Jubail

It's hot and humid where I live. I'm talking about 95-100F and +70%. I have been noticing a drop in performance (5-8%) since the heat and humidity started and I would like to know if that's normal or not.

revchuck 

My weather is similar. How are you quantifying that performance loss? Are you new to where you live now? Have you changed your eating/drinking habits on the bike during the heat?

Jubail

No, I'm not new to the area but the weather has only changed recently. I did change my drinking habit. I went from 500ml water over a 2hr ride to 1.5L since heat and humidity started.
I think I should mention that I have done some changes on the bike recently, too. I changed the position. I went from 80mm stem to 110. Also, Pushed the saddle all the way forward. Moreover, I went from shimano pedal to speedplay pedal. I don't have any problems with the new position since my knees and back don't hurt. However, my lower back does hurt when I push really hard but it goes away when I ease down. Is that normal?

shovelhd

That is way too many changes at once.

revchuck 

You might want to add some electrolytes to your water to replace those that you lose when you sweat. You may need to further increase your fluid consumption - I typically go through a liter/hour in the summer, but this varies by individual and you may have the right amount for you. I can't comment on what effect changing your position may have on your power output, but note that going from an 80mm stem to a 110mm stem is a BIG change and may well be the cause of your lower back pain when you ride hard.

I usually ride in the morning at sunrise or just afterwards. The temperatures are ~20 degrees cooler then. The only time I ride in the heat is when I have to, as in racing.

furiousferret

I've spent half the day making up custom graphs in Cycling Analytics to find out what my coach has been telling me.

I need to up my cadence.

I tend to average 78-85, and its possible that its optimal there however I would like to be able to dial up my cadence to 130. Right now I get uncomfortable around 115.

revchuck 

My cadence when training is ~90 rpm. When racing, anything slower than 95 rpm feels like mashing.

jsutkeepspining

#juniorgearing #115rpmsjra #spintowin

caloso

I have had good luck with Osmo Preload. It tastes horrible, but no cramps, no bonking.

revchuck 

I bought a container of that, but after reading the instructions I'm a bit scared of it. 4050 mg of sodium per dose? Yikes! I'm still working through issues from all the "sodium is bad" info of the last 30 or so years.

Creatre

"Threshold" intervals. I put it in quotes because I have no idea where my threshold is at yet after coming back. All I know is it freaking sucked. And I was an idiot and did the intervals at the beginning of the ride and almost couldn't finish the volume!

shovelhd

Welcome back to Cat5.

Moyene Corniche

Here is a link to a two part review article.

Osmo Nutrition Test - Slowtwitch.com

https://www.slowtwitch.com/Features/O...rt_2_3421.html

https://www.slowtwitch.com/Features/O...w_Up_3874.html

It is clearly stated that none of these supplements replace a proper nutrition plan. Not a diet which is a deletion/elimination of certain foods, never a good idea for athlete's.
I'm reading somewhat between the lines here but if you are cramping on a long event then that has to do with an inadequate preparation.
Both in terms of hydration, nutritional intake and training plan. Acclimation plays a major role in any endurance event. I know that we would prefer to ride early or late in the day to escape the hottest part of the day, but it's not realistic when you actually have to race in the middle of the day when the temps are in the 90's and the humidity is high. If I have to because of commitments I will ride early and late, but I much prefer to ride throughout the mid/late morning into the afternoon.
One of the most taxing races i've ever done was this circuit race in Peille France. Peille is in Provence northeast of Aix-en-Provence. The village was located on a hilltop, the main street was the highest point and also the only flat section of the entire circuit. Barely 500 meters long, it led to a corkscrew 1st turn into a descent, followed by a 90 degree turn into another descent section. At the bottom a 120 degree turn leading back into the uphill section towards the start/finish. Basically it was 53/11 down and 39/23 up. I never used much else for all 60+ laps. Add to that 98+ F temps and a blazing sun. Out of 65 starters only 1/3 finished. I finished 16th, my shorts had white lines from my loss of sodium and my hands had blisters ( I wore gloves ) This was with a club/team from Brignole that supplied me support every lap. I was handed a new water bottle and had water poured over me on the uphill feed zone.
I would have never been able to finish the race had I not had that support or most importantly had the opportunity to acclimate to the change from New England for at least a month. I was relocating back and forth between Tourve ( a small town 15 km away ) and Monaco. (btw half my family live there, hence why it's always been easy for me to go race in France. )

But my point in the discussion is ( between the lines ) I believe there is too much emphasis on the interval speed work and not enough on the endurance aspects. Fine if you are sticking to short Crits and short Circuit Races. But not for long 65+ mile RR and multi-day Stage Races. It's fine to have the power and snap for bridging repeated short intense efforts, but when you've been dropped on Brandon Gap and have to chase for 10 miles or more to bridge before the next climb up towards Okemo, those short efforts training are not going to help.

This is why I believe some people are cramping, the training is too narrowly focused.

Creatre

shovelhd

You know I was just pulling your chain. Welcome back for real.

waterrockets 

+1

lol though

MDcatV

mattm if you're not on the trainer by the end of the day, don't go to Europe

furiousferret

Some Intervals and Pace work. Got my first KOM on Strava, which since I will probably not win a race or make Chong Le say matte in the Kumite, I will dedicate to mattm.

furiousferret

I have roughly a month to be offended by this...

Ygduf

Bike Ride Profile | Montebello hot in the heat near Stanford | Times and Records | Strava

I have 2 ITT hillclimbs coming up that count in the omnium for the Red Kite series. I'm pretty excited to do what I like to do against those crit monkeys.

today a little over 5 for 27 min, and that's with a greatly inflated weight of 183 this morning. I expect I can cut down to 175 for race day.

aaronmcd

Great day.

Morning ride, came withing 8 watts of my 5' PR on the final climb. Home, recovered a couple hours, went out for 3x5' plus the noon ride. Beat my 5' PR by 20 watts. Tied my 2' PR on the short climb at the end.

82 miles, 294 TSS

waterrockets 

2x20s aborted by a flat and barely having time for the workout in the first place.

mattm

i just need to poop!

shovelhd

Welcome to Masters.

mattm

dammit it hurts to laugh right now!!