ridethecliche

I lose a bunch of power getting down though, which is why I think dropping spacers for crits might be the way to go. I can get a flat back in the hoods, and breathe okay, but having my hands 1 cm lower will reduce drag a bunch. I suppose speed>power in a scenario like this.

Thanks for the vote of confidence, I'll try it again sometime this week. A friend and I swapped wheelsets today, his is a set of wheels he built. About 1450ish grams and 27mm compared to my 1700 gram 41mm's. I like these a lot more than i thought I would.

admcptch

First post in training thread for me, figured I can post now.

Picked up The Cyclist's Training Bible a couple weeks ago, working my way through it and learning a lot. I'll be JRA for training, since that is what Friel recommends for your first year (I swam competitively for 9 years, but I'm done now. Getting back on the road to replace that). Will be doing a couple races in September and then doing collegiate races in the spring with schools team.

Just putting in the miles now and working on the little things. Starting to get in the habit of riding at 85-90rpm. Feels great to get back on a bike. Scenery sure beats the bottom of a pool.

waterrockets 

Good job on the test and the progress. No graph?

TMonk

Raced today (Long Beach Crit Cat4) and had two firsts:

1) Crashed in a pileup of about 1/4 field, hopped back in and

2) Spontaneously decided to spend my last lap leading out a good friend (non-teammate) when I found him on my wheel starting the last lap.




Came back to Santa Barbara afterwards and JRA for the first time with a new friend for 3 hrs. Z2. Gorgeous day.

Hocam

The more I look at it the more it confuses me. Depending on what you include, you can get anywhere from 260 to 275, and 275 is way too high. I should just send you the WKO file.

waterrockets 

Either way. You can pretty much tell if the test was good just from the shape of the graph. If it's pretty clearly decreasing until 2:30 or so, then really flattens out, no spike at the end, then it's probably good. I would go with the lower number. Start your selection at the end, and extend it backwards until the average starts to go up. Even if that's only 10 or 15 seconds, that will probably be ther right span.

SushiJoe

Had bronchitis for the past ~3 weeks. Raced this weekend (likely the last races around here of the season).
Did horrible as expected.
Training has been super limited. ~6 total hrs. last week. Got 2nd to last in the TT [went w/o aero gear since I knew it was gonna be a tough go and I was too lazy to put on aero bars], DNS'd the crit and DNF'd the RR [after I got lapped by the field on a 7 mile circuit-- I did 6/7 laps and pulled out when it started to thunderstorm].

SushiJoe

^^ These were the races everyone around here trains/peaks for. Got obliterated.

dmotoguy

how many 30 on/ 30 off intervals do you guys do in a session?

SteelerHoo

quick VO2 interval question.

is there any difference in training effect between doing VO2 max intervals as a set (e.g. 6 sets of 5 on / 5 off) or doing 6 of the same 5 min intervals but spread out over a longer 3 hour ride?

thanks

waterrockets 

Shouldn't matter how they're spread out as long as you can get to your planned power zone for each interval (don't go so hard between them that you screw up the intervals).

kensuf

With Vo2max work, keep the intervals close together to get the maximum benefit. I'm a big fan of 3 sets of 3x3's w/3' recovery and 5-8 minutes between each set. You'll want to puke, or lay down and die, by the time you see # 9, that's how you know you did them right.

Start out with just doing two sets for a few weeks to get used to that stomach churning gut wrenching feeling.

SteelerHoo

oh yeah, i know the feeling of doing these. i usually do 2 sets of 3 x 5 min efforts (for 30 min total at VO2 max), but i'm kind of sick of the workout and wanted to see if i could work it into more of a fun ride.

substructure

6x2mins @ 115%. Rest 20 mins. Then another set of 6x2mins @ 115%. Rest for 15 mins. Then a 20 min SST. Then a 15 min cool down.

kensuf

Go race.

Or find your local tuesday night worlds and attack the crap out of it.

kensuf

Rest week. Blah.

I'll do a field test Friday and see where I am after this block. Yay, what fun.

According to the tanita, I've dropped a point of body fat in the last month. I'm still too fat for this sport.

Flatballer

Active recovery today.

Entire workout (71 watts):
Duration: 35:47 (38:00)
Work: 152 kJ
TSS: 10.4 (intensity factor 0.418)
Norm Power: 92
VI: 1.3
Pw:HR: n/a
Pa:HR: n/a
Distance: 5.618 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 269 71 watts
Cadence: 29 244 62 rpm
Speed: 2.2 28.2 9.5 mph


It was pretty tough keeping my pace low, self control was hard. It also hurt my wrists. Riding a race bike at 50W, not so comfortable.

bostongarden

Unfortunately?? Mexican and Tex-Mex are awesome (Kind of like the old Southwest Airlines ads) You are free to eat as much as you like...



May you have many more creaky years...



Indeed!!



I wouldn't worry about training by year...after you finish Genesis, you'll be ready for the next phase of riding and racing...



QUESTION: Does the terrain matter when doing this, or, does it only matter that one find any stretch where one can go uninterrupted and all out for 3 minutes?



Off the bike today to rest the tender "near-hamstring" muscle (after yesterday's race, I thought I pulled a hamstring, but, it was some other muscle off-center but nearby the hamstring) and to set the new Thomson Elite seatpost...sorry USE Alien Carbon, ya burn me once in a situation that didn't call for it and that could have led to some serious injury and it's buh-bye for you and economy stimulation for the bike shop...

bostongarden

Good man...sometimes it feels like these types of workouts take more discipline...but, the benefits keep you coming back for more...

Flatballer

It sort of does. Mostly because it's very difficult to keep the hammer down on downhills, almost impossible. That's what messed up my test the other week, the downhill parts of the rollers.

I would try to find a section that's uninterrupted, good pavement, low traffic, and either flat or slightly uphill, no downhill at all.

SushiJoe

That's gotta be one of the most quotes in a single post I've seen in a while.
My ADHD kicked in and I didn't make it to the end.

Flatballer

Ouch. Luckily, I was about 1250 (almost exactly) under yesterday, so I guess it works out. Do you guys who diet and count calories pay attention to calories by the week more than by the day? On days I don't ride, I have an impossible time trying to stay under my limit (like today). But yesterday, since I rode a few hours, I wasn't really that hungry (especially since I rode towards the evening).

bostongarden

I'm honored with your blessing My typical approach is to treat each post independently, but, every now and then I've sensed that some folks aren't keen on several posts in a row from the same person...1-3 seems ok, but, beyond that seems to bug people, so

Hocam

It flattens out pretty well, there's a small spike at the end of 275, just enough to throw the average off. If I ignore that I get anywhere from 258 to 265 depending on the sample. I think 260 makes sense, I'll do some LT intervals later in the week and see how they go.

SushiJoe

You're a little early but that's ok.
I expect a present or at least a slice of cake come September though.