"The 33"-Road Bike Racing - Fast Responders?

So how fast do you all naturally react to training efforts and building fitness?

I feel that I'm a pretty fast responder. In my first season I did pretty well, in all of my Junior races I never really left the top 5 or so, and since then I've been able to jump right onto the road after a pretty long time-out and be pretty competitive.


Just guaging how everyone here is able to respond to fitness.

i believe im a slow responder, but this may also be due to not riding enouhg/not structured enough. Pack fodder in cat5 here.

been riding a bit over a year.

Race results

crash
dropped
pack finish
dropped
dropped
2nd
dropped

I think I suck, but it might be too soon to tell.

i believe im a slow responder, but this may also be due to not riding enouhg/not structured enough. Pack fodder in cat5 here.

I don't really have a very structured training plan and I never have. I don't do tons on intervals, and I don't really ride everyday, but in races I'm able to do whatever I need to do and sometimes sneak in a win.
Especially in group rides or invite-only private team races I'm able to see that I'm doing pretty well, even if I feel crappy or think I'm slow.

I am a cat V rider, the way I look at it I just need 10 races to move up so I am having some fun with it. So far in races I have been attacking like mad, being super aggressive, and typically paying for it in the end so the results are just not there.

However I have a coach and power. In the 4 months with a coach my FTP had nearly doubled and my max power has increased by over 300w. So yeah....I would say I am a fast rebounder. Of course I still suck at cycling.

I am a cat V rider, the way I look at it I just need 10 races to move up so I am having some fun with it. So far in races I have been attacking like mad, being super aggressive, and typically paying for it in the end so the results are just not there.

However I have a coach and power. In the 4 months with a coach my FTP had nearly doubled and my max power has increased by over 300w. So yeah....I would say I am a fast rebounder. Of course I still suck at cycling.I think we all do.

coach and power.

i want.

Takes me about 2-3 weeks to get payoff from workouts. The first 2 weeks of base this year I was slowish, but after that initial few weeks my endurance increased rapidly. Same thing seems to be happening with anaerobic power now that I'm a couple of weeks into build. If I'm anything like last year, I'll continue improving rapidly for the next few weeks, then the improvement curve will level off a bit.

Results...are not where I'd like them to be yet. Aiming for a July peak though, so I suppose I couldn't expect much better than I've been doing.

I'm not sure exactly how my body responds.

I'm still trashed after 2 days of riding straight. Day 1 was about 1hr 50 mins at 160 TSS, and day 2 was about 15 hours later where it was 2hrs 10 mins at 130 TSS. On the 2nd day, I couldn't get my power up at all. This was monday and tuesday.

Today's wednesday, my legs are still exhausted. Today was off, it looks like tomorrow might be off or an easy ride depending on how I feel.

Friday's going to be a med distance day, with a group ride saturday morning and an easy ride on sunday.

I have yet to see any big benefits in my FTP even after a few months of hard riding and racing, but I feel more comfortable on the upper fringe of that number.

I think I need to take another month and just get some more distance in so I'm not completely wiped out after a hard day and an easier day back to back.

Honestly, I have a feeling that all my rides have too much intensity. Most of my rides have an IF of around .9

I believe I respond pretty slowly. I also tend to stagnate for a while and then make huge jumps...

i'm a non responder...

crimson, of course you respond quickly, you're young

crimson, of course you respond quickly, you're young

Eh, I'm 20 and I can't say that of myself...

(responding quickly that is)

My response to training varies. It has to do with being very, very old.

I am a cat V rider, the way I look at it I just need 10 races to move up so I am having some fun with it. So far in races I have been attacking like mad, being super aggressive, and typically paying for it in the end so the results are just not there.

However I have a coach and power. In the 4 months with a coach my FTP had nearly doubled and my max power has increased by over 300w. So yeah....I would say I am a fast rebounder. Of course I still suck at cycling.

Doubled your FTP? I wish I could do that.

I've been recovering really well lately. In late March I was off the bike for a week (vacationing in Iceland!) and it took me two weeks to really feel like I was getting things back together, and by the third week (Battenkill), I finally felt stronger than I was before that break. I don't have much of a training plan but was making sure that I was doing a good mix of long rides and hard rides, when I had time between commuting and work (on the bike).

I've raced at the track three days out of the past five (saturday, sunday, and last night). Track racing is a day or evening full of accelerating a 90" gear nearly from a standstill, spinning it out, and sprinting, and I feel as though I have been making rapid gains in these past few days. Maybe I'd make the same gains from some proper intervals on my road bike but I find it's easier to do on my track bike and really feel like I'm flying, whereas I have a harder time with pacing and gauging my effort on my road bike. Too many gears. But it pays off.

Of course since I'm no longer working on the bike, maybe that's what's paying off. Spending four days a week navigating traffic, riding clips and straps and carrying a heavy bag is no fun and not as punk-rock glamorously toughening as one would hope.

(vacationing in Iceland!)

Got a blog post/photo series somewhere? I had a great time when I was there.

Hmm, I should put 'em on flickr or something. I'll PM you a link when I do. It was excellent - great weather (though chilly); we went up to Snaefelsnes for a day, explored around Thingvellir another day, poked around in a lava cave, and spent our late afternoons soaking in public hot tubs. Plus Reykjavik is awesome. I want to go back.

depends on what I'm responding to.

at or around threshold level training blocks, these I build as I go but takes me 2 to 3 months to realize substantial gains

vo2max level training - 3 weeks, then I stagnate

AWC - these increase while I'm training the above, but take me a 3 week focus to really top off my fitness.

then a 2 week taper while sprinkling in all the above, short but snappy workouts.

So, to get to a "peak" for me as a 38 y.o. I've to plan for 8 weeks on top of threshold level training blocks. I havent started this yet as I'm still focusing on threshold and getting the rest while racing, but will probably start in June so that I'm hitting a late peak in August for out district RR.

I believe I respond pretty slowly. I also tend to stagnate for a while and then make huge jumps...

Same here... My increases started to level the last 2-3 weeks, then this week I made progress out of nowhere. I guess the training may have helped a bit heh.

i made a 12.5%increase in FTP since november is that slow or fast?

I'd say pretty quick, but then again, depends on your background and training history.

1m power went up more than 100 watts in less than 2 months. But as WR noted, this could also be due to learning how to really do a 1 min. interval. Other numbers like 5 sec. have seen decent jumps as well. Just started training with power in Feb. as you can see from this chart.

http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j47/joemowens/WkoSummaryofimprovments.jpg

I come around quicker from an hour at threshold compared to 3-4 hours of Z2, which correlates nicely with the numerous suggestions to check out the velodrome

1m power went up more than 100 watts in less than 2 months. But as WR noted, this could also be due to learning how to really do a 1 min. interval. Other numbers like 5 sec. have seen decent jumps as well. Just started training with power in Feb. as you can see from this chart.

http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j47/joemowens/WkoSummaryofimprovments.jpg

How do you do a 1 min interval (besides riding as hard as you can for 1 min)?

How do you do a 1 min interval (besides riding as hard as you can for 1 min)?

This. :D

It typically goes something like this: I'm planning to do a 5 min. all out effort, so I try and kill it in the first minute to try and best my best 5 sec. and 1 min. wattages, and then I try to hold the power as high as I can for 5 minutes. Similar to the 3 minute all out test but easier because I can't help but pace a little. Minutes 2-3, I'm usually backing off the pace just a little, and then kick it up again. I'm sure it's not the absolute best way to go about it, but it's fun to abuse my legs. :thumb:

been riding a bit over a year.

Race results

crash
dropped
pack finish
dropped
dropped
2nd
dropped

I think I suck, but it might be too soon to tell.

How'd that happen?

I am a cat V rider, the way I look at it I just need 10 races to move up so I am having some fun with it. So far in races I have been attacking like mad, being super aggressive, and typically paying for it in the end so the results are just not there.

However I have a coach and power. In the 4 months with a coach my FTP had nearly doubled and my max power has increased by over 300w. So yeah....I would say I am a fast rebounder. Of course I still suck at cycling.

Being a CAT 5 I will assume you are in or have just finished 1 year of hard training. Your gains are normal.

Being a CAT 5 I will assume you are in or have just finished 1 year of hard training. Your gains are normal.

Exactly. Diminishing returns kicks in and I will be busting my butt for 10w increases here and there. I jumped over from another sport (who can guess which sport?). It helps when your first FTP test is when you are incredibly out of shape. The next two years will be fun with some big gains.

Increases at any level are relative to how much room you have to improve. For a person in their first few years of structured training to see 100% increases in areas would be normal. After 5 or 6 years increases will come more slowly (or not much at all). For pros to see double digit increases year over year would probably be very rare.

Also, speaking of pure numbers, a jump from 100W FTP to 200W FTP doesn't seem like it'd be nearly as difficult as from 300 to 400W even though percentage-wise its a much smaller jump. That's completely conjecture and will probably be completely disproved in the very next post...

currand is wrong.

reason 1. blah
reason 2. blah

case closed.

I've always responded quickly to EPO. 1500iu every 3 days for two weeks is plenty. No need to go a full month like most of the peloton.

;)

How do you do a 1 min interval (besides riding as hard as you can for 1 min)?

If you ever ran track it's simular to running a 400 or 400 hurdle race. If you ran as hard as you can then some where around 20 to 30 seconds you begin to slow down and "run just to hold on" because you blew it. You need to ride the minute with the intention of running out of power at around 58 seconds and no sooner and certinly no longer. At around 40 seconds most of the type 2A muscles will be at the end of their power then for the last 20 seconds you will use your type 2B muscles to hammer it home. Going out too hard and fast will use up the type 2B muscles as well as the type 2A muscles, sort of like running a 200 meter race where both muscle groups are recruited to maximize power/speed for around 20+ seconds.

If you ever ran track it's similar to running a 400 or 400 hurdle race. If you ran as hard as you can then some where around 20 to 30 seconds you begin to slow down and "run just to hold on" because you blew it.
You need to ride the minute with the intention of running out of power at around 58 seconds and no sooner and certainly no longer. At around 40 seconds most of the type 2A muscles will be at the end of their power then for the last 20 seconds you will use your type 2B muscles to hammer it home. Going out too hard and fast will use up the type 2B muscles as well as the type 2A muscles, sort of like running a 200 meter race.

^^ This.

Really taking this thread off topic but can somebody post their power numbers from a 1m test (showing data from start to finish of the interval)? Just curious.

Would post one I did this week but its at home. Numbers start out in the 1k range and end in the upper 400s.

Really taking this thread off topic but can somebody post their power numbers from a 1m test (showing data from start to finish of the interval)? Just curious.

Would post one I did this week but its at home. Numbers start out in the 1k range and end in the upper 400s.

Mine are at home too but sound a lot like this. ^^

How'd that happen?

idk man. solo bridge to the front group for about a mile, sat on the back and did nothing, attacked shielded from the sidewind on last lap. 4th wheel in last corner. sprinted for second.

should have been in better position than 4th. the final stretch was crazy short.

hopefully there's more of that to come and less of the sucking.

Really taking this thread off topic but can somebody post their power numbers from a 1m test (showing data from start to finish of the interval)? Just curious.

Would post one I did this week but its at home. Numbers start out in the 1k range and end in the upper 400s.

Here ya go. Looks like it dies for 1 sec and I lose 1 second when I alternate between sitting and standing. In any event, this was my best one yet.

http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w298/rtc247/Power/1min4-2-09.jpg?t=1241137503