A group of five regular bikers met at the Chavannes Hotel at 10h. Stephen, PeterT, Mark2Ts, e-Paul and e-Thatcher, with apologies from PeterD and Mervyn. Stephen’s promise of a gentle ride along the Jura was met with some scepticism, especially when he said there would be a warm up loop before the Bonmont ascent. However, he regained some credibility when a coffee stop was allowed at the new bakery between the new cycle shop and cycle museum in Crassier after an hour’s circuit through Grilly (F) and along the old railway track back to Switzerland. The impact was that the warm-up benefits were lost and the pedal up to Bonmont and the hill itself were more of a challenge than originally planned. The e-bikers kept the Taylor/Long competiton fair, not allowing slip streaming advantage. 240 Bonmonts in the previous year paid dividends and PeterT broke the morale of the challenger with a well-timed push on the final uphill slope.
The victor, with e-bike pace-setter and canine inspiration
From there it was downhill all the way to Givrin (except for that one short sharp hill). With lunch booked for 12.30h there was some concern that the leader might opt for a pre-prandial Genolier hill, up past the clinic. Some of the non e-bikers seemed to be slowing the pace in the hope of avoiding such a fate. They were successful and we cruised down from Genolier centre to the Auberge at Duillier for a very pleasant, leisurely lunch on the terrace, overlooking the vines, the lake and the Alps. Service was slow but the conversation was lively and when the food arrived it was worth waiting for. We uncovered the meaning of “gaslighting” (the act of manipulating a person by forcing them to question their thoughts) and then found many examples of potential use. This included the use of the description “gentle” for rides.
Main course is taking a while….lucky we had a starter.
…..we didn’t have a starter.
It was a direct ride back after lunch (except for Paul, who once again took his favourite Route 50 into Geneva) taking in the Landi carpark route and some slightly rougher tracks (to help Mark2Ts think about trading in his road bike). We split up at the God’s crossroads and made our separate ways home. We were on schedule (just) for Thatcher not to be late for his 15h swimming lesson with his grandchildren.
Statistics: Weather sunny, slight breeze. From Chavannes Hotel to God’s Crossroads 47km. ca. 2h30m saddle time, 552 elevation difference, 20.4km/hour average speed. Average: 1.6 beers/person and 2.1 coffees/person.