Stage 15: Tour De France

The alps!! Beautiful, hermosa, Schön. You get the point. I speak baby class (that’s a Ugandan way of saying child-like) French but one thing I know is saying “c’est tres beau” and I have milked that phrase. Stage 15 brought more climbing and a longer stage. That’s right. Regardless, we embraced it and matched on.

I welcomed the long flat before the start of climbing. Took the chance to try my french in the peloton. I got a few “I don’t understand what you are asking (said in french)” but I didn’t give up.

By the time the climbing began, I still wasn’t feeling it but now I knew how to talk to my body. Command it if you will.

I enjoyed the temple the team was setting and tried to sustain it through most climbs. A good cadence and staying in 70-90% of my power plan. The issue came on the last climbs. More than anything I like maintaining the same cadence. When the gradient changes - in this case 8-14%, that means I end up pushing more power to maintain my favorite cadence.

As the trip has gone on, I am getting better at judging this effort so I don’t crash. So far so good but lots to learn - hopefully with limited failures.