furiousferret

Tuesday Night Worlds; mixed in interval work, was one watt short of my 5m pr. With as sore as my legs are, that's a surprise.

aaronmcd

^ 1 watt short of a PR is pretty good! I hit 10 watts short in a group ride today and was working pretty hard.

TMonk

2014 is turning out to be a year of experimentation and decreased bike focus, but long-term vision for me, cycling wise. Two new developments in particular have pointed me in that direction: my decision to acquire a power meter, and to get back in the gym again for the first time since college (2010).

Typical "On" weeks are looking like this: (not that I need rest weeks anyway right now)

M: gym - upper body
T: Track PM (very high-intensity), ez 30-60min spin AM
W: EZ z1/2 ride, MTB or road
Th: gym - lower body
F: EZ z1/2 ride, MTB or road
S: 3-4 hr high z2 ride (tiring), or group road ride
U: off

I could really use an extra quality intensity or threshold day, but it's difficult for me to fit it into my life/schedule right now. Instead I am doing other things: lifting, hiking, swimming, body surfing, whatever. My overall health and strength is better than in years past, but my cycling fitness lacks depth. I can feel it. Additionally, lifting takes away my ability to ride hard for a day or two, but I really love deadlifts and squats.

That still didn't stop me from winning two races and placing second an another tonight in the "B+" field at SDVA. I'm having a lot of fun learning about myself and thinking about workouts with my powermeter. I really look forward to optimizing my bike workouts with it (next year?) and going for my road 2, which I know I can do.

But that won't be this weekend, because the boys from work and I are backpacking San Gorgonio (11,500). Good times will be had.

aaronmcd

Had to drive my wife to work so I had the car for an interview, so missed the morning ride and the end of the noon ride.

On the plus side, I was fresh for the noon ride part that I did and got a decent workout out of it. I went near the front for the first climb, and when I looked back most of the field was gone (thanks, Fudgy)! Only 5 of us in the break. Good break with a few strong riders (Fudgy and one other guy in orange doing a lot of pulling), but I had to leave before the finale. Still great to be in a break from a hill! My climbing ability is slowly coming around.

Then got accepted at the interview to do a trial project for decent money. The job would be well paying, telecommute and part time/flex hours. So stoked, I hope I get this job.

revchuck 

Aaron - crossing fingers for you getting that job...

shovelhd

Good luck with the job prospect.

TMonk, good to hear that you are finding the bike/life balance. It sounds like you are having fun. Your schedule looks great for the goals you have.

waterrockets 

Good luck on the job, and good job on the hill.

ShutUpLegs

Finished my first peak of the year this past weekend. Took the last two days off to recover, buy a newer Jeep Wrangler, sell off the 350z and just relax. Today I'll get back on the bike to spin around and enjoy the scenary

furiousferret

Welcome to the Jeep Family!
@aaronmcd gl on the job!

mattm

Did the Valley Ride tonight, instead of sitting around at the track and getting back home at 10 pm..

Won a sprint, lost a sprint, lost hard on the climb. Hot out.

In the final sprint it felt fast, and the data says 43 mph.. tailwind and slight downhill helped. Was looking for that 11 tooth!

hack

Folsom Bike Race Ride. Got the first sprint, but then blew up hard. Chased and caught a group, so we worked back together.

aaronmcd

Hey, don't you have to upgrade before you can hit 40+ in a sprint? Lol.

Was considering Valley Ride tonight, but figure it's better to keep the intensity to Tuesdays and Thursdays rather than 3 days in a row.

ShutUpLegs

FTP Test this morning. First one I've ever done with a power meter (have always gone off feel). Did Coggan's Test..Results: 5m power=5.45 W/kg (415 avg) and FTP=4.21 W/kg (321 avg). Actually feel pretty good about that.

aaronmcd

^ wow, that 5' power is almost 130% - mine is only 117%. Maybe I need to work on my 5' more.

----------

Morning ride. Holy ****. I was dropped halfway through, formed a chase group and caught on for the second part just as the leaders were leaving the regroup spot.

Some examples of ride titles from Strava:

"Splinters!"
"TMR Swiss Cheese"
"A clear demonstration of the frank difference between Pro/Cat 1 riding and the rest of us"
"Nuclear Bomb"
"**** that was fast"
"Somebody opened a can of whoop ass"
"Dropped on Kings"
"Dropped on Tripp"
etc.

mattm

Which cat 1's do that ride?

aaronmcd

Good question. I have no clue. I'm not much for small talk so I only know a few people

echappist

Good to hear; enjoy the backpacking trip
Best of wishes
genetics plays into it a lot; or it could be that you are overly focusing on the aerobic stuff; or that you were tired when you tested, etc. you really won't know until you have a few years of data.

in 2011, my first year with a PM, i was at 1.30 and fancied myself as a puncheur
in 2012, i changed my approach a bit and was at 1.20 and thought i was a diesel with no punch
in 2013, i hired a coach who had a more holistic approach. ended up at 1.25. i'm still a diesel type, but at least i had some pop
no idea where i'm at right now. i don't do 5 min tests, at least not in season.

TexMac

Good ones.
My last one was "dry lube", went out of town and forgot my chamoise creme

TexMac

Was in Fort Hood, Killeen Texas for work so i brought my bike with me to ride hills. Maped a ride route but later found out i could not ride in that area unless i was in the millitary !. Drove around on the outskirts of main town looking for some roads, ended up at a place called Harker Heights, parked my car at a church and got on my bike. Rode 40 miles with 2k ft of climbing. For the first time i ran out of gears at 45mphr downhill.

jsutkeepspining

I'll add my data point. I'm at about 125% or so, and my sprint (max) is 400+% and 5 second is at 383%. I'm a sprinter with an emphasis on sub 5 minute efforts. if you watch me race you would be able to tell i'm a sprinter very quickly. My attacks/moves are either 100% separation, or i'm not doing anything.

furiousferret

Training Crit, my legs were trash so the plan was to hold on until I fell off than call it a day. Call me a coward, whatever but when you've tore ligaments from overuse you tend to be very conservative when things feel 'off'. Feels like Mike Tyson used my left leg as a punching bag. Since we're talking ewang my power numbers from 5s to 30s were pretty good, so hopefully I'll get to punch it up when I'm fresh.

caloso

Airport Ride. 2:30. 165tss. All I wanted to do was hang on and try burning matches, recover, and burn another. As it turned out I found myself near the front on both sprints. My top end isn't there, but I'm pretty pleased that I made it that far.

mattm

i don't understand what these %'s mean.

can someone enlighten me?

globecanvas

jsutkeepspining's 5 minute power PR is 125% of FTP, and his 5 second PR is 383% of FTP.

Oddly those numbers are very similar to mine, except I am terrible sprinter, because although I can hit the 5 sec PR at the end of a hard group ride, I've never come with 200w of it at the end of a race.

ShutUpLegs

This whole power thing is intriguing. Although I only have the power available to me via my indoor trainer right now (Lemond Revolution) I was pleasently suprised to see those numbers and how they line up with Coggan's table. Whether the table is a good estimate or not, it's nice to know where I am at and what I can improve on. Look forward to getting power on the road come the fall when I can afford it!