Day 10 – Thursday 2nd June 2011
I looked both ways. Nothing coming, so off I went. It wasn’t long before I reached the pass, Col de la Savine, at 991 metres. I couldn’t believe I’d cycled up to this altitude. Nothing but pedal power. But this wasn’t the end. A few miles further on and I would have to cross an even higher pass, this time over 1,200 metres. But I couldn’t think about that, not now. I was focussed on pushing those pedals round.
The second pass came. A quick stop was necessary to put on some sunglasses, not because it was sunny – it wasn’t particularly bright – but to protect my eyes from the wind and from any stray flies. Then came the descent.
I can’t figure out which is harder: going up or going down. Most people vote for “up,” but they’re only used to the little inclines in their neighbourhood. You see, going up is incredibly hard work physically, but when you’ve got a rhythm going, it’s just a case of plodding on. But these descents... ideally you want to raise your bum off the saddle (hitting a bump at speeds of over 35 mph isn’t particularly fun when you’re sat down), and that puts a bit of strain on your knees, especially if you’ve just been going up the hill. But the hardest part about going down is the mental strain. You’ve got to watch out for those cracks, potholes and drains, but now it’s at speed. You’ve got to keep your fingers on the brakes, forcing your whole body to remain in the same position for the duration of the descent. And you’ve also got to watch every bend, checking your speed, checking your road position, watching out for cars that might try to overtake you, making sure you don’t get any dangerous wobbles and so on. It certainly is tiring going down!
I remember back to our motorbike trips. Pete, who was a very accomplished motorcyclist, would often be giving instruction on how to get round the bends better and quicker. It’s at the front of my mind. Don’t counter-balance, but lean into the bends. Slide off the seat to get a little bit tighter in the corner. Now I’m starting to wobble. His instruction was meant for motorbikes: nice fat tyres, a good few inches thick, with plenty of grip. The ones I’m on right now are only 28 millimetres wide, and yet I still have Pete’s voice in my ear: “You can lean over further!”
I daren’t. Time to take a break before I do anything stupid. I pull over where there’s room on one of the hairpins. It just happens to be one of the few with nothing convenient to prop Ol’ Betsy up.
During our last motorbike trip just a few weeks ago, on the ferry home I got chatting to a couple – Dave and Elaine, their names were – who had just cycled 900 miles in 6 weeks. They were clearly used to these big treks. They said to make sure I take a break on those long descents. I couldn’t think of anything more fun than shooting all the way down, so I asked, “Why?”
“To let the rims cool down,” they said.
I leant forward and felt the wheel rim. It felt like it had been in a Blacksmith’s furnace! Having ended up using the brakes on almost every bend, the friction between the rubber and metal was causing the heat to build up.
A few minutes later and I couldn’t wait any longer. I raced the rest of the way down into Nyon.
Navigation was easy: get to the lake and turn right. As long as the lake was on my left, I was going in the right direction.
Something didn’t seem quite right. Everywhere was shut. It wasn’t Sunday and I wasn’t prepared for it. Must be some sort of national holiday.
A casual cruise through Geneva by the lakeside took me past a number of little cafés. Geneva is expensive. It’s all in Swiss Francs anyway, but still beyond my budget. The nice lakeside promenade ran out and I was back onto roads. It was about 3pm and the hunger started to get to me.
I found a little garage which was open and ended up paying the equivalent of €6 for a chicken curry sandwich and a coke. It does the job... for now, at least.
I kept going, back into France. It wasn’t long before I came across a supermarket that was open. Man, it’s crowded! I needed some batteries for my bike lights, especially as I wanted to push on as far as I could, wild camping if possible. I also find some gaffer tape! Now I can cover almost every eventuality.
Time was getting on and I kept going. I’d done over 90 miles so far today. I wondered if I could reach 100?
The sun was going down, my legs were aching and I broke 100 miles, so it was time to rest for the night. Now to find a nice quiet spot off the road and out of sight. I saw a little path that looked good. There was even a patch of grass at the end just for the tent.
As camp was being set up, I realised there was a cow in a nearby field. I don’t know why the Swiss insist on using cowbells, but it sounded like this one cow had ADHD! (And it was only one cow because there was only one bell.) It was going up and down the field, sounding like it was having a fit at times, and just when it sounded like it was over, there was a, “Moo!” and it started again! Surely it must go to sleep at some point?
Ear plugs in and I’ll be gone until morning.
Stats
Mileage = 105.09 miles
Riding time = 8 hours 53 minutes
Average speed = 11.8 mph
Top speed = 38.3 mph
Total mileage since start = 629.6
I looked both ways. Nothing coming, so off I went. It wasn’t long before I reached the pass, Col de la Savine, at 991 metres. I couldn’t believe I’d cycled up to this altitude. Nothing but pedal power. But this wasn’t the end. A few miles further on and I would have to cross an even higher pass, this time over 1,200 metres. But I couldn’t think about that, not now. I was focussed on pushing those pedals round.The second pass came. A quick stop was necessary to put on some sunglasses, not because it was sunny – it wasn’t particularly bright – but to protect my eyes from the wind and from any stray flies. Then came the descent.
I can’t figure out which is harder: going up or going down. Most people vote for “up,” but they’re only used to the little inclines in their neighbourhood. You see, going up is incredibly hard work physically, but when you’ve got a rhythm going, it’s just a case of plodding on. But these descents... ideally you want to raise your bum off the saddle (hitting a bump at speeds of over 35 mph isn’t particularly fun when you’re sat down), and that puts a bit of strain on your knees, especially if you’ve just been going up the hill. But the hardest part about going down is the mental strain. You’ve got to watch out for those cracks, potholes and drains, but now it’s at speed. You’ve got to keep your fingers on the brakes, forcing your whole body to remain in the same position for the duration of the descent. And you’ve also got to watch every bend, checking your speed, checking your road position, watching out for cars that might try to overtake you, making sure you don’t get any dangerous wobbles and so on. It certainly is tiring going down!
I remember back to our motorbike trips. Pete, who was a very accomplished motorcyclist, would often be giving instruction on how to get round the bends better and quicker. It’s at the front of my mind. Don’t counter-balance, but lean into the bends. Slide off the seat to get a little bit tighter in the corner. Now I’m starting to wobble. His instruction was meant for motorbikes: nice fat tyres, a good few inches thick, with plenty of grip. The ones I’m on right now are only 28 millimetres wide, and yet I still have Pete’s voice in my ear: “You can lean over further!”
I daren’t. Time to take a break before I do anything stupid. I pull over where there’s room on one of the hairpins. It just happens to be one of the few with nothing convenient to prop Ol’ Betsy up.
During our last motorbike trip just a few weeks ago, on the ferry home I got chatting to a couple – Dave and Elaine, their names were – who had just cycled 900 miles in 6 weeks. They were clearly used to these big treks. They said to make sure I take a break on those long descents. I couldn’t think of anything more fun than shooting all the way down, so I asked, “Why?”
“To let the rims cool down,” they said.
I leant forward and felt the wheel rim. It felt like it had been in a Blacksmith’s furnace! Having ended up using the brakes on almost every bend, the friction between the rubber and metal was causing the heat to build up.
A few minutes later and I couldn’t wait any longer. I raced the rest of the way down into Nyon.
Navigation was easy: get to the lake and turn right. As long as the lake was on my left, I was going in the right direction.
Something didn’t seem quite right. Everywhere was shut. It wasn’t Sunday and I wasn’t prepared for it. Must be some sort of national holiday.A casual cruise through Geneva by the lakeside took me past a number of little cafés. Geneva is expensive. It’s all in Swiss Francs anyway, but still beyond my budget. The nice lakeside promenade ran out and I was back onto roads. It was about 3pm and the hunger started to get to me.
I found a little garage which was open and ended up paying the equivalent of €6 for a chicken curry sandwich and a coke. It does the job... for now, at least.
I kept going, back into France. It wasn’t long before I came across a supermarket that was open. Man, it’s crowded! I needed some batteries for my bike lights, especially as I wanted to push on as far as I could, wild camping if possible. I also find some gaffer tape! Now I can cover almost every eventuality.
Time was getting on and I kept going. I’d done over 90 miles so far today. I wondered if I could reach 100?The sun was going down, my legs were aching and I broke 100 miles, so it was time to rest for the night. Now to find a nice quiet spot off the road and out of sight. I saw a little path that looked good. There was even a patch of grass at the end just for the tent.
As camp was being set up, I realised there was a cow in a nearby field. I don’t know why the Swiss insist on using cowbells, but it sounded like this one cow had ADHD! (And it was only one cow because there was only one bell.) It was going up and down the field, sounding like it was having a fit at times, and just when it sounded like it was over, there was a, “Moo!” and it started again! Surely it must go to sleep at some point?
Ear plugs in and I’ll be gone until morning.Stats
Mileage = 105.09 miles
Riding time = 8 hours 53 minutes
Average speed = 11.8 mph
Top speed = 38.3 mph
Total mileage since start = 629.6
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