Paula Prepares to Race UCI Time Trials
by: Olivia Vallone
by: Olivia Vallone
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Paula Prepares to Race ITT at Cycling World Champs!
Next stop on Paula's big race block is Zurich, Switzerland! This race follows a big win at Challenge Beijing and will take place this Saturday, Sept 22nd, just a week before T100 Ibiza! It's a jam packed month, on AND off the race course for TTL - but don't worry, you can find all the updates here!
Following the Thrill of New Challenges
This will be Paula’s second UCI time trial of the season following her 1st place performance at the Canadian Time Trial Championships back in June (story here). For the second year in a row, Paula will represent Team Canada and sport the maple leaf on an international level! While Paula competed in the World Time Trial Championships last year in Scotland with a bit of an illness, she left the race thrilled with the experience.
After decades of competing as a professional triathlete, the prospect of shifting gears (ha) and testing herself in the professional cycling ranks excites Paula. It’s similar to the transition a road runner experiences when they start getting into trails - a new stimulus with familiar thrills, but a whole new horizon full of goals to be achieved and experiences to be had!
Good news and bad news: Unfortunately, Paula came down with some food poisoning shortly after arriving in Switzerland. Fortunately, she's not battling the illness on her own. Eric was able to arrive in Switzerland and they both got a chance to take in the beauty of the mountains before the bug hit. Paula still has most of the week to recover and do some course reconnaissance before it's go-time. Certainly not ideal circumstances, but Paula’s resilience, grit, and focus will undoubtedly get her through it, and we all have our fingers crossed she'll be ready to shred come Saturday.
Whether it's on the world stage or in her own pursuit of excellence, Paula’s journey is inspiring. There are always new horizons to explore and new goals to chase, you just gotta go for it!
Podcast
PODCAST 🎙️
Last week on the Pod, we discussed:
🇨🇳Paula's experience racing in China at the Challenge Beijing triathlon
💤Timing when you sleep while traveling to avoid jet lag
🏆Do pros keep their trophies?
🧰 Can you take your bike to a car shop?
🍽️ Tailoring 70.3 training for an Olympic race
🧤Cycling gloves and bar tape
🛞Fixing a puncture without sealant
💻Creating alternative races/workouts
⭐Forming good tri habits
Speaking of new things on the horizon...
Despite traveling around the world, Eric and Paula and the rest of the team have been absolutely grinding behind the scenes to introduce something really exciting to TTL Naysh, and ultimately the triathlon community as a whole.
Incoming TTL Platform 👀
We are in the final stages of testing and ironing out all the bugs before officially launching a mobile app that will serve as a connection point for existing TTL fans and all lovers of the multisport lifestyle. Though we can't share all the details just yet, we promise it will elevate your TTL experience. Our goal with this is to make it easier to connect, stay informed, and be part of the action like never before. The wait (for us to share it!) is almost over, and you won’t want to miss this reveal.
AVAILABLE THURSDAY IN THE APP STORE AND COMING SOON TO ANDROID
Also, we want to give a big thank you to everyone who was able to snag a hoodie from our surprise bonus drop! We created a special design for the folks who attended our TTL × Castelli Bend camp, but we liked the design so much, Castelli decided to make a few extras available to the TTL family!
They sold out almost instantly, which is exciting, but we'll admit, not what we were expecting, and we feel for everyone who wanted one and missed out! We're glad everyone like the design as much as we did. We've seen the feedback and are making moves to do a re-order asap.
Teaser: we already ordered a bunch more in two different colorways, and those will be available at T100 Vegas, plus online with whatever stock remains after the event!
Ansley Queen Crushed 70.3 Michigan and Nick Wins 1st OA in San Diego!
We had some stellar results from not only the Devo team, but from the podcast master himself, Nick!
On Sunday, Ansley competed in 70.3 Michigan and finished in 11th - her best result of the season! Without reading the bulletin, it can be hard to believe this is Ansley’s first season racing as a professional. Each race, she throws down a colossal effort that could not be achieved without a deep commitment to the process and a relentless drive to succeed. This was Ansley’s third 70.3 of the season following Boulder and Chattanooga, and she continues to find her place amongst the pro ranks. Ansley is a very strong runner, but as many triathletes know, it can be incredibly difficult to run well off the bike - even if it’s your strong suit. The half marathon at the end of a 70.3 is a whole different animal. The run can exploit any mistakes an athlete made up until that point - not enough water, nutrition, electrolytes etc. Even the strongest runners can crumble. Not only did Ansley run well off the bike, she recorded the 11th fastest run split out of all women! She CRUSHED it and we are so stoked for her.
Congrats, Ansley!
Nick made his way down the SoCal coast to revisit the San Diego Tri Classic, the same sprint distance event where he completed his first triathlon over six years ago. It was an awesome race full of good vibes and good times. This is Nick's first race since 70.3 Morrow Bay back In May, where he qualified for the 70.3 World Championships. It can be tough to find the fast twitch muscles after long months of endurance training, but Nick was flying! He held on to the intense pace of a sprint tri and finished first overall. We are so happy to see hard worker who truly loves the sport earn a well deserved W.
Congrats, Nick!
Stay stoked,
-Eric & Paula
(and Olive, the intern)
1 comment
Love the App! Good luck today Paula!❤️