TOBOGGAN MEUDONNAIS

"I also own a Ferrari"

Last sunday, I met at 8:15am in Place de Clichy with my EPPG mate Hugues. We headed to te south of Paris in direction of Meudon to participate to the Toboggan Meudonnais. We registered for the 75K distance.
 
I did not really asked myself why this cyclosportive was called "toboggan" but it became quite obvious after the first few hills! Having cycled around 70km the previous day, I suffered during the first 40km of our ride...after a pause, an energy gel and Hugues adjusting the position of my saddle, my strengths came back and I really enjoyed the rest of the way.
 
At some point I forgot to start my cardio watch so I am missing a few km but we almost cycled 100km in total. It's my second longest distance on a bike after the Little lumpy ride I did back in the UK in 2011 which was 120 something km. I'm quite happy because today my legs are fine! I'm hoping that the weather will be as nice next weekend so that I can go on my bike again.

 

RUN & BIKE SOLIDAIRE

The triathlon season is coming to an end. It's become too cold to swim in open water. It is now the period of Bike & Runs.
In a bike and run, you compete in pairs. You need to cover a given distance with one person running and the other one cycling. There is no rule to swap the bike. The pair decides how often they want to alternate.

Today, I participated to the Run & Bike solidaire (10K) in Saint Cloud. This event is organised by the Française des Jeux Foundation which raises money to support athletes, disabled people and kids through sports.

We were 8 from EPPG Tri Club to participate (Léo, Charlotte, Yann B, Yann P, Olivia, Emilien and Marion, running with her boyfriend Gilou). I was pairing with Léonore with whom I trained and defined a strategy yesterday. Indeed, we decided that the best for us was to swap the bike every 500m. Why 500m? Because we can run full speed over 500m (more is too much) before taking a rest on the bike for 500m and so on.

Yann P, Flo, Léo, Charlotte, Gilou, Marion, Yann B and Olivia

The weather today was not great but at least it was not raining. After droping our bags and warming up a little, we made our way to the start area with the 400 other teams.
I ran first and Léo had the bike. We stuck to our plan to swipe every 500m. It was not easy to stay together and exchange the bike with so many other paticipants around us as the road was not so wide but we did ok. Then the terrain was quite hilly and sometimes you had to start running full speed right in the middle of a hill which was exhausting...but it was only a 10K so I knew the pain would not last too long. In the end, after giving everything we had in the last kilometer, we finished in 48mins18secs.

In the finish area, we found Yann and Yann as well as Marion and Gilou. We took some pictures with sports celebrities like Lilian Thuram and Marie-Josée Perec.

Léo, Marie-Josée Perec, Charlotte, Olivia, Florelle

We were all very happy because our club mate Emilien and his friend had finished first!
It was my first Bike & Run and I really enjoyed it. It's nice to run with a friend and support each other through the race. My next one is already planned on 23rd November in Palaiseau.

MY 2015 CHALLENGE

DONE!!!!

I have registered to my first long distance triathlon (Format L)! It's called Triathlon des Lacs and it will take place on 07 June 2015 in Lusigny sur Barse near Troyes.

Provided that I manage to stay uninjured until that day, I will have to complete no less than a 3km swim, a 90km bike ride and a 21km run.

This is sooooo exciting!!!....(at least for me ;p)

CROSS TRIATHLON DE JABLINES - ANNET

On the 21st September 2014, I participated to my first tri with the EPPG Tri Club.
It was a "cross" triathlon which means that the bike leg was done on a mountain bike.
The event was taking place in Jablines Annet Leisure Centre which is a 30 mins drive from the East of Paris.
We had to swim 1KM, cycle 22KM and run 8KM.





The swim was a challenge since I'm not used to swim 1KM in a row. The ride was not easy because it had rained the day before and in the morning therefore it was muddy and slippery (and it was only the 3rd time I was riding a mountain bike in about 10 years or more!). 


I have the yellow cap

Concentrated on the bike

Finally the run was also tough because we had to run on various surfaces (grass, concrete, gravel)  and even jump a big trench.

I finish in 2:22:11...not wonderful but quite happy for my first tri in more than a year.


EPPG after the race

10KM Paris Centre

Today I crashed the 10KM Paris Centre race in order to support my EPPG Tri Club mate Charlotte. I managed to borrow a race number and get to the starting line.

The race presented no major difficulty and I think that if I had been running on my own, I would have managed to beat my record and maybe run in 45 minutes. I actually ran quite easily in 00:50:53 according to my Garmin. I think that the training from these past few weeks has been very helpful.

It was a great day and I really enjoyed seeing the mighty Carl Lewis who was giving the go to the race.

Triathlon de Paris 2012

The Garmin Paris Triathlon is taking place this weekend (07 & 08 july). Some of the world's best triathletes will compete this Saturday morning. Then around 4300 participants will try to finish the Olympic distance triathlon (1500m swim, 20km bike, 10km run) as soon as possible on sunday morning.

Unfortunately the weather is quite bad today and it is gonna be even worth tomorrow. It means that it won't be too hot which is great but at the same time the roads may be wet and slippery.

Despite the weater, I think that it is still gonna be a magic event just because it takes place in the heart of Paris. The competition starts and ends right next to the Eiffel tower.

Although I wanted to, I did not register for the race because I am only just recovering from the marathon I ran mid April. I had a problem with my left knee that required attention and more importantly rest (not allowed to run)...

However, I will be going to see the race and support my friend Antoine with whom I have been cycling lately. Good luck Antoine!!

Bois de Vincennes vs Bois de Boulogne

Last weekend was dedicated to cycling: 50K on Saturday and 45K on Sunday. This was the occasion to test 2 of the riding spots of Paris.

On Saturday, I cycled on the track at the heart of the Bois de Vincennes, located in the extreme east of Paris. It’s a sort of 3.2K long triangle with 3 segments of circa 1K each. The place is really nice and is surrounded by trees. The track is quite wide so it does not feel too crowded. There is one hill that stretches over 1K but nothing too furious although it starts hurting the legs after a few laps. The only negative point for me was that there were quite a lot of twigs on the floor. I can imagine that there must be a lot of leaves in automn and it must be quite slippery when it rains. I also read that it is very dark in automn and winter so you can't really ride there during these months.

On Sunday I went to the opposite side of Paris in the west and cycled on the track surrounding the Hippodrome of Longchamp. It’s a 3.6K long lap composed of 2 main axes: one that is a progressive hill and one that is a flat line. Overall, it feels much faster than Vincennes. Apparently, it is where “celebrities” such as Nicolas Sarkozy or Michel Drucker, a famous French TV presenter, go cycling at the weekend...well, I was disappointed because I did not recognise anybody.

These 2 places are nothing like Richmond Park in London but I'm glad I have discovered them because I was missing the weekend rides.