Choice

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.

On the Fediverse you can follow everyone on an instance, or you can follow the people that you want to follow. Hypothetically you can follow key words, and with time follow more people, and eventually find a community.

On Threads, BlueSky, X, Instagram and TikTok what you see is selected by algorithms, so you don’t need to follow anyone because every time you scroll or refresh you will be fed something new.

On Saturday I always have to choose between running or cycling, and for several weeks I favoured running. Recently I considered reverting to cycling because it has been a while since I went for a proper ride. At the same time the regular book discussion that is on a Tuesday was moved to a Monday, and if I had noticed sooner I would not have committed to the book discussion.

A few days ago someone was angry at me for posting too much in a whatsapp chat and I’ve been feeling down because I felt bullied out of the group. I miss sharing project ideas but at the same time it is essential for me to remind myself that just because I am trolled in a whatsapp group does not mean that there are not dozens of other things to do.

Now that the hiking season has started again it isn’t rare for me to have to choose between two or three activities on a Sunday. Do I do the mountain hike from Villars Sur Ollon or the historical one to Romainmôtier?

This is what I was thinking about last night. Should I do the hike with 15 people or the one with just two or three people?

Small Groups are Better

There are a number of ways to simplify the decision process. The first is that as an introvert it is better for me to go with the smaller group because there is a higher probability of establishing a friendship or two. In theory the same is true of big groups but often such groups are already bonded.