Originally Posted by Alaska Mike

Thanks to my environment (Alaska), my available time (3 kids and one on the way), and my resistance thus far to delve into fatbiking, I spend 6 months out of the year exclusively on the trainer. I literally couldn't do it without my coach. Without her planning my workouts and keeping me on track, I would roll into next season fat and out of shape, getting crushed by those that did train, spent their winter on the bike, or cross-country skied (I alpine race). Since I recognize that everything in my life works better when I'm in some sort of shape, I consider a coach an investment in more than just how fast I can ride around in a circle or climb a hill. YMMV.

I usually take a couple months off every year to just ride and do the odd 'cross race- basically to prevent burnout. A couple weeks before I start up with the coach again, I try to get used to a more regimented program on my own. It's plainly obvious that I am not nearly as skilled at planning a workout progression as she is. Where her patterns on the Performance Management chart have the ATL/TSB tightly managed and the CTL on a steady upward pattern throughout the trainer season, my efforts are all over the place. I just don't have the patience to learn how to manage them that well.

I also find that having a coach motivates me because I just don't want to let them down. Week in and week out she's there monitoring everything, so if I slack off she'll notice it. She writes the program, and I do my best to live up to it. That's the bargain. The payoff comes when I hit the road for the first time in the spring and notice just how much stronger I am. That strength allows me to think more in a race instead of just mindlessly hanging on, which greatly increases my chances of doing anything special.

That's just me, though.

Originally Posted by grolby

Reminder that if there's someone who's bringing you down, there's always the Ignore list.



Sounds about right. I've definitely entered races as a "tourist," so to speak, and I've even done it recently. I went to Tour of the Hilltowns this summer knowing I didn't have a chance even of making the chase group (hell, I got dropped from the dropped group) because I'd wanted to do the race for years. Chances are that I won't be back next year. If I do, it would be to help a teammate, but I would have to be climbing way faster than I did this year. If I'm going to get dropped on the long climb that starts a dozen miles into the race, I'm not going to be much use.

It's not that I need to be a contender, in contrast there was the TN state championship RR this summer out in Cookeville. There, too, I had no chance of winning the race and knew that going in. But the nature of the course was such that I could help my stronger teammate by chasing attacks and helping keep long breaks sufficiently in check that he would be set up with a good chance when we hit the decisive fourth climb. So, the motivation to do a race doesn't have to be contending. But if you've already done a race (assuming it interests you at all), there generally needs to be motivation from contending, helping a teammate who can contend or at least getting a good workout to justify the registration fee and gas. At least in my book. Though it depends on the race, of course. Suffering at the back of a crit can still be fun. Suffering way OTB in a long hilly road race is the pits.

Originally Posted by rkwaki

Great post rookie...

Originally Posted by changes2008

Seems condescending, brah.

Originally Posted by waterrockets

Think of the condescension here as you would heckling in cross race.

Originally Posted by gsteinb

with posts like this

https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...1#post16550192

you would question being dismissed?

Originally Posted by waterrockets

And we have gsteinb stepping up for a quick and simple example. Thank you. Ok class, quiet now, and sit still.

Originally Posted by waterrockets

That's a 33 rookie way to look at it. focus on the first two words Think of the condescension here as you would heckling in cross race.

Originally Posted by changes2008

I was teasing old rk.

...And who doesn't heckle at a CX race? That's probably one of the most enjoyable things one could do.

*EDIT* Actually quite surprised he (rkwaki) was so busy today that he could not chime in at all. *gasp*

Originally Posted by rkwaki

For those of you who may not know, changes2008 is my local TN girlfriend...
He's just angry because he wanted to be pitcher rather than catcher this week...

Originally Posted by Alaska Mike

For the record, I spent much of the time between rkwaki's reply to my post hand-wringing about the real meaning of his words, and what would be an appropriate response. I spent many hours adding, then removing his name from the "people who I am going to use to make my skin suit" list. All very taxing on my fragile mental state, especially during stationary trainer season. Then I remembered it's the internet, and for all I know he's an extremely hot 18 year old girl with a thing for middle-aged guys that like to wear lycra.

Originally Posted by Alaska Mike

For the record, I spent much of the time between rkwaki's reply to my post hand-wringing about the real meaning of his words, and what would be an appropriate response. I spent many hours adding, then removing his name from the "people who I am going to use to make my skin suit" list. All very taxing on my fragile mental state, especially during stationary trainer season. Then I remembered it's the internet, and for all I know he's an extremely hot 18 year old girl with a thing for middle-aged guys that like to wear lycra.