hbc07

Long story short... another rider lost control in early June and wiped me out in a way that caused multiple fractures in my pelvis. I've been fully released from any medical restrictions and told that I am my only limitation at this point, and am also in PT 3x/wk rebuilding strength/range of motion/coordination. Now 14 long weeks later (most of which were in a wheelchair) I'm doing some low power easy spins on the trainer to start working on my path back for both stamina and power (e.g. 125w for 35min). But the main question is how do I structure my training after 14 weeks off the bike to try and build back up to where I was before? Take a week or two of spins under 150w to get my legs under me and then do a ramp FTP test to get an idea of where I'm currently at powerwise and then pick up a regular plan based off of that FTP and then just keep reassessing every few weeks?

That's the best I've been able to come up with so far. Any input or ideas would be appreciated as I'm just not really sure where to start.

TMonk

what's your background in cycling? how many years do you have under your belt of consistent training?

topflightpro

Also, how old are you. Age can play a huge factor in how long it takes to recover.

hbc07

Fairly consistent training for the last year, but consistently riding 150+ mile weeks another year or two before. The last 8 months was putting in 8-12 hours a week.

38.

TMonk

ok, so it's not like you're going into this cold. I think you should be able to handle 6-7 hrs/week of mostly z1/z2 riding "out of the blue" or without any CTL. I'd do that for a month, and then start to build up CTL following the recommended % increases, taking a de-load week once/month. I think they say not to increase more than 10% CTL per week? But, you may be able to handle a slightly higher ramp than that with your background. Be careful though and listen to your body for signs of fatigue and injury.

TMonk

also I think after a couple months/blocks of that, you might have the CTL and infrastructure that you need to begin "training" again with a little more purpose and focus, even if the order is for more Z2 but actually getting to race-specific training volume. Also, I personally wouldn't even bother FTP testing until I went through a month or two of riding off HR or just feel. Your power is probably going to be depressingly low, and also much lower than what it will be after a month or two of noodling around.

topflightpro

I agree with TMonk that you should probably start by just doing Z1/Z2 riding and slowly build up and see how things go.

I strongly encourage you to take it slowly. Do not over ramp up too quickly. Age is not on your side.

mollusk

After my last crash I stopped training for racing. It was about ten years ago and I was 59 years old and in pretty good shape. I was on a group race team ride and flatted and threw my hand up to tell everyone that I flatted and pulled out of the pack but I didn't know that at the same time there was an attack from behind with his head down. Really bad crash. The other guy broke his collarbone. I didn't break anything but I was in pain for about nine months.

At that point I decided that racing, even though I LOVED it, was for younger guys.

I still dream about it.

hbc07

Yeah, depressingly low is a good estimation. Just trying to hold 140w for 5 minutes is rough and my HR is quite a bit higher than it would have been previously at that power. I think taking two months and just spinning without trying to any sort of structure probably is best at this point.

I hear that. I'm still in PT 2x/week right now so I'm definitely taking it easy. Being in a wheelchair for 12 weeks really took a lot out of me.