Nathalie Baillon, professional long-distance cyclist

 **Untz untz Nathalie! Could you please tell us a bit about yourself?** My name is Nathalie Baillon, I'm 33 and I live at **Grenoble**. For the past two years, I've been transforming what was just a hobby into **a real profession**: I'm a **long-distance cyclist** professional, after a career as an engineer in Munich. **How did you manage to make this your profession?** I was lucky enough to be quickly **noticed** for my performances right from my first ultra competitions. I was often in \*\*the top 10 overall \*\*and **first woman in** competitions (BikingMan Corsica, the BikingMan Euskadi, Race Across France, B-Hard Ultra Race...) In 2023, I was the first woman to cross Europe from South to North, over 6400 km, in 19 days, at an average speed of 14.30 km/h, including stops. At the same time, I **documented my cycling trips on social networks**. ** brands** started to take an interest in me, like Komoot, and this enabled me to make a living out of it, thanks to other activities like coaching cyclists. **Where does this magic on the pedal come from?** I'm just **passionate**, I think. I started cycling at the age of 15 and was immediately hooked. I'd already built up my endurance by walking long distances to meet up with friends. As I've always been attracted to **travel**, I took my **first cycling trip to New Zealand, in 2018**. It was there that I discovered **long-distance** and really got into it! Back in Europe, I equipped myself with a top-of-the-range bike and bike-packing panniers and completed my first 1,000 km ride in less than 60 hours.  *At the Ultr'Arverne: a 780 km road ultra © Instagram Nathalie Baillon* **Has ultra changed you as a person?** As a little girl, I was sickly shy. Ball sports were unbearable: if someone threw me a ball, I didn't react! Cycling helped me to progress on my own, without having to suffer the judgment of others. Today, I'm still introverted, but I'm no longer afraid of approaching people, thanks to my bike. ## "Women find it harder to get started. Even when they have a very good level, they think they're beginners" **Why are women so rarely present in races?** Women find it harder to get started, because**they underestimate themselves**. Most claim to be beginners when they already have a super level! **The impostor syndrome** still wreaks havoc... So it's vital to help them become aware of their skills. ## "To cycle long distances, you need to work on your endurance, but above all you need to be resilient" **What skills do you need in bike travel and cycling?** ** endurance**! To work it, you can do long hours at low intensity, **raise endurance thresholds** or train to stay in your maximum endurance threshold for a long time. I also find it very interesting to work on other **disciplines such as sprinting**. But the most important thing is to work on your **resilience**, your **ability to find solutions**, not to get discouraged. You have to have a goal and know why you're doing it, otherwise, at the slightest difficulty, you give up.  *"One of the challenges of the Silk Road Mountain Race is nutrition 🍉 During the last edition, a large proportion of participants dropped out because of gastric problems 🤢" © Instagram Nathalie Baillon* **Do you have any advice on nutrition to combine travel and long distance?** You have to **get to know yourself**, testing to find out what you digest well and what you don't. Personally, I like liquid nutrition, as it provides calories that are easy to digest. The recommendations are 100 grams of carbohydrate per hour, but if you manage to ingest 60 grams, that's already good. Above all, eat regularly, what your stomach can handle best and ... anticipate what you're going to find on site, because you can't carry everything on your bike. *📷 @photonomades*production © Instagram Nathalie Baillon\_ **What about sleep?** It's the same, it's **personal** and it depends on the **length of the race**. I'm not a big sleeper, so on short races, I don't sleep or I just take 10-minute naps if really, I feel it's hard. Then there are races lasting more than a week. I try to sleep 3 or 4 hours a night and take naps during the day if necessary. But there are different strategies: it all depends on your abilities and needs! ## " The races I prefer are those where there's a compulsory route. That said, I always study the route beforehand"  *Discover Lunéville and its castle © Instagram Nathalie Baillon* **What about the route?** The races I prefer are those where the **route is compulsory**, because you just have to follow it. Having said that, you should always **study** the route beforehand, to see where to get supplies and where to sleep. But there are also **races with free routes** where you just have to connect checkpoints. For those who, like me, are aiming for the rankings, you need to find the route that goes as fast as possible, where you can refuel and, above all, avoid as many difficulties as possible. Sometimes, it's worth **lengthening the distance to have less ascent** or deviating to avoid the headwind. Here again, it all depends on your profile: are you a good climber? Strong on the flat? You have to learn gradually.  *Rare are the photos on her Insta without her faithful steed... but always helmeted 💙 © Instagram Nathalie Baillon* ## "I choose my races according to the places I want to discover . I rarely do the same one twice!" ** Where do you find your pleasure, in these races?** In the landscapes above all, although there's obviously also the pleasure of **surpassing myself and achieving a performance**! I choose my races according to the places I can discover. That's also why I rarely do the same competition twice. *In May 2023, Nathalie became the first woman to cross Europe from Tarifa to North Cape, through 12 countries, in 18 days, 15 h00, 27 minutes! 🥳 © Instagram Nathalie Baillon* **How do you deal with fear and suffering?** To deal with my fear, I try to be **rational**. The first night out, I slept really badly. I was afraid someone would steal my bike, come and kill me at night 😂! Even today, I take precautions, I find out where I'm going, I only camp in isolated places. But most people are super generous. As for the fear of failure, I admit I'm very stubborn... so I never give up, unless I have a physical or mechanical problem. But if I were to give up, I'd consider it a learning experience. What's the point of going on at all costs if you're not enjoying it?

 **Music for ascents**: [Unstoppable](<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YaEG2aWJnZ8>) \-Sia **Music for the downhill**: [Don't stop me now](<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HgzGwKwLmgM>) \- Queen **A book to understand cycling**: [Cycling and performance optimization](<about:blank>), Frédéric Grappe