I get concerned when I start to write that I am doing the ‘moi, moi, moi,’ thing. 

I want to stress that this is never the case. 

And it will never be the case. 

It is simply just ‘things’ that I have discovered. 

Derailleur is the only place I can share these ‘things.’ 

Derailleur is the only place I will share these ‘things.’ 

There is a certain gift one receives. 

That gift is coming from a different sport before you discovered your love and passion for cycling. 

There are so many things you can carry from a different sport and apply them to cycling. 

They transfer beautifully. 

In my case, it was swimming. 

Long distance. 

I get in the water, and off I go. 

No matter how much I trained, I always found the first 100 metres a gruel. 

‘Oh man,’ would always go through my head. 

I wondered why. 

Why did this happen when after this initial 100 metres was done, I was good for a very long time? 

This is the wonderful thing about cycling and swimming, you can think about ‘things.’ 

Try to figure things out. 

Experiment. 

I decided to try something new. 

Instead of starting with Freestyle, I started the first 100 metres with the Breaststroke. 

Long wide pulls, a glide, big deep inhales and big deep exhales underwater. 

The last one was the game changer. 

I figured it out. 

It was my breathing that was messing me up. 

It was my incorrect breathing when I started. 

It was my incorrect breathing when I started with my Freestyle. 

I was not thinking about it. 

Eager to get in. 

Eager to get started. 

Eager to swim but thinking of anything but my breathing. 

The breathing in Breaststroke forces you to settle in. 

I realized that I was cycling with the same mistake. 

Not only when I was starting, but starting from any time I stopped. 

The first 100 metres had to become my breaststroke. 

I now do Breaststroke every time I start. 

I also do Breaststroke at many points in my rides. 

It all comes back to breathing. 

Big deep conscious breaths, settle in and switch to Freestyle. 

Always conscious of my breathing, my swimming breathing. 

Once you get into this rhythm, you can go forever. 

So, this is my ‘moi, moi, moi.’ 

I wanted to write about it because it really is a game-changer and something that can be overlooked in cycling. 

But the one thing that makes cycling so different from swimming? 

The beauty of what you see. 

You are not looking down into a dark, deep body of water. 

‘When I Ride, I am Swimming’ 

Insert bathing suit emoji here. 

‘There is Another Way to Ride.’