Albany-12303

I moved this from "training and nutrition" since it is road-bike related

Last fall, I was closing in on 30 KPH average speed on my road bike over long > 2H rides.

I told myself that I wasn't going to lose my fitness over the winter. I kept doing short (one hour or so) rides on my MTB (no computer) from nov to feb a couple times a week and I did one or two work-outs on my fluid trainer per week. Short rides tend to increase my appetite and I gained about 10 pounds over the winter.

Last night was my first long (2.5H) ride on my road bike (at what I consider to be a heavy effort) and according to my computer, I averaged a pathetic 22 KPH!!!. I was wearing all my heavy winter clothing, but still - 22 KPH?

What went wrong?

Long hard rides tend to dull my appetite. If I keep riding hard I should lose that extra 10 lbs within a month or two, but it may take a few months to get my speeed back up. I was hoping that by March, I would have the same fitness as I did in the fall.

Obviously I screwed up my winter regimen. I want to push myself up to 30 kph by mid-summer. Riding slow is not very fun or exciting.

bccycleguy

As you get older it becomes harder and harder to maintain fitness over the winter. Thrown in a bad cold and Christmas dinner and you're sunk. I try not to gain more than 5% of my peak condition weight.

The colder temperatures in the early spring make a difference too, I never ride as well when it's cold out. Even at the beginning of the winter when I'm in really good shape I'm slower. Partly it is wind resistance. Hills that I can hit 65 km on my up-right Hybrid in the summer, I'm really lucky to hit 55 km in the drops in the winter with lots of clothes on.

rpc180

Wearing heavy tights and pant layers also slow your muscle response and cadance a bit ...

late

You are doing things all wrong. First of all, it's MPH, not KPH.
Second, it's not officially spring yet. You need to get a workout
plan to get in shape by summer. This will include a fair amount of riding
at pretty slow speeds. I suggest a periodized training regime.

Albany-12303

I am originally from Canada and I think in KPH (like the rest of the world outside the USA). At least down here I can buy 2L bottles of Coke!

Goods idea about the training regime. I will consult my back issues of bicycling. I have a HRM so that should help.

DrPete 

Fear not--It's normal to be slow in the winter/early season.

I've had a lot of success this year with an HRM and focusing on longer workouts in what Polar calls "Sport Zones" 2 and 3, i.e. the 60-70% of max and 70-80% of max HR zones. By keeping the intensity of my rides down I've been able to log a lot of miles without the misery and agony I usually experience with riding too hard too soon.

Try visiting www.polarcyclingcoach.com. It actually has some training programs/schedules you can use and you don't need to own a Polar device to take advantage of it. I'm using it right now with my Polar cs200cad and it's really keeping me on track.

DrPete

DXchulo

It's pretty simple, really. You're used to short rides and you gained weight, so of course you're going to be slower. Weather has been mentioned, but don't forget about the wind. It's usually pretty windy in March, so maybe wind was slowing you down some.

How hard were those rides on the MTB? How hard were those rides on the trainer? If you're doing short rides like that you have to make sure to keep the intensity high.

I would suggest trying to throw in some longer rides during the winter whenever possible. Endurance is hard to keep and easy to lose.

DrPete 

Another issue is that long, hard rides will not help you lose the right weight--because your body will burn more sugars than fats. Lower impact aerobic activity, i.e. those long, slow rides you don't like, will increase your body's aerobic metabolism and burn more fat.

DrPete

Albany-12303

Last night I did another ride. It was about 10deg warmer than the previous night so I didnt wear so much clothing. Also, there was almost no wind.

I managed to do 72 km in 3 hours (24 kph), which is better than the prior night but still a bit slow. As far as burning sugar goes, I guess that I wasnt taking it easy enough - I began to fastasize about donuts. Anyway, when I got home I ate two large bowls of Capn Crunch. I probably came close to bonking.

Wore my HRM last night and averaged about 150 bpm (close to 90% Max for me), and I was a bit stiff afterwards. All that punishment for a lousy 24 kph!

At the side of the road, I stopped to have a drink and adjust my helmet light. A police officer stopped to ask if I was Okay - probably not used to seeing cyclist out on the country roads at 11:00 PM!!

patentcad

What's 'KPH' ? Is that like 'VO2 Max'? Or 'OCP'?

Winter schminter. You want to stay in shape you figure it out. Yes, it sucks, yes we all gain wait (and have some to lose in Spring). I've been doing this since 1989. Gain at LEAST 10lbs every winter (race weight 163-167lbs, winter weight 172-175lbs, consistently over the years). Hey, that's EXACTLY what Lance did all those years he won the Tour de France. Part of the deal if you're a fitness/competitive cyclist.

I'm in between now (171 as of this AM) and starting to go into full fat-burning mode. And @ age 48 I don't burn it NEARLY as fast as I used to. But I do. I'll be doing another 78 mile ride Saturday. Some of it fast (in the middle) but mostly a slow tempo ride to that ride and back. Lots of climbing. 5 hr + ride. Don't worry, that ride DOES burn fat. Or you would hope so : ).