a second group ride.