Mobile Menu

  • English
  • Français
  • Home
  • Articles
  • Bucket-list
  • AlloMax
  • Newsletter
  • About
  • Contact
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn

Energie Newsletter

1% better every day

Since the day I turned 30, I have been trying to become a better version of myself, 1% better every day, in every aspect of my life. If you improve 1% better every day for a year, you’ll end up 37 times better by the time you’re done.

To do this, I challenge myself, I test many methods and above all, I consume a lot of content. Like a fucking lot.

This newsletter is a digest of everything I have seen, read, listened to or tried during my journey.

Check your inbox or spam to confirm your subscription.

  • Menu
  • Skip to right header navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Before Header

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • English
  • Français

DAILYMAX

  • Articles
  • Bucket-List
  • Allo Max
  • Newsletter
  • ABOUT
  • Contact
  • search

#21 – Paris-Deauville by bike (220km)

Many things may seem impossible to you today, and they are. But with a little motivation to start and a good system to continue, the impossible becomes possible over time.

After “hanging up my boxing gloves” the day after my first amateur boxing match in April 2019, I decided to seriously tackle a fear I’ve been carrying around since I was a kid…

I never really learned how to swim when I was a kid. So when I grew up, I naturally moved away from the water. When I became an adult, I was even a little ashamed that I couldn’t swim. It was scary to imagine myself alone far from shore, not knowing what was underneath me.

Result: fear of swimming in open water


The week after my boxing match, my friend Tristan asked me if I was up for the Marseille triathlon with him. I felt obliged to tell him the truth. He told me exactly what I needed to hear: “You’re such a wimp, go sign up, we’ll have a good time! ».

In my head, I thought: “What? Me a wimp? You’re challenging me? Are you? Okay, you’ll see. Where do you buy your place?!”. That night I got my ticket for the Marseille triathlon…

3 months to learn to swim 1500m in open water


All this to tell you, that I had not realized at the time, that triathlon is also a lot (a fucking lot) of cycling and running! So I bought myself a nice bike (a gift to myself for my 35th birthday!) and started turning the pedals.

The Man & His Bike

WHY PARIS-DEAUVILLE ?


In August 2019, my friend Sasha posted a picture of himself with his bike on Deauville beach. I wondered what he was doing on a beach with his bike. As I read the description, I thought to myself:

“Holy Shit, one day I want to be able to do that too!”

View this post on Instagram

As 15th of August is a holy & off day in France i took the opportunity to make an attempt at breaking the 200km mark on the bike. 🤪 Left Paris early in the morning to get through the wonderful Normandy bocage to finally end up on the beach in the famous city of Deauville !⛵️ I had the confirmation of two things : bananas and chocolate pancake should always be my mandatory dessert 🥞🍫🍌 and the 2019 @iamspecialized Venge is the fastest and greatest bike ever made ! 🚀 – – – #Bike #Bikelife #Bikeporn #Deauville #Specialized #Venge #Sagan #Triathlon #Triathlete #IronmanTraining #DtSwiss

A post shared by Sasha (@theluckysasha) on Aug 16, 2019 at 4:05am PDT

Except that in August 2019, I was very, very far from being able to perform at this level. My rides did not exceed 40km (and it already seemed very long at the time). So I put this idea in the corner of my head for a few months…

In November 2019, after leaving my company for good, I started to create my “100 Dreams” bucket list. I don’t know how, but I got a flash of Sasha’s picture. The physical performance was still out of my reach at the time, but I told myself that I would make it one day in 2020.

February 2020, I’m cycling around New Zealand (1100km in 12 days), with no preparation and no training. It’s the hardest physical challenge of my life, with a very high level of suffering and a day at 140km alone in the rain for 6h30. All of a sudden, the 220km of Paris-Deauville went from “impossible” to “possible”.

Rifi, Fifi and Loulou at 6:00 am at place de la république


HOW ?


Appointment taken on Saturday, June 27, 2020 at 06:00 a.m. in the morning on Place de la République. We were supposed to leave on Sunday, but the weather got worse. We weren’t too confident about Saturday either…

We could have taken the 3:30 pm return train but it seemed very risky (for the record, we arrived at 3:20 pm in Deauville). So we opted for the 6:21 pm train, which gave us plenty of time.

I put the Strava track of Sasha’s route in my Garmin Edge 1030. All we had to do was follow it. Thanks again Sasha!

Level equipment and nutrition, I left very light with just a bag S/LAB Sense Ultra 8 Set. Inside: 8 bars, 2 gels, 2 bananas and 4 bread rolls / peanut butter. For water, I had 4 x 500ml bottles + 1 x 750ml bottle (with electrolyte). I reassure you, I didn’t eat everything on the course. But who can do more, can do less!

View this post on Instagram

Demain au levée du soleil, on prend la route avec @nicolaslemeteyer et Quentin pour faire Paris-Deauville en vélo. Pourquoi ? Parce que les challenges sportifs ont l’incroyable pouvoir de montrer de façon visible à notre cerveau que tout est possible. Si vous arrivez à accomplir quelque chose qui vous semblait impossible il y a 1 an, alors vous pourrez surement accomplir quelque chose dans un 1 an, qui vous semble impossible maintenant. . . Au programme : 210km de vélo, 8h30 à 9h00 à pédaler et surement 4000 calories brulées. Il va y avoir du vent et sûrement de la pluie sur le trajet. Mais comme le dit si bien Quentin : « ça va nous fera une jolie histoire à raconter !» . . // Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go. // . . #parisdeauville

A post shared by Maxime Barbier (@maximebarbier) on Jun 26, 2020 at 6:14am PDT

The adventure went really well! The 30km bike path towards the finish is very nice (and very flat). The only downside of the course was a heavy rain at kilometre 100, near Evreux, which literally froze us on the spot. Fortunately, we found a decathlon to buy a small windbreaker. Without this 30min stop, we could have easily got the 3:30pm train.

I strongly recommend you to do the adventure with friends, but especially to do it with athletes of the same level. You’ll ride for 8 hours on a bike together. If after 50/60km you start to have one of you weakening, it will clearly be painful for everyone. Both for those who will be slowed down and for those who will feel behind.

Also remember to stay well grouped to “protect” the one who starts to get tired. Put yourself in front of the group to protect them from the wind and give them a boost in morale. This consolidates the group spirit.

Another important point is the weather. We’ve had headwinds all over the second half of the course. 100km with a headwind, you can feel it passing by! On the rain side, we were very lucky. It could have been worse. So if you see that the weather is really not with you, move on to the next weekend.


MY VIDEO

View this post on Instagram

Après avoir "raccroché les gants de boxe" à mon combat de boxe amateur en avril 2019, je me suis mis au triathlon pour vaincre ma peur de nager en mer. Je ne savais tjrs pas nager à 34 ans… . . Résultat : je me suis mis (sérieusement) au vélo. Au début de ma préparation, je n'aurai jamais pu réaliser ce challenge, tout simplement "impossible" pour moi à ce moment là. Et pourtant, nous y voilà 14 mois plus tard. . . Beaucoup de choses peuvent vous sembler impossible aujourd'hui et elles le sont. Mais avec un peu de motivation pour commencer et un bon système pour continuer, l'impossible devient possible avec le temps 💪 . . #triathlon #parisdeauville #triathlete #velo #trek #trekmadone #challenge #bucketlist

A post shared by Maxime Barbier (@maximebarbier) on Jun 28, 2020 at 10:32am PDT

Thank you Nicolas for pushing to get us started!
Thank you Quentin for joining us at the last moment!

Partager :

  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • More
  • WhatsApp
  • Email

Category: Non classé

Related Posts

You may be interested in these posts from the same category.

I just ran 100km in 12 hours and 35 minutes

Vision Quest : the complete list of my 52 intentions

Vision Quest: 4 days alone in the jungle without eating, drinking or talking

100 coffees with 100 strangers (Timeleft 2021 Edition)

Protected: #08: participate in a “Peyote” ceremony

#74: participate in a “Bufo Alvarius” ceremony

3000 romantic dinners to save your marriage

All the data I track every day about my personal life

#75 – Be vegan for 30 days

#58 – Take a drawing class (tipsy)

#17 – Participate in a beach cleanup

DailyMax Pro Coaching

Previous Post: « #70 – Live abroad alone for 6 months (what I learned)
Next Post: DailyMax Pro Coaching »

Reader Interactions

Primary Sidebar

Recent Posts

I just ran 100km in 12 hours and 35 minutes

Vision Quest : the complete list of my 52 intentions

Vision Quest: 4 days alone in the jungle without eating, drinking or talking

100 coffees with 100 strangers (Timeleft 2021 Edition)

DailyMax Newsletter

1% better every day

Since the day I turned 30, I have been trying to become a better version of myself, 1% better every day, in every aspect of my life. If you improve 1% better every day for a year, you’ll end up 37 times better by the time you’re done.

To do this, I challenge myself, I test many methods and above all, I consume a lot of content. Like a fucking lot.

This newsletter is a digest of everything I have seen, read, listened to or tried during my journey.

Subscribe

Site Footer

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.