:popcorn

Watt the hell are you talking about.

Yes.

Point to consider:

The doping generation also raced less. Some of them only peaked for on race, like the tour.

Post doping, we had 10 years of doldrums- no records broken, meh racing.

Past 5 years we’ve all the sudden seen every record smashed. And not just by the top guys. The 2nd and third group are often beating climb records.

Bike advancements - sure.

But - pure power numbers and W/kg are at levels never seen.
-It’s not all about sugar. Because we see these levels in short TT’s.
-It happened seemingly overnight. They couldn’t, then they could.
—and here is the biggie
They come into the racing season at levels higher than the dopers peaked at- and maintain those numbers thru the entire season.

Pogi breaks records that were set in races/at peak form time, while he is in training camp.


The ability to be faster/stronger out of the gate and all year long is nuts.

And if they are flat for the most part all year, what could they actually do if they trained solely for a peak/one race?

IF there are new PEDs being used in the peloton today by it's top racers,
THEN the UCI and other governing bodies are in "Too Big to Fail" mode,
WHERE revealing the PED use would topple the whole system that they've spent years building to new heights.
Careers and legacies will be in RUINS.

THUS they are choosing to look the other way
and it will take an authority/organization OUTSIDE of the system
to blow the WHISTLE.

We've seen this play before.

WHAT’S with all the random CAPITALIZATION?

At LEAST it's entire WORDS, not rANDom lettErs.

So no problem with those who spend their money differently than you? I mean some folks just like top of the line gear for whatever reason. Does anyone think twice about people who, for instance, choose to buy photographic gear above their "level"?

By the way, I think it's dumb that the average mediocre rider will gain in any meaningful way from gear. And to seek validation from others about these sort of decisions is also dumb. Everyone should spend their money however they want and not worry about "speed' or other's approval. Do it for enjoyment and motivation.

You seem to be disagreeing with me.

And now you seem to be agreeing with me. I'm almost as confused as you seem to be.

And you're missing the point which I have now made in (if I'm counting correctly) three posts: these are people who come here to ASK for advice. I have no problem with people spending their money differently than I do. But when they ask for advice, I might give it. Is that a problem?

Just having a conversation my man. Don't worry about it.

Concerning the side-discussion about how many days the pros race now versus the past: the average number has steadily declined for the last several decades. My guess is that there's increasingly sophisticated analysis behind those numbers and that the current practice is close to the ideal for the maximum rest/performance ratio.

And, about doping, omerta, too big to fail: Sure, that's all possible.

Another guess: that the training/nutrition/res/tetc. variables have been massaged to the point where there's no more performance to be squeezed out of riders, no matter how sophisticated the doping program.

I do agree that it's more fun to be cynical about the state of pro racing, though. Enjoy.

If you're conversing, it helps to actually read posts before responding to them, and it also helps if your response actually makes sense -- i.e., doesn't contradict itself.

It’s clear that they race fewer days but it could be argued that training has become much more intense and focused. Training days are probably as hard or harder than some faux criterium. Time in the saddle and intensely minutes are probably higher currently.

It’s interesting seeing the pro-teams to blood analysis pre and post training rides to determine lactate and other blood markers related to the efforts. Based on results of telemetry on HR, respiration, power numbers, each athlete is analyzed to maximize their performance by adjusting nutrition, rest and training. Unlike the old days, each rider has there own specialized program to maximize their performance.

Of course training has become more intense/hard days have become harder. But programmed rest periods have also become more frequent, and Zone 2 riding has replaced much of the time formerly spent riding in higher zones.

Anyone who owns a smart trainer and has subscribed to a sophisticated trainer software program such as Xert can get a glimpse of how state-of-the-art feedback-based training is conducted.

I used Xert for four months a couple of winters ago. For the first several weeks, I actually thought the software was giving me too easy a program, because I was used to doing much harder workouts on the road.

But I stuck with it, and the software gradually ramped up the workouts for the hard days, to the point that I was grateful for the easy days. By the time spring arrived, my FTP had increased by 17 watts.

Doesn't sound like much, but I was already pretty fit when I started with Xert, having ridden around 16 to 20 hours a week throughout the summer and fall. All I'd hoped for was to maintain my fitness level, so I was surprised that it had improved, especially given that I'd just turned 72.

:thumb:

I may have some help.

I had sciatica pain (from getting in and out of a low car wrong), and went to the chiro for a year, no help. Then bought a nordic-track XC ski machine (I lived in the snow belt and didn't bike all winter), and it went away or prevented that pain. My boss got same pain on a business trip, upon returning, lent him my machine, got better in days, he bought one. (And they are cheap used now.)

But now, I don't have space in my small rented room for the nordic-track. So I thought, exactly what is it that made that work? It's the long leg extension. Get two chairs and put them back-to-back with enough space between for you standing, or use two canes set to the right lengths; Now extend one foot forward as far as you can, and one foot back as far as you can. Use the chairs or canes with your hands to support your weight so you don't stress your knees. Now lower yourself slowly to where you can, and lift back up. Do that 10 times. Now reverse your legs and do the same. Do a second set. Do the routine twice or three times a day when recovering. This is the critical part, when I used the ski machine, I would do long strides most of the time, though sometimes I would incline it more and set the friction higher and do shorter climbing strides. But that long stride keeps the sciatica healthy. And easy to do without the XC ski machine.

:thumb: I just tried this, definitely felt some relief in the problematic hip when I extended the corresponding forward. I'll have to add this to the clamshells and knee raises I've been doing. I was feeling pretty good at the end of last season, but it has recently flared up again.

Glad to help! My problem was also in the off-season, before doing these exercises. Now...

Pain in back between the shoulder blades: Different animal, would happen during bike season when not using the nordic-track (which had an arm exerciser); This time, I went to a certified physical therapist, not a chiro. He said caused by an imbalance of muscle strength, my arms always pushing down when biking (this was before I did any standing climbing on the bike), so strong chest muscles, but weak upper back muscles. Two exercises: 1) Lay flat on your back, extend arms forward (straight up), and shrug your shoulders/shoulder-blades backwards, release. 2) Get a stretchy thing and wrap around a strong table leg with forearms forward, and pull forearms straight back, release. CAUTION: TRY TO NOT USE A BUNGEY CORD WITH A METAL HOOK END, THIS IS THE #1 CAUSE OF SERIOUS EYE INJURIES! They make medical stretch bands for this out of thin sheet rubber, they just aren't durable long-term. This exercise can also be done with no stretchy thing for force resistance, like if feeling the pain at work, but better with some force resistance. And the aft shrugging can also be done seated at a chair. Usually, that pain between the shoulder blades would be with me for a month, and again, chiro was no help. With the above taught to me by the therapist, pain was gone in days. And I never needed a return visit.

No harm trying this of course if it doesn't cause pain while doing it. But it really depends on the cause of the sciatic nerve irritation. Two common causes are glute/piriformus/etc muscle impingement where the nerve travels from the spine across the hip and butt down the leg, and vertebral/disc issues (commonly at L4/L5/S1) causing the impingement and nerve irritation.

Maybe yours isn't mostly caused by disc/vertebra issues? I sincerely hope so and it's great that your simple therapy works so well. I can only wish...

But I have an actual significant injury to and degeneration ("incompetence") and stenosis at those vertebrae and disc, unfortunately and the sciatic nerve irritation is caused by that. My personal experience is that classic skiing which the Nordic track poorly imitates - which I do a lot of - tended to irritate the nerve at my vertebra rather than relieving it. Of course good core strength can reduce the amount of flex in the lower back when you kick or stride back skiing, and this in the long term is essential for my condition, but skiing really didn't help, or made it worse. I haven't tried the Nordic Track. We sold it during the Covid indoor equipment craze, since it had been used as a clothes hanger for at least 10 years prior and Covid didn't restrict our outdoor real skiing.

But, I'm not claiming to know what anyone's sciatica is caused by, so YMMV.

That's easy for you to say... :)