More than two weeks ago I could hear the slats dancing. The wind was strong, so it made the slats for the shutters dance. I could also see tree branches dance with the wind. I could also hear the wind load the roof and make it creak. These sights and sounds made me question the rationality of going for a group ride that Sunday, and whether I would be able to do the group run on Monday....
Posts tagged “cold”
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On High Winds, Cold Temperatures and the Need for Relaxed Group Rides — Apr 10, 2026 -
The Unthreatening Clouds — Jul 31, 2021The unthreatening clouds did not bother me during my bike ride but it was cooler than sometimes at this time of year. I occasionally felt that an extra layer or two would be welcome. That’s unusual in July at this time of year.... -
On it being cold but sunny — Dec 20, 2006It’s winter, I can tell. There are icicles hanging from the metal parts and the wooden covers are on fountains to prevent them from freezing entirely. Add to this my birthday yesterday and the winter tires today and there’s no mistaking this time of year. I worked on my dissertation yesterday, seeing how familiar I am with certain elements of the documentary genre. I watched a few open university documentaries about the university and there’s one that makes me want to go back to Sienna to see the building in more detail. I’ll wait till the summer....
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High Winds And A Skipped Walk — Jan 21, 2022There is a cold wind blowing today so I skipped my daily walk. I can dress for the weather and I am usually fine. Today I simply decided to miss my daily walk. I believe that walking whatever the weather, whatever the wind, and whatever the precipitation is good. I also believe that it fatigues us. For this reason it makes sense, sometimes, to stay indoors, and focus on studying or spending money on things we don’t need.... -
High Winds And A Skipped Walk — Jan 21, 2022richard - Jan 0, 2022... -
Getting Cold On A Scooter — Jan 23, 2020I don’t often spend two hours on a scooter driving from Geneva to Nyon and back, especially not when it’s about 1°c. In such conditions, I’d drive to the closest train station and be done with it. I waited until ten or eleven in the morning to drive. Any earlier and it would have been really cold.... -
Dry Weather, Clean Shoes — Mar 1, 2023We’re having dry weather which means that I have clean shoes, once again. They cut the grass recently but rather than see greenery we see yellow. We’re in March and it already looks as if we’re un June/July, with how dry the landscape is. The sides of the road, where it was once muddy, is now dry and hard. We are in summer dry weather despite being the first of march.... -
Day 57 of Self-Isolation in Switzerland – Another Walk In The Rain. — May 11, 2020Walking in heavy rain for two and a half hours doesn’t make much sense. You don’t see much. The more time you spend outside the more of you is wet, and by the time you get home you’re cold and in need of warming up....
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Day 47 Of Self-Isolation in Switzerland – A Walk In The Rain — May 1, 2020Yesterday I went for a walk in the rain. I walked for two hours, took pictures and listened to Echo Der Zeit and this episode of the Thru-Hiking podcast. Gretel Scarlet was the interviewee. She talked about South Bound (SOBO) hiking the PCT.... -
A Windy Day In Geneva — Jan 19, 2020They announced that it would be windy today and it is. Windy days are fun because the lake goes from blue or green to English Breakfast tea brown. The waves crash against the walls and spray the promenade that goes from the Pont Du Mont Blanc to the Jardin Anglais. For now it’s getting things wet. With the right wind and low temperatures it could be great for the taking of photos.... -
A Frosty Morning — Jan 18, 2020Yesterday we had rain and with that rain came a night cold enough for everything to be covered in ice. As I came out of the train station in Nyon I could feel my feet slip frequently. In the process walking was treacherous for those who are not experienced with the pleasure of walking on ice. For others it is an opportunity to look for possible pictures.... -
A Frosty Morning — Jan 10, 2023Despite having a frosty morning today I still decided to go for a run in the morning rather than the afternoon. I mention the frost because I noticed that one velux had the usual frost fractals but the others were clear. This is curious.... -
A Cold Walk In The Wind — Jan 11, 2022Today I went for a cold walk in the wind. The wind was blowing from west to East so for at least half of the walk I had it in my face. This was a good day to wear a cagoule and to wear the face mask, even when people were not around. The windchill made walking unpleasant and I even considered skipping my daily walk but didn’t. I am disciplined enough to walk, even when it is unpleasant. This weather is frustrating because we have the cold, without any of the beauty. It would be nice to have this cold, with snow and ice, rather than just ice.... -
The Freedom to Run Again — Mar 6, 2026For several days I either had bad allergies or I had a cold. Both are possible because we went from cold and rainy, and cold and snowy to spring like so three or four trees at once dumped their loads of pollen into the sky at once.... -
Having a Cold with Garmin and Apple — Mar 1, 2026Yesterday I woke up feeling tired and both Garmin and Apple said that I neded to rest. What I thought were allergies turned out to be a one day cold, I hope. According to the Apple Watch my HRV crashed down and in the evening I definitely had a cold/flu dream.... -
The Knackering Bicycle Ride — Nov 30, 2025Yesterday for the first time in a week and a half I went for a bike ride. I was thinking that I would ride with the lazy group. That is to say “group 3” as it is commonly called. Due to the lower turnout for this weekend there was no differentiation between groups. I felt fine, for the first part. It’s when we start to climb, and descend, and climb again, and descend that I began to feel exhausted.... -
Autumn Walks in Winter Snow — Nov 24, 2025This weekend I could have cycled on Saturday and Sunday but I chose not to because I am finally feeling recovered from my cold. I did not want to overdo it by cycling, and getting cold. With hiking I can dress warmly and go at a more relaxed pace.... -
The Skipped Morning Ride — Nov 19, 2025Some people would have skipped this morning’s ride because it was cold. The temperature was forecast to be minus two degrees celsius and with the wind chill factor, and regional differences it could have felt like minus 5°c or cooler.... -
First Frost of the Season — Nov 13, 2025During yesterday’s bike ride, at dawn, I noticed that grass near Grens was coated in a thin layer of frost. I also noticed that when we cycled in some places it felt much cooler than in others. I also felt the paradox of thicker gloves, and colder fingers. It seems that the thin gloves are more effective.... -
A Cold Morning Bike Ride — Oct 30, 2025Yesterday morning I felt a little under the weather so I considered skipping the 07:00 ride. I didn’t because I thought that I would regret not going, if I did not go. In the process I got to ride with the autumn/winter tyres and this time they felt less laggy than before.... -
The Altered Routine of Cycling in Autumn — Oct 25, 2025Routine is extremely important. With routine the question is not “whether you can be bothered” but “I will do this.” You go from asking “if” to automatically assuming that on Wednesday morning you will ride, and sunday morning you will ride. If a ride is cancelled for A or B then you’re asking “if”, but you’re also making other plans.... -
On Rain and Using it as an Excuse Not To Walk or Cycle — Oct 24, 2025Bike rides have been cancelled because of rain, rather than wind or other factors. When it rains cyclists don’t want to ride because it gets their bike dirty and they have to clean it, lubricate it and more. With hikers rain is also an excuse to be lazy, within some groups. With other groups rain is just rain and the walks and hikes go ahead....
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Autumn Fatigue — Sep 28, 2025When I was scuba diving every weekend I would often feel tired in the afternoon, after I got home. It’s due to the huge change in pressure, from 40m down in the lake to 300+m above sea level around the Léman. Yesterday I went for a ride, and today I went for a ride again. I feel fatigue. I feel tired and in need of time to recover.... -
On Hot Climbs and Cold Valley — Sep 27, 2025When I left home this morning the sun had not risen yet so my legs, and other parts were cold. I could feel that more layers might have been welcome. That’s because cycling in Autumn is about moving from a hot apartment to a cold dawn air temperature, before meeting with a group and cycling up a mountain, getting hot, and then heading back down into valleys hidden from the sun.... -
SAD Autumn - Seasonal or Solitary? — Sep 26, 2025For years I have hated the shift from Summer weather to Autumn because as the days get shorter, and the weather gets colder, so summer sports come to an end. As summer sports come to an end, so the seasons of solitude begin. Autumn and Winter are lonely. The paradox is that I felt this way even when I was scuba diving every Sunday, and climbing every Thursday.... -
The Cold Morning Ride — Sep 17, 2025This morning I toyed with the idea of wearing a proper winter cycling top. Instead I settled for a thermal layer, the usual top, sleeves, and a wind blocker. These weren’t enough for me to feel warm.... -
Autumn Laziness or Rational Decision — Sep 10, 2025This morning I set the alarm to wake me at five but I didn’t get up. I felt tired and decided I need sleep more than a bike ride. I don’t know whether I am affected by the seasonal change, or whether I am still tired from this weekend. Waking at 4am wasn’t that hard on Friday, but after cycling hard on Saturday, and hard on Sunday I need time to recover.... -
The Curious Habit of Dressing to Be Cold — Jul 8, 2025One of the strangest things, in my observation of other people, is that they dress as if it was warm when it was cold. They dress in shorts and t-shirts to walk in the mountains in spring. That’s quite absurd, given how the mountains, in April tend to be cold.... -
A walk from Le Brassus to Mont Tendre via Marchairuz — Mar 17, 2025Yesterday I expected the walk to be physical. I expected it to be around 21 kilometres. I also saw that it was meant to snow overnight. It got me to question whether it made sense to do the hike. I went anyway. In the end I walked 35 thousand steps according to at least one device. That’s a lot of walking, especially in snow that was up to 30 centimetres deep at moment.... -
The Seasonal Desire Not to do Things — Feb 1, 2025Tomorrow I could go for a drive and then walk on snow shoes to get to the top of a peak I have wanted to go up for a while. What slows down my desire to do this is the possible need to wear snowshoes. In theory they’re fine but ordinarily I find snowshoeing quite hard compared to just walking in snow. The advantage of this walk is that if it was cold and people have already walked the route, then the snow is compacted and walking in hiking shoes will be fine.... -
The Missed Hike — Sep 22, 2024Today I could have been coughing and spluttering on the train like someone did last week, except that I would have worn a mask. Yesterday I had a fever and when I was sitting at the desk in the morning I felt awful so I went for a siesta that lasted for one hour and ten minutes. When I woke I felt much better but I still skipped my daily walk as I wanted to leave my energy resouces for my body to fight the virus.... -
Silly Not to Mask — Sep 20, 2024On Sunday, less than a week ago I was on a train. I could hear someone coughing, and coughing. She sat in the seats a set of seats in front of the group of people I was with. I could hear the bronchial cough and I considered masking but didn’t and now I regret it.... -
PhotoPrism, Walks in Cold Weather and Migrating to Linux — Jan 9, 2024A Cold Walk... -
Walking with Two Pairs of Airpods in Winter — Dec 4, 2023During walks, especially once temperatures drop my old pair of airpods tend to die by the time I reach the half way point of my walk. When they’re getting old the batteries in airpods don’t last as long in cold conditions but they’re fine in warm conditions.... -
Trail Glove 7 in Autumn — Nov 7, 2023This Autumn is different because I have worn running, shoes, normal shoes, and Trail Glove 7 in the rain. I was very happy with the Trail Glove 7 during the entirety of the heat wave. I had no issues with them but now that we’re moving into winter I feel the need for shoes with greater ground clearance for when I walk through puddles, or streams of water running down roads while the rain falls....