Nothing to argue with from a competive rider's viewpoint, but nothing "new" either.
"Back when" Crit specialists didn't put in the big base miles to develop superior Endurance, and weren't "there" after the inevitable crunch at the 40 mile mark in District championships either.

Develop a seasonal phased plan tailored to your strengths/weaknesses for the events of the new season and proceed.
As you get older there is an inevitable decline in performance, this is not breaking news, but one can stay on the bike to enjoy the ride anyway.

-Bandera

Yes - +1! Now, if we only had snow in central PA. It's the middle of December, start already....
It's winter time, I think not of the need to "train" but just the idea of doing something.

Trouble is, there's not much opportunity to exercise in the winter. Well, except for cycling, walking, weight training, running, jogging, snowshoeing, treadmill, downhill skiing, hiking, cross-country skiing, elliptical machine, stair climber, stair climbing, crossfit, kayaking, indoor soccer, outdoor soccer, drop-in basketball, drop-in volleyball, aerobics classes, Zumba, ballroom dancing, indoor climbing, spin classes, swimming lengths, ice skating, aquafit classes, roller blading, stretching, yoga, plyometrics, yard work, running for the bus, housework, vacuuming, yard work, snow shoveling, push-ups, crunches, chin-ups, pull-ups, leaving the car at home...

Bummer, with so little opportunity to exercise this winter I might as well just sit in front of the television and eat pie on the weekends (insert sarcastic smiley emoticon here).

Last night, after I got done shoveling and snowblowing the snow we just got dumped onto us, I realized I could have put on my HR strap and recorded it as an "other" outdoor activity. Pretty sure it burned more calories and elevated my heart rate more than one of my 2 mile business park laps.

Do what you've got to do to get where you want to get to.

Decades ago in Lexington, Ky. we had this huge snowstorm and at that time the city really couldn't handle big snows like this outside of main roads. I was a runner at the time and this definitely had me off the roads. But I lived at the bottom of a hill that was the only way into an area of our subdivision with maybe another 50 houses. 75% of the cars could not get up that hill. So I would go out in the evening and push cars until I got a good workout in. Then go back into the house. I'm not sure how good it was for running, but it was great over-all exercise - probably better for overall health than running (or cycling).

dave

The Good Samaritan workout. Quick, write a book on getting fit by helping neighbors. ;)

I don't believe it is physically possible for anyone to maintain peak form for long periods of time, so even for those of us who can ride year round, there is a drop in form. Lots of riders around here will cross country ski or snowshoe. I know guys who run for base fitness. Specificity comes later on when temperatures become more moderate.

While I agree with that statement, it is far from clear to me that I have ever been in good enough condition that I could not maintain that level of fitness for an extended period. But maybe I am wrong about this.

dave

The pros, and elite level riders all work on the basis of not being able to maintain top form for an entire calendar year, much less doing so constantly, over a long term of several years. Your body will tell you when its time to rest, and let things rebuild. If you try and keep going at a high level you are looking at sickness and injuries happening. Check with any local, Elite, Cat 2 or 1 riders, or some of the good club level riders, they have a period of down time in their schedules.

I don't question your abilities, Dave, you might be able to maintain a very high level of fitness over a fairly long period of time, but I don't think its at the top of your abilities, all of the time. At some point your body needs to rest so it can rebuild the tissues being used, and getting torn down as you apply the high efforts. I have been rereading Joe Friel's, "Faster Past 50", he advocates taking time completely away from a bicycle being built into your training schedule. For me, its natural to need some time down, and not pushing things so I don't get stale, or become bored with riding. Best od luck on your training, and your rides.

Bill

You are on pace for a 6,000 plus mile year. That is pretty high. Not a lot of people riding those kind of miles. You have a much higher than average fitness for a noncompetitive cyclist.

The past is the past and you will never know whether you were wrong or not. I am a bit confused by your posts though. You are obviously fitter than most on this forum, especially for your age, but how do you define peak fitness for an almost septuagenarian, and how long is an extended period of time? 6 months, a year, permanently.

Whatever the answers, well done for not accepting mediocrity, as I sadly have.

Here's the pithiest thing I have ever read on the subject of periodised training. It's a post by @Racer Ex in the Masters racing forum. Ex has a few National championship jerseys and does a lot of coaching.

It's hard to convince athletes that they can't be at absolute peak fitness all the time. They call it "peak" for a reason. Sharp pointy object that takes a lot of effort to summit. Much easier going down. You've accomplished so much this year that of course, you want to keep that rolling. But no one summits K2 and starts building a house; because you can't live on K2. They go down to base camp, and start planning an assault on Everest.


This is absolutely on the money, in my view. As far as you are concerned, I'd think a lot depends on how close you are to fulfilling your present potential. If you're still on a sharply upward curve, you haven't really "peaked" and consolidation may mean just holding your current level. But if you're close to being as fit as you can be, simply pressing on indefinitely is a recipe for fatigue and overtraining and eventual collapse.

Only you know where you think you are on this spectrum. But pretty much everyone who trains seriously and effectively thinks hard about when they want to peak, and plans their training around that rather than just attempting a linear, continuous increase in training load. And at the micro, session-by-session level they give as much priority to recovery as to training stress.

My view would be err slightly on the side of caution and have a period of the year in which you are going for maintenance and consolidation. You have plenty of time. @zonatandem is still riding 5000 miles a year at 83.

My personal sense of things is that I could take my training up to where 15 hours per week would be typical. And that I could do that indefinitely (at this point 'in my health'). This would involve kind of random days off (driven by personal schedule considerations), lighter or maybe much lighter weeks occasionally (driven by personal schedule considerations, and workout intensity kind of driven by how I feel.

But I have no plan or intent of doing that.

Thanks to all for the comments.

dave

This article is about cycling to extremes and is relevant here:

Cycling to extremes - VeloNews.com

I have run into that perspective several times in the last year or two. In my personal case you could create a simple graph with hours per week (of 'serious exercise') on the x axis and body weight on Y axis. Then plot two points which are

10 hours/week and 150 pounds
0 hours/week 220 pounds

Now draw a straight line between those points and, over the long term, that will come pretty close to predicting my body weight. And heavier is harder on your heart. I have finally decided that whether this nets out to good or bad is unknowable. So off I go (or not - I have been a couch potato and over 200 pounds more than once).

dave

Leonard Zinn's graph might have been way different. More of a skinny guy.

In terms of non-dimensional numbers, I was forced to take 6 weeks almost entirely off in September and early October. After a week's training, I was at 45. Jan. 1 and I'm at 55. I'm heading for 75 in July, which I'll be lucky to get exactly right and be able to hold for 2 weeks before turning into a bowl of pudding. As you say, getting the slope right is a good trick.

Dave-I hope you've been out doing some riding. I was able to do 5 centuries over the past 5 weekends plus some shorter stuff here and there. Weather really hasn't been too bad so far.

A century per weekend is beyond what I do, but I agree that this has been unusually easy cycling weather. Riding in shorts, shortsleeve jersey, in a hard rain and being properly dressed is NOT a December norm.

dave

Agree. Now on to January!! Good start thus far.

Spin class behind a cute girl can be very motivating during the winter.