Training & Nutrition - Optimum racing weight?

I'm 6'4", and I currently weigh 216 pounds. I've come a long way since I started riding my cheap mountain bike and weighing in at 285. I'm now doing some track racing, and long road rides. I am very interested in doing some competitive road racing, and I'm not sure what kind of optimum weight I should be shooting for. I'm going all out with daily weigh ins, a strict diet, hrm training, etc. I have a pretty large frame and I'm thinking about 185 should be pretty good although quite light. Does anybody else of similar size have an opinion?

Thanks

just get faster and have a higher endurance. concentrate on pushing yourself to higher levels of performance. do not concentrate on losing muscle mass. this will not make you faster.

I'm 6'4", and I currently weigh 216 pounds. I've come a long way since I started riding my cheap mountain bike and weighing in at 285. I'm now doing some track racing, and long road rides. I am very interested in doing some competitive road racing, and I'm not sure what kind of optimum weight I should be shooting for. I'm going all out with daily weigh ins, a strict diet, hrm training, etc. I have a pretty large frame and I'm thinking about 185 should be pretty good although quite light. Does anybody else of similar size have an opinion?

Thanks

its pretty hard to tell without looking at you what your ideal racing weight would be. usually, the best racing weight is what you would be at 4-5% bodyfat. so, first task is to find out what your BF% is. be warned, though if you are around 10% or so, its gonna be hard to lose the weight.

You're kind of tall for a competitive cyclist, and with your current weight and height, your Body Mass Index is 26.3, which is on the heavy side for competitive cycling.

Of course, BMI doesn't tell you about your body composition (fat vs. muscle), but it is a good rough indicator of whether or not your weight is in the ballpark. Your goal of 185 would give you a BMI of 22.5. This is low, but not "scary low". However, it may be difficult to achieve - everybody's different in this regard and some people can lose weight without much trouble, while others struggle for every ounce they lose.

You can get an idea of your body fat percentage from here: http://www.he.net/%7Ezone/prothd2.html

A competitive cyclist should have a body fat percentage under 15%, and preferably around 10%.

Even if you get down to 185, you'll probably struggle to keep up with the pure climbers in the mountains (the 5' 9" 155 lb, and smaller, guys). You might want to focus on sprinting (especially if you have explosive power), being a team "domestique", or time trialing - disciplines that will play more to your strengths.

Even if you get down to 185, you'll probably struggle to keep up with the pure climbers in the mountains (the 5' 9" 155 lb, and smaller, guys).

[COLOR=DarkOrange]Times New Roman]Are you trying to say that smaller guys are better cyclists. Give me some vives on this. I happen to be small you know.[/[/SIZE]COLOR]

Thanks for the advice SSP, I definitely think I can get down under 200 without a problem, and hopefully with enough training I can hammer the hills well enough not to lose TOO much time. I am definitely more of a sprinter though.

Being a good racer has a lot of other factors that will determine your ability. Many of these factors can place you in the propoer position during a race to counter any dangerous moves that will result in you losing contact with the contenders when a break happens. Then you need a high power to weight ratio to bridge the gap or work with some other riders to bridge. Propoer positioning during the race, good bike handling skills, strong teamwork, the ability to judge moves (knowing when to go or when to let a rider or riders go who don't have a smooth or strong peddle technique) and a strong motor are all important in addition to propoer training, nurtrition sleep etc etc etc. Just go race, get with some experienced guys to practice so you can learn from experience and pick up tips along the way. I am learning something almost every race. Plus the more I see the same guys and teams in races, I am starting to learn their strengths and weaknesses, which is also helpful.

Well percent body fat isn't everything. Just what does a cyclist need anyway? He needs an aerobic system that won't quit and big quads and other leg muscles and enough muscle on other places to hold his skeleton together.

Many people think that Lance Armstrong's bout with cancer actually HELPED his cycling. Lance had been a triathelete. Triatheletes have upper body muscle from all the swimming they do and that is not helpful for cycling. When Lance had the chemotherapy, he lost a bunch of weight. After training, he came back something like 10-15 lbs lighter. So you had an elite cyclist who had lost over 5% of his weight. Sure it was muscle but weight is weight when you are climbing a big honking hill and if that muscle is not used in cycling, it is just as bad performance wise as fat or having lead weights strapped around your waist.