Really Sprinted ? 13 yrs ago
Here and there, I'll go hard, for whatever reason
But sprinting, that was for a race finish...
Intervals are not sprints. I go really hard at times and also will fire over the top of rollers... but sprinting ? I'm 76, way past sprinting days...
Ride On
Yuri

I sprint every Wednesday in my weekly group ride. We sprint for City Limit signs. Also, the group leader (sometimes that's me) has pre-planned sprints of anywhere between a quarter of a mile to maybe 2 miles. They are stretches of road that are known in advance to be low traffic, safe, and usually end in a hill. The understanding is that if the sprint ends at a stop sign or a traffic light, then the finish line is the "Stop Ahead" sign. That way nobody goes full gas into an intersection.

The group leader also hands out awards, usually Sport Beans or some other packaged energy treat, announcing at the beginning of the sprint how many awards there will be - this is based on how many riders are in the group that day. Wo we get to a particular place and the leader will shout "First Three to the Stop Sign", and we take off.
Oh yeah, City Limit winners get Sport Beans too. Sometimes winning those is a matter of power. Sometimes it's a matter of knowing where the signs are. All is fair in our community.

On a typical Wednesday, there are 2-4 called sprint segments and a variable number of City Limit signs

Occasionally I win some sport beans, but usually there are younger and stronger riders and I lose badly. I try my best anyway. I get my heart rate up high, I get a burst of adrenaline, and it's exciting. On the longer sprints, there are some race dynamics. So even when I lose, I win.

Last Wednesday, we had a sprint segment on a hill that was unfamiliar to almost all of us. The call was "First two to the top!" About a half mile, averaging about 4%, but with some steeper sections. About a half a dozen of us hit the gas at the bottom of the hill. (The other half-dozen didn't try. That's cool and there is no judgement. Also, we regroup at the end of the sprint.). After a short time, the youngest and strongest fellow in the group that day attacked, getting some separation. I knew that I had to get on his wheel, otherwise, it would be all over, because I would not otherwise shake the other 4 and a couple of them have better final sprint power than me. I managed to get on his wheel and together we had significant separation from the others. Then, HE SLOWED DOWN. Tactics. He knew that the others would catch us if we stayed at his slow pace and he knew I did not want that. This happened about 1/3 of the way into the climb. So I passed him and pulled him up the next 1/3 of the climb, and this way, we stayed away from the others. Then, he powered past me and I held his wheel for a while, but could not stay there. He finished first, I was about 8 second behind him, and the strongest of the chasing group was about 10 seconds behind me. I got my HR up to 176 BPM. I loved it.

2-mile sprints?

Seems too long for a sprint.

Whatever. Call it a very short race. But it will end with a sprint. Unless that also doesn't meet your definition.

These rides sound fun! I hadn't heard of "Sport Beans" before, but offering an actual reward is a nice incentive I've never heard of on a group ride... beyond just bragging rights.

I only have a power meter on my trainer and I have yet to break ~900 watts.

Bwahaha! This reminds me of another thing I used to do in group rides in my 20s... We'd chase semis and dump trucks that went by and get sucked-along by the draft. Super fun, but probably super stupid.

They're pretty much just jelly beans, but yeah, it's the token reward that gives them value.

I tend to be a bit lazy about doing sprints but I love doing hill climbs and try to do them as often as possible. This last Saturday, for example, I did a 50 mile ride with 1600 ft of climbing which may not be a heck of a lot for some folks but this is central IA.

LOL! I remember sprinting my butt off in some smaller Cat 1-2 races where a Prime prize was some Wolber Training tire (which you prolly gave away to a junior anyway...)
the prize being inconsequential.
Those smaller crits were fun 'sport'...
Ride On
Yuri

Yeah, the meaning of "sprint" is quite fuzzy. Look at "sprint triathlon".

Yeah, but I'll bet you tip the scales somewhere north of 115lb.

At any rate (weight), 1100w is some strong stuff!

On each lap of Prospect Park (coming soon to Zwift too!!!) I do a sprint at the bottom of the hill to keep the momentum going. In 2024 I got up to 700 watts with a max HR of 165 on that segment but it was slightly higher going up the hill. I also do the sprints in Zwift but finding them in RWGPS would be too hard, and my goal is to be in the top 10. This year I haven't been able to get much above 600 on the same sprint in the park, every year it just gets harder but I'm glad to still be riding at 70.

Some of my earliest cycling memories are of riding in Prospect Park when they closed the road (was it/is it Saturday mornings?). We moved away from Brooklyn when I was 8 years old, so it was before then. I remember having a hard time getting up that hill until one of the adults showed me how to paperboy. I had a Schwinn Stingray single speed with a coaster brake. Wow. Memories. I will look for it on Zwift!

I ride with a group and a couple of the guys are definitely stronger than me. But sometimes, I can surprise them, but in all honesty, they often didn't know we were sprinting. If I have no chance, then I claim to be "just out enjoying the day," and not racing.

Scenario 2: group of old guys with enlarged prostates sprinting for the portajohn.

The road has been closed to cars completely for years now. It was last open to cars in the rush hours, in the morning from Park Circle to Grand Army Plaza, and the evening the other way, and it was always one way only. This stopped at least 15 years ago as so few cars were using it anyway. The huge traffic jams predicted when they proposed closing the park never materialized either so it was a win for everybody. The roadway itself is still 3 lanes wide, with 1 lane for runners, one for cyclists and the third used mostly by cyclists too, with the occasional Parks Dept or Police car.

The hill is a 3-4% grade, the thing about it is that it is longer than you think it'll be. I used to be able to sprint up it but I can't seem to do that anymore, something about being 70.

Same here. I'll honk up a long climb at a slow cadence, but there are short climbs where I just stand up and pedal up the thing at a much higher cadence. And when I do that, the heart rate goes in the 180s.

Haven't had the heart issue yet, but I am in the midst of getting a major cardiac workup. I passed my Dad's age when a massive heart attack killed him on Juneteenth of this year, and although I am certainly in much better condition than he was at the time (I also do not smoke, have both my lungs, and drink precious little and get oodles of exercise), I want to avoid one of those people who could have been saved if they only knew their arteries were in such bad shape.

Was just talking this morning with Mrs RSbob about our eating and drinking habits. The conclusion was that we eat a very healthy diet, (similar to the Mediterranean), don’t smoke, barely if ever drink and get plenty of exercise. We don’t eat processed or fast food, and mostly organic from our own vege beds and trees. Mom and dad are still kicking at 93 and 94 respectively and mom smoked until the 1970s, dad smoked cigars and both drank almost nightly but not to the point of intoxication. They also consumed all the MSG, fats and chemicals prevalent in processed foods for decades. Their genes and my habits should help me out for quite awhile, but ya don’t never know what’s around the corner.

True enough.

I was doing the HooDoo 500 race last year on a 2 person team, and I was waiting around a bend for my teammate to show up so we could switch riders. A truck pulls up and it is the father of Kimmy Campbell ... a very, very strong and young rider. He's supporting her and waiting for her as well.

We struck up a conversation and he asked me what my age was. Turns out I was 5 years or so older than he.

So he remarks "Boy, you're in really good shape for your age!"

My comment: "Yea, right until the time when I'm not."

It's a reflection of my fatalistic (and I believe, realistic) attitude that at our age, things can and do change quickly. Even with longer term illnesses, one day you're fine, and the next day, your facing down something serious.

So the strategy is to enjoy as much as I can while I can.

Tuesday, two days ago.

Today on a punchy climb out of the saddle and going for it. Not racing anyone but trying to beat my last time up. Winner!

I sprint a least once on most rides. There are a number of Strava segments along my usual route (some that I created just for me) and I like trying to beat my personal bests.

i also do an interval ride around my neighborhood’s 3/4 mile loop, sprinting as hard as I can and as long as I can in one section and then soft pedaling back around. I generally get 12 sprints for the ride. The fastest I’ve ever hit was 32mph, but not for very long.

The last time I sprinted for real was against "California trick cyclist David Steed" (see video below), in a mass pack sprint in the traditional Arizona season-opener in Marana, in 1977 as a new Senior III in the USCF, after its renaming from the ABLA. I won. Despite running me all the way across the road, he sportingly left me just enough room to get by, and I did. Later that spring I tore the cartilage in my right knee playing touch football, of all things, and that was the end of my real sprinting on a bicycle. I had a pretty good road sprint, and if power meters had existed in the '70s, no doubt I'd be bragging even more.

I was amazed to find David Steed in this video:

The last two times I sprinted on foot were both trying to hold on to animals. About ten years ago, I let go of Emma, one of our donkeys, and stayed upright, but about three years ago, I held on to Raina, our late Great Dane, and she pulled me right off my feet. I can sprint for short distances on my toes in a fleet manner, but I don't do heel-strike jogging or running anymore, with my hip replacements and dislocation history, I need low impact exercise, and cycling is perfect for me.

Colin Laing told me about once swinging on behind a trailer, before realizing that there was a second trailer behind it, and sprinting for his life!

A couple of weeks ago I had to go downtown to renew my security card. A string of meetings ate up most of the time before the Security Office closed. Driving and parking would have been to slow, Off I went on my bike --take it to the limit one more time. I was exhausted for the next two days, but mission accomplished.

As a person that wears minimalist shoes off the bike 100% of the time, I wouldn't recommend heal-strike running ever... natural hips or not... it's not how the human body was designed to run. But I digress as that's a new topic.