shovelhd

sparrish, I don't usually come over here but this thread was referenced in the 50+ racing thread so I thought I'd drop by and add my comments.

If you have 2-3 hours/day to train, that's more than enough. At our age, we can win races with 10-12 hours/week. You also live in an area with a long riding season. Our races are short. What you need to do is focus. First build a good, strong base. That's done by riding for many weeks mainly at a tempo pace, which for you, would be 16-17mph right now. You need to be faster than that, but you don't need to be faster than that right away. Your target for tempo, basically the fastest pace that you can ride for 1-2 hours should be in the 20-21mph range, although you didn't tell us which age bracket that you will be competing in. Group rides are great for tempo, just make sure that you get your work in and don't sit back and draft all day. I will do a tempo ride at the front of a group ride and tow the group along for an hour straight.

Once you get your base in, you will need to work on speed. Structured workouts are best for that. If you can afford a power meter, that's the best way to train. If you get the book Training and Racing with a Power Meter 2nd edition, there is a Masters training plan in there that is a great place to start. If you can't afford a power meter, you can train my heart rate using an HRM. It's nowhere near as good, though, and having both is ideal. That's what most guys I race with use.

My experience with the Senior Olympics is limited to one qualifying event. There will be a lot of licensed racers in the field. These guys are going to dominate the race. So if you have no intention of getting your license and racing before the Games other than your qualifier, just set your expectations. If you want to go to the Games for the fun, the challenge, the accomplishment, and the good things training has done for you, then by all means do it. Just don't expect to win a medal. If you want to be in contention, you're going to have to become a racer first.

Here's some inspiration for you. 55-59 20K and 40K 2012 CT qualifier.

AzTallRider

Do such things exist outside of sports medicine? Even my cardiologist gave me a blank stare when I tried to talk to him about max HR, zones, low resting HR's, etc. Modern medicine mostly follows a script: give test A. If test A has results B, then do C. Trying to get a doctor to give a green light for competition, or to provide guidelines when they have no clue what competition means, was well, for me, meaningless. After fainting from it, I got far more information on the Net about orthostatic hypotension than I did from my cardiologist, who merely proceeded with test D. I'm trying to find a cardiologist who races.

jppe

I'm not a racer, not a Senior Olympics nor Senior Events rider nor do I aspire to be. However I ride a lot with Cat 2-5's, Masters and others who have participated and won medals at the national level. I've seen riders go from a recreational rider to a Cat 2. Just my observations but it seems to be a combination of genetics and will power. I've seen folks transform their bodies from a recreational rider to a very lean powerful machine. It's just as much what they do off the bike re nutrition and overall fitness as what they do on the bike. Having the right support system-training partners, people who can encourage you and know the pain you're feeling seems to be an important part of it as well. I don't know that I've seen any of them do it solo.

jppe

Is the Senior Olympics the same thing as the "Senior Games". If so there have been several folks from around here that have participated and even won medals. One of them rides my wheel on Tuesday and Thursday nights............

Dudelsack 

Good points. It's a shame you don't live in Loovul. We have Dr. John Mandrola, cardiologist par excellence and cat 2 racer. I need to try to get in to see him myself for cycling-specific guidance. Google his name and check out his web site.

sparrish

Wow! I really appreciate these great comments. This thread is very encouraging!

I am 52 now, so in four year's time I will be in the 55-60 bracket. Solo riding with no steep hills (18 miles, 670 ft of climb) I am able to do 15-16 and not be gasping at the end. I have ordered a HR monitor/computer so I can begin to guage my effort better. I have not thought about a power meter, but will look into it.

chasm54

Interesting man. Not a fan of very high-volume endurance training, if I recall correctly...

ericm979

A guy I know started racing in the 55+ age group. In a couple years he'd won a national championship. So it's possible to start at an advanced age and be good. But you will be racing against guys who have been doing it for 30 or 40 years.

Shovel's advice is all good. I'd encourage you to start riding your local group rides now. Some areas like mine have enough race-oriented group rides that some are faster and others are not so fast. If you have that start with the not so fast ones. Ask at your LBS. If you get dropped, keep coming back.

Once you are comfortable with the group ride and not getting dropped, it's time to start racing. If there is a beginner/intro race series near you, do that. We have one here that is geared toward teaching new racers to race safe, and it's done a good job of reducing the crashes in cat 5.

I don't think there is an average speed requirement for racing in the sr games. Race average speed is not the same as solo riding average speed. Races are much faster, but you're mostly hiding in the draft where its easier.

Racer Ex 

I qualified. Qualifying isn't a speed based thing unless you're doing the TT, then you have to be fast enough to place high enough to qualify. Otherwise you need to learn how to race your bike. Ton's of info in both the 33 (road racing) forum and in the sticky here for the 50+ racing forum.

Hermes

I have to call BS on that statement. As I recall, you have a Cervelo TT bike and race at the Motor Speedway Time Trials and have done really well.

Hermes

I planned to race in the Senior Games 5k and 10k TT qualifiers this year and two dates were called due to rain.

Four years sounds about right. The key is to break down the goal into manageable achievable objectives. When I started racing in 2007, I hired a coach to help me with that aspect of learning how to train and race.

shovelhd

You should be able to qualify by simply signing the release form.

CommuteCommando

I talked to that brick wall for a while. The only thing that spiked his curiosity was my rapid HR recovery during my last stress test, and the fact that max HR didn't have to be chemically induced, as they are now doing with a lot of old fat guys who can't do it on a treadmill. I finally decided to e-mail him a link to an endomondo track of a 25 mile ride I did @15 mph, with a request that I be taken off some meds. That got his attention, and he called me into the office quick. His advice-monitor BP closely, train carefully, continue avoiding animal fats ( I like cheese), and research training on the net.