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Yesterday I went for an evening bike ride in Geneva and I chose to take the train home, rather than cycle. In the process I saw that trains are not that convenient later at night. The reason for this is that they’re smaller, so the space for bikes is restricted.

A person boarded before me so he was able to put his bike down and go and sit. I was after him so I was stuck standing with my bike. I held the rear brake and used the bike as a seat. I was careful not to fall over, and to keep the passage free for people boarding and getting off.

For seasons, or even years I saw the Strava Elevation Challenge and I thought “I won’t even try this challenge, because I will fail”. This month I tried it, and I succeeded. Not only did I succeed to climb the 7000m suggested by the challenge but I got to 10,415m. I overshot by 4000m so far and I have a ride planned for this afternoon.

The ride I went on yesterday was 89 kilometres with over 700m of climbing. Around three weeks ago I went on a ride with 1600m of climbing. For every ride that I do with Tête de Course we go at least part of the way up the Jura, as is the case with LeCercle.

It is natural to form an emotional bond with the phones that we carry with us 23 and a half hours a day for two to four years, that come with us to festivals, to the cinema, to work, on hikes, on bike rides and more. It is normal to feel nostalgia for a device that allowed us to photograph babies that turn into toddlers, that become children. It is normal to feel nostalgia for a device that is an integral part of our live 24/7 for years.

As long as two years ago I stopped paying for YouTube Premium because I was disgusted by the crap that it was recommending to me. Within the last week the United Kingdom has requested that websites age verify their users in order to allow them to use a site.

At first this was for porn sites but now this has expanded to all sites. This is a good thing, although it is unenforceable. Parents, and teachers are better stewards of ensuring that children and teenagers do not watch the crap that YouTubers generate.

Cyclists like to be lean and clean when they ride. They don’t like to ride with bags. They prefer to keep spares in the rear pockets of jerseys rather than carry a bag. As a hiker I don’t mind carrying a bag but I decided to try minimalism.

Top Tube Bag and Backpack

When going for solo rides I was often happy to carry a backpack and use a bag under the top tube. They’re simple, convenient and comfortable. They allow me to have a rain coat, spare inner tubes, a pump and more. It also allowed me to have the passport safe from rain when crossing between France and Switzerland.

Today I tried route 473 which goes from the Morges Train Station towards Montricher and across, before heading back down to the lake side. This is a 57 or so kilometre loop along roads that were quite quiet. I don’t know whether that was because of the rain forecast or because people are on holiday.

The route from Morges up and out of Morges goes along a short voie verte where there are parts that are not tarmacced so be ready for that. On a road bike these bits are rough and potentially dangerous. I think these sections are better on gravel bikes.

For the first time in weeks I have no social plans this weekend due to two factors. The first is weather. It’s meant to rain both days so I’d rather not plan to do something that needs to be cancelled due to bad weather. The second reason is due to the selfish habits of nocturnal people.

If I woke up at 6am and I clattered in my cleats for four or five hours people would be furious. If however, a music festival makes noise from 1800 to 3am from Tuesday to Sunday, that’s fine according to normal people. That’s the paradox of this day and age. If outdoor sporty people make noise, or block people from doing what they want for a few hours, this is a scandal.

When I decided to flee the noise pollution of Paléo to stay somewhere different for a few days I was filled wiith cycling projects, but because of the weather forecast I mothballed them. They announced that it could rain all day, every day, for almost the entire week.

Weather

They announce that it will rain ’tomorrow’ except that tomorrow is either sunny or overcast but the rain fails to materialise. Today it did show up as a serious downpour for a few minutes and then it stopped. I would have been soaked, but with clothes that dry quickly it would be uncomfortable for a short time.

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.

Years ago we could choose between watching SRF, TSR, France Télévision, RSI and other channels. We had just five channels to choose from but we had them available for free. Today those channels are still available but because we live in modern buildings with no external TV aerials we are stuck relying on Swisscom, Sunrise, Orange, and other telecom providers.

You might think “But with a TV box we get access to all these channels, and we do, but we’re made to pay for content that should be available for free. RTS is available for free in Switzerland, but France télévision and other channels are not. Most of the time I don’t mind. It’s during the Tour De France that I want access to France 3 and France 2 because these are the channels I like to watch the Tour De France on.