Sunday morning rides: dos and don’ts

They say the world belongs to those who wake up early, and that morning exercise is excellent for your health. Rather than going to church, since joining cycling is like joining a religion, club riders or recreational cyclists prefer the traditional Sunday morning ride. This ride is a source of many excesses, accumulated errors, and reprehensible, if not completely idiotic, behaviors.

By Guillaume Judas. Photos: Pixabay, ©Vincent Curutchet / AG2R La Mondiale, Shimano

Many riders stick to the rule: Sunday is for cycling. And early, if possible, while their spouse is still asleep, or the children are doing homework or tidying their rooms. By leaving early, they’re sure to be back in time for Sunday lunch, hoping to still have enough energy to share in afternoon family activities, or to nap in front of sports on TV. This is understandable, especially when the rest of the week’s schedule is packed. But what’s enjoyable from April to September can quickly turn into a chore from October to March.

In the past, racers would take a good two-month break from cycling, and recreational riders sometimes a little longer. They would use autumn and winter to engage in other activities, such as brisk walking or jogging in the forest, team sports, or swimming—sports that could also be practiced on Sunday mornings, but at 11 am. “There are no seasons anymore, my dear“: it’s true that our winters tend to be less severe than in the past, and conditions where it’s impossible to ride are increasingly rare. But is that a sufficient reason not to respect physical and psychological recovery?

=> SEE ALSO: Should you take a break during the off-season?

Counterproductive to progress

Following the example of the pros, amateur cyclists and racers today take no more than a 15-day break. They get back on the bike in early November, at 9 AM sharp, because it’s time to resume training. Very quickly, they move the meeting time to 8:30 AM, or even 8 AM, to fit in their 100 km. It’s better with the biting cold. A sense of accomplishment and obvious well-being upon return, even if you’re nodding off over your mother-in-law’s blanquette. Some skip it if it rains. Most go to the meeting reluctantly, grumbling and allowing themselves about ten kilometers of vague hesitation, playing, sometimes mischievously, at who won’t take the first pull. This is, in fact, one of the favorite games of the Sunday club ride. Drafting and hiding from the wind. What would be the point of a group ride if not to follow in the wake of the strongest? To drop them at the end and arrive first in the parking lot, while you’re at it.

Because the Sunday morning club ride, unless you belong to a highly selective group or are hyper-motivated racers, reflects the petty meanness we encounter daily. We take advantage, we draft, we hang on, and we reap some benefits that boost our ego. Only a quasi-military organization can force the reluctant to do their share of work, to agree to be divided into two or three small groups, so that everyone works and helps others progress. Such an organization is often frowned upon and causes division within a club. A coach who is too virtuous is quickly sidelined by those who have been running the show for years with bad habits.

Put two echelons in tight formation 100m apart and observe: there’s always one who feels offended not to belong to the first group and tries to bridge the gap. Some lose all sense of sharing or managing the ride or the sporting season. The Sunday ride turns into a race, where it’s hard to navigate between a relaxing effort well hidden in the wheels and a violent struggle at the front of the group or at the end of the ride to show who’s strongest. Very often, the Sunday group ride is counterproductive to progress, and those who push hard in December are at exactly the same level in June because they don’t take the time to work on the basics.

=> SEE ALSO: Riding in the wind

Alone on the road

One could rightly argue that this Sunday mass also has its social virtues. Seeing your Sunday buddies means a few hours of breathing room amidst a week of work stress and family obligations. You chat, you laugh, sharing the same passion. You talk about bikes, gear, goals, training, cars, girls, or recent financial investments. Except that a group of more than two cyclists quickly turns into a herd without a minimum of discipline. It must be admitted that spending the entire ride next to the same companion means depriving yourself of the third fellow’s jokes.

=> SEE ALSO: Why do cyclists ride two abreast?

But the road is dangerous, even on Sunday mornings. In some regions, small pelotons of cyclists are abundant, and often in disarray. They forget their surroundings, riding three or even four abreast, and in case of an acceleration at the front of the group, they even cross over to the other side of the road to shelter in the echelon. This is madness on open roads. Unaware of the danger, neo-cyclists, or those with little experience, are the worst. They think the 1.5-meter rule applies between two cyclists. Put a third one abreast, and they ride in the middle of the road. They are the first to praise the merits of helmets and disc brakes (for safety), but surprised by a narrowing of the road, they might cut a corner downhill, take a roundabout the wrong way (yes, really!), and flip off a motorist who signals their intention to overtake them.

Astonishing behaviors often seen only in groups, as if the fragile being balanced on two wheels loses all sense of danger as soon as they are accompanied by a few courageous companions. Because it takes courage to get up on Sunday morning before dawn and traverse the countryside by pedaling, with numb fingers and toes from the cold, armed with gear that makes our own family laugh. Intrepidity can also mean breaking habits, respecting your body by leaving later, riding for less time but better, and having the will to build a personalized and monitored progression plan that requires commitment. So that Sunday rides always remain a pleasure.

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