Yesterday for the first time in a week and a half I went for a bike ride. I was thinking that I would ride with the lazy group. That is to say “group 3” as it is commonly called. Due to the lower turnout for this weekend there was no differentiation between groups. I felt fine, for the first part. It’s when we start to climb, and descend, and climb again, and descend that I began to feel exhausted.
Yesterday I walked in light persistent rain for around two hours and my trousers got a little wet. The rain was heavy enough for me not to be dry, but not heavy enough to soak me. During the walk I noticed, at one point, that the rain seemed to be aerosolised, floating upwards and sideways rather than straight down.
The wind was picking up so I suspect that it’s the wind that changed the properties and behaviour of the rain.
This weekend I could have cycled on Saturday and Sunday but I chose not to because I am finally feeling recovered from my cold. I did not want to overdo it by cycling, and getting cold. With hiking I can dress warmly and go at a more relaxed pace.
I noticed that the pace at the Arboretum, and up to La Dôle, were the same. We walked at about 3.9km/h, which, by my standards is slow.
For years I never had a cold because I was living in social self-isolation because I thought we still lived in the same age as when I was in Weymouth during the Foot and Mouth Epidemic. During that epidemic we avoided going to the new forest, we ensured our shoes were cleaned if going to certain places and we ensured that eradication was possible.
During the COVID pandemic for many, many months there was the concrete goal of COVID zero, to eradicate the disease but beause of the wrong people being in power in the right countries at the wrong time, it was allowed to become endemic.
Yesterday I hesitated to wake up to go for the Coffee and Croissant loop. I decided to go anyway. This ride was at a relaxed pace. It’s amusing. When I left home I could see a beautiful sunrise, with nice light, and clear skies. By the time we started the ride mist had come up and we were riding through humid clouds. It was so wet I saw drops of water falling from my glasses as they condensed during the ride.
Yesterday morning I felt a little under the weather so I considered skipping the 07:00 ride. I didn’t because I thought that I would regret not going, if I did not go. In the process I got to ride with the autumn/winter tyres and this time they felt less laggy than before.
Two days ago, when I was ready to go for a ride I noticed that the tyre was flat.
Yesterday afternoon I heard some very loud banging. I thought that it was due to an idiot driving a farming machine into something solid and they were trying to fix the damage. As it continued it made me furious. It’s for this reason that I decided to spend the rest of the afternoon on my bike.
When I rode by the absurd people making a huge amount of noise I saw that they were hammering at the bed of their flat bed truck.
A week ago I proposed a bicycle ride to Mies, before stopping at the Port de Crans for coffee. Quite a few people joined the chat but no one committed to turning up. I woke up in the morning and said “I’m thinking of setting off early, since no one had confirmed. When no one said “wait, wait, wait” I set off on my bicycle ride.
The conditions were excellent. I was warm, the roads were quiet, and the views were pleasant.
Bike rides have been cancelled because of rain, rather than wind or other factors. When it rains cyclists don’t want to ride because it gets their bike dirty and they have to clean it, lubricate it and more. With hikers rain is also an excuse to be lazy, within some groups. With other groups rain is just rain and the walks and hikes go ahead.
Yesterday morning we had stormy weather.
With Autumn comes a change in weather. The days get shorter and the temperatures drop. Clouds come more often, and stick around. The result is that events that are scheduled are cancelled.
Today the weather was good, but the event is scheduled for tomorrow. In a situation such as this I would consider moving the event forward by one day, to take advantage of the good weather. It is a shame to stick to a day, when a shift is possible.