scheibo

I'm not actually training for any triathlons - I've never done one and don't plan to. I claim to be a 1500/5000m track runner who started biking because I was getting injured too much and who has kind of decided he likes the whole cycling thing. (Though maybe once I get injured running again I'll claim that I'm now a cyclist...). I began life as a competitive swimmer though, and the small amount of pool time in August was because I was inspired by the Olympics and wanted to see how far I've fallen. Losing 25lbs of upper body since college means I don't think I'll be even mediocre at swimming again anytime soon.

And yeah, there's tons of crap not counted in those hours - to manage injuries my PT has me doing like 20 minutes of strength work immediately before my runs and then I foam roll/stretch/strengthen for another 30 minutes or so every night. Those are the really annoying bits because they're not fun and take up a lot of time. Also, I tend to spend a lot of time showering every day between workouts aha. There's also the time lying around on my bed in a semi-comatose state, but that's probably a given with that training load

furiousferret

You're not exactly doing the occasional spin class either.

Gramercy

I barely work that many hours.

Commute to work today, super windy! I hate headwinds.

TexMac

commute yesterday to work at Z2 28 miles AM and 30 miles PM..70 degrees
this morning AM 28 miles at z2, i can get used to this. Need to start showing my TT bike some love but not sure i'm ready for 30 miler commute on TT yet

revchuck 

Headwinds do suck. They're much more bearable when you embrace the suck.

hubcyclist

~1:20 @ 256w NP(97%) in a zwift race, had an all-time best 20min power (270) and 60min (255, prior 248). Should I feel like death at this kind of effort, because I don't

mattm

I'm telling you man, you should try bike racing!

scheibo

bike racing is too hard.

really though, its mostly a combination of:
1) I'm not really that into beating others, I'm much more interested in competing against myself (so I like the TTs and hillclimbs)
2) I'm not in biking shape in Feb-July because I don't train enough in the winter because I'm a) too soft to ride outdoors when its cold/damp, even in California, b) hate indoor trainers, c) its indoor/outdoor track season which is my key focus for running
3) While bike races are probably safer than group race rides, and while I haven't crashed in one of the ~15 or so I've done yet, they're still a little too risky for me to feel comfortable.
4) Riding up a hill/on a TT at constant effort is a lot easier for me with my power profile than a race with surges etc and I have a lot more experience at it. ie/ i'm not good at real racing so i dont race which means i'll stay not good at real racing.

hack

Bah ... get your feet wet on some of the hillier races (Copperopolis, University, Wards Ferry, etc). Worst case, case you can confirm that you don't like it.

rideaz

That's pretty much what I said but got talked into racing. I was pretty good at triathlon and not really suited for bike racing but I think it was the challenge that made me like it. I even rode through winter (outdoors) the last 2 years so I would be ready for race season.
I get why people don't race though, it can be risky. Watching a cat 5 crit is terrifying!

scheibo

I've done Berkley Hills and University (or rather, the 'Slugapalooza' on the same course). I'll do those again. I just got thrashed at them though. Or rather, the field was pretty bimodal where I ended up getting dropped from the lead pack when it mattered but was way ahead of the rest of the field. I'm pretty confident if I went to those races with my October shape though I'd stand a chance, but if I want to race more I probably need to work more on pack skills/short bursts of power etc. Doing some of the race rides around here would help with that, but once again, safety is kind of a concern (especially given my dad just got into a bad accident on a group ride recently, so the parents aren't too keen about me following suit)

I'm hesitant about some of the hilly races (like Hamilton/Patterson Pass/Wente) because they also tend to feature descents and I like to scout out that beforehand as I'm not really confident I want to race down those. However, I've gotten a lot better at descending lately, so maybe I'll try them out again and see if I'd be comfortable racing on those. The bad roads at Copperopolis don't really appeal to me, and I don't know much about Wards Ferry, but maybe. I'll likely try Pesky this year because they repaved Stage and that will make me feel a lot safer on it.

I *do* plan to ride through the winter though (but then again, I did plan to last year too...).

hack

Can I borrow your watts/kg during the race season?

Ygduf

I had to alter my ride yesterday so decided I'd see where I was on power. Not bad, not quite my best.

and later in the ride

red are my all-time numbers, green is yesterday. different powermeters though, so anything is possible.



that 55 seconds is in the middle of about a 90-second effort, but it got aborted when a bird flew across my face (I felt the air fluttering it was so close to my face) and directly into my buddie's mouth. He had gray dust/dirt/**** all over his face and I nearly crashed from laughing. If you haven't had a laughing fit at the bottom of a 60-second effort before... it is really weird.

TheKillerPenguin

His mouth?!

Ygduf

this is basically the pattern of bird-dirt distribution

tetonrider

there's a solution for that, you know.
pretty crazy/funny.

i've done indoor sessions with vo2 intervals before watching some comedy video.......and it's super weird to laugh uncontrollably in the middle of vo2 work. tried to power through but have had to turn video off a few times.

PS That ~1' effort in the middle is pretty great!

tetonrider

decided that today is day 1 of a 2017 program, and the next few days are high volume.

woke up to this:
Messages Image(401443735).jpg

at elevation we're looking at this:
Messages Image(2072943252).jpg

guess it's a great day to ride 3h indoors? haha!

OTOH, my throat was slightly sore this morning, so i've got that excuse. skiing's not far off.

scheibo

damn, I was going to complain the temperature on my ride this morning getting down to 37F, but I think you have me beat.



please tell me you're not actually going to ride 3 hours indoors... that sounds dreadful

wktmeow

I did this earlier this year:

https://www.strava.com/activities/516466240

It wasn't thaaaat bad. It was raining hard and I was supposed to do a long day. Much rather have a sore ass than be soaked and cold for that long.

Ygduf

Back on August 17th I did my first practice hillclimb since I had twins and got fat.

I did 404w for 16:54 up my benchmark climb.

Today, 7 weeks later, I did 422w for 16:01/2 (depending on your segment preference) and set a PR by 8 seconds. Weight is about 5lbs lighter.

-

I'm simultaneously elated at a PR on a climb I've done around 180 times, checking in at 36 of 17,161 riders, and making consistent progress while also pretty disappointed that I didn't leave either my pump or my CO2 at the office so I could clock 15:59.

Ygduf

I want to add that I did 5.17w/kg so I couldn't even hang with east coast zwifters. I know my place!

scheibo

awesome stuff - its just a question now of which of us gets sub 16 first! i'm thinking i want to make another go at in in maybe 2 weeks, LGI!

hubcyclist

set up my son's trailer on my road bike because I wanted to try it out. went out for 1:30, avg 13.7mph, NP was 190.

unfortunately my joule gps usb port is loose so I won't be able to charge or download data anymore. as soon as it's dead it's a brick. so need another head unit, or get a bluetooth cap for my powertap and use my phone

Ygduf

I have a garmin 500 or pioneer head unit I would send you if you want

tetonrider

every year, the day i have to set up the rollers/fans/stuff is the worst because it feels like defeat. every year, i resist it and become a whiny little...guy.

this year i walked my boy to school in the snow and was not psyched. i'm not one for long indoor rides (pretty much never do them), but i did mentally commit to a new plan.

so, i reluctantly got the indoor stuff ready. i'd do whatever it took.

did an hour of core/nordic/strength stuff, and then the sun came out for a minute. totally lifted my spirits!

put on my big boy tights and got out there. i also become a whiny little guy when it is that first shoulder season ride in cold/wet conditions, then i get out and ride and it's totally fine.

that's kind of what happened today. there was rain, snow and sleet at various points, but also some sunshine, too. only did 2.5 hours, and it passed quickly. i just had to break that seal, so to speak, on riding in the wet conditions. the good news is 55F & sun this weekend will seem balmy!

rollers in the morning!