Road Bike Racing - Off the front for 239km = 6747 kJ

I picked up on this over in the Wattage forum: http://www.willfrischkorn.missingsaddle.com/

Yaeh, so these guys are freaks of nature. Will is 68kg!



A couple of interesting training geek things that come from having the powertap, and then overanalyzing what it tells you: 6747kjs, 2 hours and 9 minutes at 330-380, 2 hours and 12 minutes between 380 and 450. No doubt the most workload I’ve ever done out on a bike. And driving back to Girona with David and George last night at record speeds (home by 11!) it was interesting to contrast the difference for the guys in the peloton that were going for it at the end. David was round 5200, George around 5400 - big days, but still reasonable, and for guys closer to 75-78kgs than 68. Numbers that still leave you with enough gas to go warp speed over the last climbs - and George was killing it.

In an effort to balance out those numbers, what did I eat yesterday? A LOT. Before breakfast I almost thought it’d be interesting to track it, but then realized that was way, way, way too much work. I can roughly remember this: Breakfast: plate of eggs, maybe 3?, 4 strips of bacon, 1 breakfast roll, 1 bowl of meusli, 1 bowl of rice with another 2 eggs/ham chopped into it, 2 cappuccinos; On the bus pre start: 1 fruit tart, 1 frangipanne bar; Race: 6 fruit tarts, 1 clif bar, 6 clif blocks, 5 gels, 2 ham/cheese rolls, lots of bottles, 3 cokes; post: 1 more tart, 2 sandwiches, protein drink, banana, some serious ice cream, another sandwich, and when I got home, a bowl of lentil soup and a couple of cookies that meatball left behind:). I’d be curious to see the calorie count for that, but am a bit too tired right now. Instead it’s time to make some coffee, and then maybe sleep a bit more.

Does this mean I'm never going to be a pro?

Back when Will was just a junior (he got 5th at the junior world cyclocross in '98 or '99 I believe), I went on a ride with a couple of folks from the UVA team. Turned out to be pretty much the best guys on the team + Will. I think Will was 18 at the time; he was returning from road worlds in Italy. Anyway, I had expected a few of the people about my level to show; they did not. I was easily the slowest of the 5-6 people there. Will couldn't have been nicer; helped push my slow ass up a pretty good hill. Talked about eating a 1/2 gallon of ice cream the night before. I've been a fan of his ever since.

edited for clarity

ROFL check out "The Squatter" further down the page.

If I ate that much I would never be able to get off of the toilet! Simply amazing!!!

I love pro blogs. I could spend all day reading the Slipstream site.

I've made it my goal to put out 300w for 2hrs this summer. Among my friends, teammates and peers, long, hard tempo is all the rage, and I'm starting to see why.

That's nowhere near Will's race, but if I can do that, and then get some short intensity in another day during the week, I'll be in amazing shape. The ability to sit at 4.7 per, for 2hrs, would be great. Not to mention the calories burned, and weight trimmed. Which would in turn boost that w/kg...

dude is down with the tarts. little weenies can sure eat.

ROFL check out "The Squatter" further down the page.

When I lived in Turkey that's all you got outside campus and the super touristy area's. What's ironic is using water is actually cleaner than paper, but I never got the guts to do it; I guess it's ingrained into my head that there has to be paper between my hand and my butt.

Awesome blog btw, I'm going to start reading these.

If I caught one of my riders with FOUR pieces of bacon at breakfast before the start of one of the monuments of pro cycling, there'd be a serious discussion as to why he thinks he ought to get paid next week.

When those four pieces of bacon are .0001% of your daily caloric intake, you're allowed.

I've got to get me some of those fruit tarts. That's obviously the only thing keeping me from putting out that kind of wattage.

One of my favorite movies is Pro, in that is why Chris Horner is one of my favorite riders. He's sitting on a curb eating a burger, fries and a Coke while his teammates are all on their trainers warming up. He then proceeds to go off the front and nearly win the race solo. Classic.

If I caught one of my riders with FOUR pieces of bacon at breakfast before the start of one of the monuments of pro cycling, there'd be a serious discussion as to why he thinks he ought to get paid next week.

Why?

One of my favorite movies is Pro, in that is why Chris Horner is one of my favorite riders. He's sitting on a curb eating a burger, fries and a Coke while his teammates are all on their trainers warming up. He then proceeds to go off the front and nearly win the race solo. Classic.

Yeah, when you have talent, the little stuff just doesn't matter.

Yeah, when you have talent, the little stuff just doesn't matter.

He ate crap and lost. Hardly convincing evidence...

He ate crap and lost. Hardly convincing evidence...

He ate crap and single handedly about dropped the field. He had little in the way of help from his teammates.

If you have the talent, you could race on nothing but Twinkies and Coke.

If you have the talent, you could race on nothing but Twinkies and Coke.

Race yes, subsist no.

The nutritional makeup of twinkies/coke actually isn't totally horrible for racing. Sub-optimal sure, but better than pork rinds and beer. Lots of sugar that'll get burnt up quickly.

Race yes, subsist no.

The nutritional makeup of twinkies/coke actually isn't totally horrible for racing. Sub-optimal sure, but better than pork rinds and beer. Lots of sugar that'll get burnt up quickly.

Dang! I knew I was doing it all wrong. I though Landis spoke of beer and pork skins in his T:E ratio problems.

He ate crap and single handedly about dropped the field. He had little in the way of help from his teammates.

Maybe if he ate some pasta and salad he woulda won ;)

Beer and pork rinds are actually preferred recovery items in cyclocross races :p

Maybe if he ate some pasta and salad he woulda won ;)

He was outgunned not out classed. Besides the burger/fries diet seems to have worked for him pretty well.

I've made it my goal to put out 300w for 2hrs this summer. Among my friends, teammates and peers, long, hard tempo is all the rage, and I'm starting to see why.

That's nowhere near Will's race, but if I can do that, and then get some short intensity in another day during the week, I'll be in amazing shape. The ability to sit at 4.7 per, for 2hrs, would be great. Not to mention the calories burned, and weight trimmed. Which would in turn boost that w/kg...

Duke, I'm with you big time on this. I'd actually love to hear more about the whys and how of how you plan to do this (shoot me a PM if you got the time).
Could it be done in the midst of a group ride??

I just love the feeling of the legs churning out nice power for huge chunks of time, it seems like the fitness benefit would be killer, too. Hmmmmm....

Here's what my Power Tap has taught me: Oh, THAT's why Dr. Will is so much faster than me, and the pros are so much faster than him. I was out for a 70 minute interval session today. I would estimate my effort at 85%+ over that period. Average watts? 205. I haven't done the FTP test (soon) but I'm guessing mine is in the 230-240 range. A good Cat 2 like Will is what, 330+? And a pro? Fughedaboudit boys. There's a reason Pcad is so slow, and now I know precisely why. Fast enough to suck Cat 3 or 35+ vet wheels, not fast enough to jump to the breakaways or attack anybody.

Sure that's a bit depressing, but I think it's very valuable data. You do have to work with what you have, and I don't think there is another way to KNOW precisely how much snot you do or do not have without a PM. So you do have to get over the disappointing numbers if you're a mope like me, realize that it's the key to getting faster and then start to work with them. I haven't gotten into systematic Power Meter training yet, but I'm not giving up on it at all. I'll use it all season.

Very impressed with the PT. No problems beyond cold weather display faintness, but today in the 45º sunshine it actually started getting better. Within a month it should be fine. In the meantime it still works. Never had a gizmo that gave me all that critical data so accurately from HR to cadence to speed/power, and then charted it out for me (the Saris software works fine for the basics). Very cool device.

Why?


Because bacon has zero nutritional value to a pro cyclist about to embark on a 300k classic.
It takes many hours to digest, which means indigestion at 55 kph.
It also fills your belly where some wholesome nutrition could have been placed, assimilated and used.

If Will F absolutely wanted a taste of some bacon for comfort (weakness), then go ahead and have a half piece, but not four whole slices. Not very "pro" of him.

If you have the talent, you could race on nothing but Twinkies and Coke.

Yodels and Coke.

Please.

See Lowcel, a good ole WV boy like Will can put out the those kind of numbers. You won't be far behind.

If it wasn't for the health aspect I would stop cycling right now. Demoralizing this is.

Duke, I'm with you big time on this. I'd actually love to hear more about the whys and how of how you plan to do this (shoot me a PM if you got the time).
Could it be done in the midst of a group ride??

I just love the feeling of the legs churning out nice power for huge chunks of time, it seems like the fitness benefit would be killer, too. Hmmmmm....

To be honest, I'm not sure why. Some people call this SST, as well as "sweet spot" training. I'm not an exercise phys dude, so I'm afraid I can't explain WHY the adaptations happen, but I know that SST/"sweet spot"/hard tempo provides the most bang for your buck, by volume. I'm sure someone like asgelle can explain it, if he happens to read this thread.

In terms of the "how"; I think you could do it with a mix of individual and hard group riding. My personal plan is to do an hour or so of riding at that sort of effort, then show up to the local Tuesday B ride. As I've volunteered to be a ride leader this season, I pretty much have free reign to do whatever I please, so I can politely ask people to make a bit of room for me so I can rotate through quicker. I'll also drift back and pull slower groups up to the fast guys, or just start the ride out at the front, and pull people along while they warm up. So, I'm hoping that this, in combination with the Thursday "A" ride (the big bad hammers of Chicago's western suburbs), will get me into the type of race shape I want to be in.

To be honest, I'm not sure why. Some people call this SST, as well as "sweet spot" training. I'm not an exercise phys dude, so I'm afraid I can't explain WHY the adaptations happen, but I know that SST/"sweet spot"/hard tempo provides the most bang for your buck, by volume. I'm sure someone like asgelle can explain it, if he happens to read this thread.

http://www.fascatcoaching.com/sweetspot.html

Demoralizing this is.

http://yodafans.homestead.com/files/customs/td6yodaheadcloseup.jpg

On the one hand, these wattages simply boggle the mind. Last year I did a 5-hour ride in which I averaged 250 watts (240 AP, 250 NP) and I'll be honest: I was pretty damn freaking proud of myself. But we're talking about well over 100 watts more than that for about the same duration from a guy who weighs 10 pounds less than I did at the time and who--even with that engine--is a relative unknown at the international level.

On the other hand, I would never even think to compare my max squat with one of those Russian dudes who win gold medals.

So for some reason, I forget that in cycling genetics matter just as much as they do in weight lifting. Yeah, training makes a big difference but these guys are genetic freaks.

--Steve

I'm sure someone like ENTHALPIC can explain it, if he happens to read this thread.

Corrected.

300w for 2 hours...I've done that, and it was painful/glorious/worth it, however, I weight about 15 k's more than you. At least.

See Lowcel, a good ole WV boy like Will can put out the those kind of numbers. You won't be far behind.

Hmmm, apparently there are some decent roads to train on around here. :D

Corrected.

Always good to make friends.