Meetup and Strava are two sites filling specific niches. Meetup is a dinosaur of the web. It dates back to 2005 when the web was still looking for a way to be sustainable, and thus, more fun. Meetup was good for people in big US cities, London and other metropolitain cities. If you lived in Bumbleduck nowhere it was not. (Intentional spelling)
Strava in contrast is a young company. It was created in 2009 and became popular among the cycling community for a while, before eventually including running, hiking and then climbing and many other sports.
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 arrived to the cycling meeting place by 08:07 and the Peak group were still there, getting read to set off. It was understood that I had planned to ride with the group and I was tempted to try. The issue is that I already rode quite hard with the Wednesday group and the Thursday group.
The other issue is that they were going on a 100km ride with quite a bit of climbing so I would have struggled to keep up.
Today on two segments, specifically I rode fast. I rode fast because I know them well so it is easy for me to assess effort without feeling drained, or at least not too drained, and then I slowed down to the speed of the group.
The rest of the time I was making an effort to keep up. I know this because today the ride was short but my legs feel pumped, as if I have been on a hard ride.
Over the last week I have cycled, and climbed over 3000m. Yesterday I climbed 1664 meters over an 89 kilometre ride. It was divided into the first climb, from the Léman towards La Cure, then a flat bit, ridden fast, before getting to the climb to Marchairuz and that is when I ran out of power.
I wasn’t hungry, or thirsty. My legs were fatigued, after climbing up the Jura on Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday.
A few days ago I went on a group ride. I noticed that a high percentage of bikes had bike radars so I checked to see the price of these devices once again. For a year or two I have considered getting a bike radar but didn’t because I found that the price was too high. I believe that recently either the price went down or the offer of cheaper alternatives improved.
Yesterday I set off at about 07:20 feeling slightly tired and under the weather. While I rode into Geneva I felt that I couldn’t push too much and I questioned whether I should abort the ride.
When I got near Geneva I thought “If I stay in my apartment I will be as warm as if I am outdoors, but without the breeze. I decided to go on the long variant anyway.
Yesterday we left Nyon through the “secret” passage that takes you from near Place St Martin to the lakeside. We had to take this route because of the défilé des enfants. Roads were blocked so some drivers might have been trapped for an hour or two. On a bike I was blocked from going one way so I went another way, and then I walked to the meeting point.
Tête de Course is a group that meets on Wednesday mornings, at 06:30, Thursday at 18:00 and on Saturdays it depends, in so far as I can see.
Recently I joined a cycling group and they require us to provide In Case of Emergency Information so that if we have an accident our phone provides people with names and numbers to call. At first I thought “Why would I want this, I have no In Case of Emergency person” due to being single and living alone.
Now I believe that this is a useful idea. Nothing bad has happened that affected my point of view.
I think that tomorrow I will wake between 05:00-05:30 to be ready at the meeting point to go for a bike ride that starts at 06:30. The start is early because it is meant to be a “ride before work” for this group.
The pace is tempo. On the flat I expect to be okay. It’s on the climbs that I expect to be left behind, between Tartegnin and the turn where if you go right you go to Signal de Bougy and if you go left you go through cement roads.