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Old 01-16-17 | 06:00 PM
  #6  
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carleton
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Joined: Jul 2005
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From: Atlanta, GA
One small but significant thing (in my opinion) is to setup your road bike like your track bike. Meaning, same saddle position and same crank length. And when the season approaches, same bar drop.

So, if you have 165s on your track bike, put 165mm cranks on your road bike. You can even get them in SRAM Red in 165mm.

Do cadence work on your rides. Focus on carrying a higher-than-the-normal-roadie 80RPM cadence This will do wonders for your track game. You won't be able to climb mountains with short cranks. This is all assuming that your off-season road training is to focus on track.

I've done 1.5 hour road rides where I averaged over 110RPM (not counting 0s). The following track season was the first time I'd ever finished a points race on the lead lap (most of us fast-twitch guys use points races for interval training at best or to serve as lead-out men for the first couple of sprints at worst)

Keep your bar height at a comfortable level in the winter but it is very important to slowly lower it to match your track bike as you get closer to the start of the season. Your legs behave very differently as you get lower and lower. For a given cadence, your heart rate will rise the lower your back goes if the muscles are not accustomed to performing when stretched to that point. Because, when you lower your back, it stretches the glutes and hamstrings like when you touch your toes. When you touch your toes, your thighs are near your chest. When you are deep in the drops low, your thighs are near your chest. This is your race position.

This also means: Do your efforts in the drops on the road.

As you enter the season, your road bike should match the geometry of your track bike.

This might not work if you are trying to ride/race road competitively because the bike fitting can be slightly (but significantly) different. But, if your goal is to use road work to train for the track, then that's what I'd suggest.
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