Once again the toll of GINjuries, late vacations, grandparental duties, and other miscellaneous excuses withered the participation for this activity to just Mark2Ts and Stephen. However, seeing the need to motivate the b-leader, Mark called in re-enforcements in the shape of a young Ukrainien, Ivan. So as we met at God’s corner, we had a quorum and the average age of the GIN Biking Group had reduced by at least a decade. Mark had “generously” lent his old road bike to Ivan (was it really possible that there was an older transport than Mark’s usual ride, which is already the subject of such derision?). However, Ivan looked at the positives:
- He had a bike
- It was of original good quality (bought second hand in 1996)
- It had 2 tyres, albeit with cracks in each but the air seemed to hold
- The saddle was low enough that he could use his feet on the ground for forward movement should the gearing mechanism fail.
Stephen had chosen a familiar route for the ride, rising gently from the Plaine, via Céligny, Crans, Signy to Gingins before crossing to Givrins (or was it La Givrine?) for a well-deserved coffee ahead of the real effort up the Genolier hill and onto Bassins. Talking of initiation rites for newcomers; by the time we reached Gingins, Ivan was already starting to feel the inadequacies of his machine. It couldn’t have been the rider as he admitted he was once a 70-100km a day biker, although in the city of Kharkiv and not on the undulating Swiss tracks. Once again, Ivan saw a cup half-full: the air was clean, the scenery beautiful and the bike was light and hadn’t collapsed (yet). The Genolier hill provided a steeper challenge but remarkably he managed to use the limited gearing and his seasoned leg muscles to keep the leader in sight and the back marker of Mark at the back.
From Bassins it was all (mostly) downhill to the promised lunch at the auberge of Duillier. However, during the descent Ivan had a message that his wife required assistance and he would have to detour. Clearly, not yet a fully-fledged GIN Biker. As it turned out his back brake suffered a failure during the final downhill into Gland and, although a temporary fix was achieved, the extra ballast after a full lunch could have been the final straw. So we parted at Vich, Ivan limping slowly onwards and Mark and Stephen heading for their plat du jour of Cajun perch, and vegetables with a small glass of beer to wash it down.
Return from lunch was highlighted by the hazardous main road crossing at the Nyon motorway junction followed by the famous Landi car park short cut and a strong headwind, which Stephen was happy to leave early in Arnex and allow Mark to battle on as he completed his circuit home.
Another enjoyable day’s exercise in good weather conditions (apart from the breeze) and with the added bonus of new company.
Statistics: ca. 45km, total ascent 650m, moving time 2h22m, average speed 18.6km/h
Plenty of bikes in my shed – had I not been in RIGA. Hope Ivan will return.