August 15, 2023 - Forearm friction.

Public holiday today, so some time for climbing. I had the impression that my body was worn out, so I left to Buthiers Nord with a couple of options to try, but without any expectations. 
My first option was the "Matrix Revolution - La Matrice" combination, the last line on that boulder that I still had left to do. Starting as for "Matrix Revolution" and traversing to the right to exit in "La Matrice" seemed like a physical challenge, especially after the hard physical crux of "Matrix Revolution". Even though quite some ago already, I did still remember haw hard and physical the crux of "Matrix Revolution" was. Working out the second part first, proved that this was still quite physical as well until arriving in "La Matrice". I didn't have very high hopes. Another climber, Matthieu, had joined me at the boulder for trying "Matrix", which was quite welcome as it forced me to take regular breaks and preserving enough energy and power.
The starting holds of the sitstart were damp and by the time I had to do the crux, my hands were already dirty and slippery, so I first focused on doing it from the standing start, just at the crux. I knew what to do at the second part very well by now, so when I stuck the crux using the friction of my forearms to limit the swing, when coming from the standing start, I decided to continue and top it out. This on itself is only a tiny bit less hard then when coming from the sit, if at all.

Fontainebleau - Buthiers Nord - Matrix Revolution - La Matrice (debout) 7C(7B+)

It did bother me not having the problem from the sitstart, so after a short break, I covered the low starting holds with a piece of cloth and gave it an attempt. The cloth helped a lot and my hands were dry and clean when I got into the standing start. I stayed focused, stuck the crux again, again while using forearm friction, climbed on to the end and topped out again, this time it was from the sit.

Fontainebleau - Buthiers Nord - Matrix Revolution - La Matrice 7C