"The 33"-Road Bike Racing - Best Place/Way to Spend a Week or Two of Race Training

Well...after doing really well during my month off after the surgery - the first week back to work has been kinda rough. My diet and sleep habits went to crap, and being on my feet all day at work caused my knee to puff up like a balloon.

This of course is very bad, but not so bad that I can't remedy the ill effects of the last week in 2-3 weeks of focused rest/training and diet.

Now, I'll get my act back together, but I've really done the "two steps forward, one step back" - so, I've been thinking that in addition to just getting on top of my daily routine again I might benefit from taking a week or two off to do some focused training sometime in April or May.

My first "A" race is on the last weekend of May, everything before that is just an opportunity to snag more upgrade points and top 10s.

What I'm thinking about doing is driving out to the mountains of Boone/Asheville and putting in a big, big, big week. Something like 25-30 hours, and 1500+ TSS. Provided I experience no additional knee issues between then and now, the intent of that weekish would be to provide a hefty shock to the system to force adaptation. I'd then take the following week easy, and return to normal training after that. Plus, I like riding my bike in the mountains :)

Is this a stupid idea? If so, how stupid? If no - any suggestions?

Well...after doing really well during my month off after the surgery - the first week back to work has been kinda rough. My diet and sleep habits went to crap, and being on my feet all day at work caused my knee to puff up like a balloon.

This of course is very bad, but not so bad that I can't remedy the ill effects of the last week in 2-3 weeks of focused rest/training and diet.

Now, I'll get my act back together, but I've really done the "two steps forward, one step back" - so, I've been thinking that in addition to just getting on top of my daily routine again I might benefit from taking a week or two off to do some focused training sometime in April or May.

My first "A" race is on the last weekend of May, everything before that is just an opportunity to snag more upgrade points and top 10s.

What I'm thinking about doing is driving out to the mountains of Boone/Asheville and putting in a big, big, big week. Something like 25-30 hours, and 1500+ TSS. Provided I experience no additional knee issues between then and now, the intent of that weekish would be to provide a hefty shock to the system to force adaptation. I'd then take the following week easy, and return to normal training after that. Plus, I like riding my bike in the mountains :)

Is this a stupid idea? If so, how stupid? If no - any suggestions?

Go to Austin.

OR, come here to MT. I could use a good week of ownage. Plus the cold will help your swelling.

Going away on vacation to ride isn't such a bad idea....however, riding 2-3 times what you normally would in a given week...not sure how that'll pan out for ya.

OR, come here to MT. I could use a good week of ownage. Plus the cold will help your swelling.

Yes the cold is always good for shrinkage. Dude Austin has it going on right now. The weather is gett'n good, we've got our Tuesday nighter light'n it up starting next week as are the drive way crits. We've got a boat load of talent to ride against, several USA Cycling juniors are here training along with some wicked fast ex pro and national champions.

Huge training block followed by recovery? Sounds like an awesome plan! Unlike the others, though, I'm not going to invite you up to Canada. The weather here sucks goat balls at the moment.

I can't understand why you'd go any farther away than the Blue Ridge Parkway (Mount Mitchell, Beech Mountain, the Parkway, named gap after named gap, US181, etc).

--Steve

My normal training week is 12 hours, with high weeks hitting 16-18 hours. I can probably go as high as 20 hours once or maybe twice before planned "uber" training week. After ~6 years of aerobic base built up through running and cycling I imagine that'd be sufficient preparation...

Ah....well, I guess if you're hitting close to 20 hours during a hard week, 25-30 isn't that bad. I was just thinking if you went from say, riding 10-12 hours normally to 30 hours....that might've been a bit of a jump.

I'd hit up CA myself.

It may be a little far to drive for you, but this sounds like fun:

http://rawtalent.lostriverbarn.com/
http://lostriverbarn.com/

The owner (Jay Moglia) is a member and sponsor of our team... a very experienced Cat 1.

Pardon the shilling. :o

I'm taking my vacation at the Tour de Georgia, riding the course in the mornings. I'll be in Asheville visiting my brother on April 23-25, if those are days you'll be there and you'd like company on a ride. Hilly but not mountainous I ride 15-16 avg. for 40-60 miles. There's a Tuesday morning club ride from a downtown Asheville bike shop. I got the links from a board here. I think I searched on Asheville.

I think the area, and Boone, are great places to take the bike and get away for some serious riding.

I'm thinking coming off knee surgery and a sedendary period, gradually increasing base miles, and some low tension stuff like fast pedals might be more in order than an uber week in the mountains.

Fly to California if you can swing it. I'm currently arranging a flight home for the 7 days of my spring break. Might do the Berkeley collegiate race, or maybe Orosi, while I'm out there.

Just wherever you go, make sure the weather is almost guaranteed to be nice.

im going to phoenix next week for this same reason.

I'm thinking coming off knee surgery and a sedendary period, gradually increasing base miles, and some low tension stuff like fast pedals might be more in order than an uber week in the mountains.

This would be following a solid base, and I'd only do it if I'm pain free from the ol knees. I have roughly 40 hours logged on the trainer since the surgery (8FEB), so I'm hoping that a lack of base will not be a factor.

This would be following a solid base, and I'd only do it if I'm pain free from the ol knees. I have roughly 40 hours logged on the trainer since the surgery (8FEB), so I'm hoping that a lack of base will not be a factor.


Come to MT. 5k feet above sea level, then we'll ride to 11k. Show you what aerobic means.

Come to north Georgia! Hit up the gaps and ride the TDG course! :)

greenville is also a great place to train pretty locally, its not going to be as cold as the mountains and youve got tons of great rides and plenty of climbing.

Honestly i would say the mountains though. Asheville, boone maybe.

I've found the area around McCormick, Plum Branch, and Modoc, SC around Lake Thurmond (Clark's Hill Lake for those in Georgia) to be a fine place to get some training. You may have to pack a tent or haul an RV out there, as accommodations aren't much in the way of hotels/motels. Rolling hills but no hard climbs.

Great suggestions in here. In the interest of preventing overtraining, you might devote a couple of days to mountain biking. If you throw down 5 long days on the road, bouncing off some rocks can be quite refreshing. Could be a nice changeup for recovery rides instead of boring yourself to death on new roads that you wish you could ride hard.

Come to Athens, GA! 3 pro teams call Athens home, you have the tdg coming up, and an hour drive to the mountain backroads. I might even drive a chase vehicle for you yelling Allez, Allez!

I'd suggest the area around Memphis. Those climbs are horrible, the cost of living is cheap, and the roads are simply pristine.

I'd suggest the area around Memphis. Those climbs are horrible, the cost of living is cheap, and the roads are simply pristine.

Are we talking about the same Memphis I ride in. Our climbs are hills, the cost of living is cheap but you get what you pay for and the roads are terrible with very few roads having as much as a shoulder and most of the lesser traveled roads are tar and chip. With that said we do have a very strong cycling community with a group ride for pretty much any day of the week.

Are we talking about the same Memphis I ride in. Our climbs are hills, the cost of living is cheap but you get what you pay for and the roads are terrible with very few roads having as much as a shoulder and most of the lesser traveled roads are tar and chip. With that said we do have a very strong cycling community with a group ride for pretty much any day of the week.

civic pride. :beer:

civic pride. :beer:

What can I say...I am a realist. We have some some really nice areas but you have to hunt them out.