beatlebee 

Have a great race at McDowell!

TexMac

Rode 55 miles today with lots of hills. Was able to hang with a fast group, 23mphr -35mphr
At about 30miles in climbing one of the last hills, I was passed by a lady like I was standing.

TMonk

~5.25 hrs, a fair bit of tempo in the second half, sprinklings of z4.

im tired.

another 3hrs tmrrw then im resting up next week!

shovelhd

Thanks, but I don't spend anywhere near as much time on the bike as you do. Not even close. And if you are young, with lots of priorities in life, you should live life like a wild man. Enjoy it. I'm at the opposite end of the spectrum, staring at the end of my racing career, at least as I know it now. That's a different kind of motivator.

mike868y

another day, another successful workout in the bank. 3 hours, 2*20' in the last hour. power definitely dropped on the second interval, but I got through it, which is all that matters this time of year. have tomorrow off from work and it's supposed to get above freezing eventually, but with all the snow we've had this week, i don't exactly trust baltimore's ability to have the roads cleared and have no interest in crashing on ice, again. will probably be 3 hours steady on the rollers. rollin' rollin' rollin'.



hey, at least next week looks warm!

TMonk

Shovel:

Yeah I guess I should have said less than or equal to the amount of time I spend, but my point still remains.

EDIT: for the record I average about 8 (maybe closer to 8.5 hrs) per week throughout the year. I'm riding a lot right now because I'm in peak volume base phase, and because I can. I don't really enjoy riding much more than 10hrs/week; there are other parts of my life that I start to neglect after that point. 8hrs/week during the summer with lots of intensity is the sweet spot for me. There's always those 6-8weeks or so at the end of the season when I don't ride a whole lot at all.

shovelhd

As long as you are having fun, who cares, right?

TMonk

Yup - it's all about balance. Hey. maybe some day i'll be on the verge of being an old fart like some of you guys, and perhaps it will bring with it some ferocity and focus.

mattm

30 mins on the trainer, two circuit races tomorrow.

veloboy971

Drove to Clermont yesterday to ride in the FL "hills" with some friends. 5 hrs with 6x3's @ 110-120% after the first hour then 30 min mid-upper z3 in the last hour. Got in a good bakery stop as well along with working on my sock tan

happybday29475

Tmonk I'm almost identical. I averaged 8 hours/week in 2013. If I go beyond say 12 hours a week it starts to get drudgerous, and I only want to do that if I'm at a "training camp" or on a bike vacation.

FYI the good folks at Boulder Center for Sports Medicine claim that the vast majority of elite amateur bike racers train 6-12 hours per week.

happybday29475

Bingo.

As an older racer who is not as successful as you, I am curious about how much you train tho...

mike868y

i think forums like bf have a biased sample, especially for lower category riders, because forums by nature attract weird, neurotic personality types. so if you just browse on here, it seems like tons of cat 3s and 4s are training 16-20hrs/week. but out in the real world, talking to people, I think 6-12 is a pretty solid estimate for anyone cat 3 and below and for older guys who have been 2s for years. i got roped into the mindset that you needed to be doing big big hours to get fast in the lower categories and i think it hurt me for a season or two.

happybday29475

agree 100% on all points.

jbenkert111

Doing a casual snow filled ride today. However, this year my goal is to be the top ranked MTB rider (not sure which discipline yet) in my age group (70-74) in at least the state of Maryland. Who will be my competition? If you are email me and we can compare notes and training tips. Jbenkert111@verizon.net

jsutkeepspining

I did another set of yolo intervals (that's what i call riding the rollers for 3-4 hours). You got to be pretty stupid to be doing the **** i do so...YOLO

echappist

I'll one up you on the stupidity. 35 min low Z3 on my TT bike on the rollers. Probably had to stop 5-6 times, but got some decently long stretches of riding on the extensions.


funny enough, was watching the women's UCI road championship race, and rught when the Polish rider slid out while turning onto Via Salviatti, i somehow reacted too and almost fell off. Almost comical.

TMonk

3hrs z2 --> 5min z1

I got doored a few blocks from home. mother ****er.

stiff neck, dislocated right pinkie finger, totaled rear reynolds carbon clincher. i have a police report and his insurance info, just not looking fwd to dealing w his insurance provider.

shovelhd

Between 5 and 15 hours/week.

mike868y

you're going to fit right in with annoying college freshman.

jsutkeepspining

you do get the joke right? Opposite of annoying freshmen.

furiousferret

140 minute recovery, rolled by a controlled burn got a few feet within the fire. Got some pics of the aftermath on the return trip.
https://www.strava.com/activities/113827025

My medial gastroc has been sore ever since doing sprints, I'm not sure if that's a good or bad thing. The soreness is directly over where I tore my achilles tendon in 2011.

gsteinb

I'm not sure I had a week longer than 13, though it's possible I did back in the fall. Sometimes I miss monster miles.

RoboIsGod

100 miles/6 hours, 9,400ft of climbing. Nice hard day to end the week (450mi, little under 30 hours).

For some reason on the ride all I ate was 4 bananas, the first of which I didn't eat until 3 hours into the ride. I think all of the climbing takes away my appetite.

Andy STi

Dude, that sucks. Hope you heal up well