photo de Grégoire Crevier affichée sur facebook par Marie-Soleil Blais le 14 juillet

« When I ask other riders how their TT ride went I often hear responses like this: “ahh I died in the hills!” “You know the hills are not my thing” “OMG it was really hilly!!” Wrong!!! It’s not the hills, it’s your pacing! The biggest hill last weekend was 29 meters, if you (competitive racer) think this is too much, think again.

No matter your fitness level, if you come the base of a hill on the edge, you’re not giving yourself a chance.

I’m sharing this because I think it’s big misconception that the power output should be as steady as possible, and that you should be at your limit all the time, which is false.

When climbing at slower speed, air resistance is reduced, when you go downhill fast, you’re fighting more air.

So it takes only a few watts to increase speed by 1km/h when going uphill, while it takes a lot more output to increase speed when riding over 40km/h. Would you rather pay 1$ per km/h or pay 10$?! If you’re as good as me at saving money, you will buy km/h at the best cost! Which is uphill!!

Study the course, know where to put your power, don’t hesitate to be aggressive on both end of the power spectrum (pedaling hard/soft)

3 key elements have helped me develop my TT approach over the years:
1, understanding the dynamic of pacing by practicing repeats on @strava segments with different wattage on different section. Eyes-opening
2, gaining confidence in my ability to listen to my body, trust that it will give its best on the day without having to stare at a screen - which I accomplished by doing a self-inflicted 20min blind (no watts) test. Mind-blowing
3, meditation. Practicing mindfulness is like practicing a TT without the physical effort. If you can’t sit for 20min and focus entirely on your breathing and your sensation, then how can you do it while riding at 40km/h with your head tucked in, legs and lungs screaming? I challenge you to try! Life-changing.

I’m sharing my power file to demonstrate how I went considerably harder on the hills while almost cutting the power completely sometimes to recover after a hard effort. The first image is on the way out, 2nd is the way back. (Purple is power, green is speed) I didn’t use watts on my computer screen and somehow managed to average nearly the same on each side, 3 watts NP more on the way back. My best 1min power was on the final climb, you can see how I made sure to recover prior to it, even if it said 2k to go!

Thanks cyclefitchicks for the event, the volounteers and sponsors! I owe this one to my friend Justin who saved my butt (again) when I flatted my disc the night before. If anywhere I’d flat a tubular it would be in Chelsea (Tucson would probably work too !) you always have my back, thanks mate

This is too long to translate in French, so practice your English guys. It’s good for you! »

Marie-Soleil Blais, 14 juillet

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