I have been up the Molard climb four times this year, and each time I sped up by a little. Twice my time improved by two minutes, and when I tried yesterday it improved by only a few seconds. With an average of 2000 meters of climbing per week I can feel the effects.
I can feel that I am climbing with more power and I can feel a big change on short climbs.
This weekend I know of two challenging rides that I could do. The first is a 140km ride with 2000m of climbing, eventually getting to the top of the Salève. The second is a 153km walk with 2500m of climbing to the Col Du Grand St Bernard.
Col Du Grand St Bernard With the ride to the Col Du Grand St Bernard I suspect that I would be okay with riding from Nyon to Martigny.
If I drove four hundred and thirty kilometres I would either be going on holidays or wasteful with petrol. To do the same thing on a bike is much better for the health of the planet and my own. The reason for this is simple. Good cardiovascular health.
Normally I would not consider riding this many times in a week. My rule was to ride twice per week, not more. If I ride more than twice per week, especially alone, I find car driver behaviour to be toxic.
A few weeks ago two individuals in a car yelled abuse at a group of us who were cycling. They were mad that a cyclist did not pull in for them to pass easily. At this point I thought “Despair is not sat on a bench as in the proverb, he is sat in a car.
Years ago, after yet another speeding fine when driving between home and a scuba diving spot, or vice versa I was flashed and I thought “expensive cars are a waste of money, because the motorway is rarely quiet enough to drive at the speed limit, let alone to speed.
Yesterday I rode with Group 2 rather than Group 1 with TDC. I believe I could keep up for a second time. I also believe that when you’re cycling hard three times a week it takes a lot of energy.My experience last Saturday showed that I was pushing myself too hard by riding by cyclists stronger than me three times in a week, especially after riding close to my max on Wednesday, Thursday and then Sunday.
It’s funny. It is a drive that I have done plenty of times. Tomorrow I will do the usual twelve hour drive from Switzerland to around Alicante, and I will do so with minimal stops.
In essence the drive is easy. I take the motorway from Nyon all the way to Ondara, with a small segment on open roads around Grenoble. It’s long, but easy.
There is a difficulty that I face.
Yesterday I thought that I would get breakfast for free before the ride but I didn’t. As a result of this I went for a bike ride in a fasted state. I considered having pasta for dinner the night before, even as breakfast but didn’t.
The result is that the energy stores I burned off on the two previous rides were not replenished and I started with an energy deficit. The result of this is that I was looking for a place to stop long enough to take a few energy gels I had with me, to fuel at least partially.
If things go to plan I will be cycling a metric century today. I will be cycling from Nyon to Yvoire via Geneva. It’s the first time in a while that I cycle this far but there are advantages to this route. For a large part of Nyon to Geneva I will be on cycling lanes and once I survive the crossing through Geneva I will be on the Via Rhona, the cycling route that goes to Marseilles, if you go in the opposite direction.
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.
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