Growing

In the last year or so I have grown about a half a foot. Let me tell you, body size makes a big difference for cycling. For one, it means a new, larger size of all equipment. I have gone from a 49 to a 52 frame size bike and my regular shoe size went from a mens 7 to 9. I've put on roughly 20 pounds since last season and at first it really affected my climbing. But, as I've started to fill out my new body size, I've noticed an increase in something I've barely ever had. Power. I can push bigger gears up climbs and sustain hard efforts for longer. I never knew how much power mattered in climbing because I had mostly been good at it due to my small body. But now as I am growing and my weight has been increasing, power is the only thing keeping me with the leaders on the climb. I've been doing a lot of velodrome and criterium racing this month so when I started climbing again a few days ago, I didn't expect to be fast at all. Well, thanks to the power I've received from the velodrome, hard criterium racing, and my growth, I actually climbed like a beast. Of course to get better at climbing, you have to climb; but, training my power really helped my ability to do so. Growing can be a bit of a burden with all the new things that follow it, but with cycling it means more power. That is why I am so glad to be finally growing and hope that my power never stops growing as well!

To the benefits of growth!
- Jules