thinking about racing
#26
Senior Member


Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 11,754
Likes: 26
From: Mesa, AZ
Bikes: Moots RCS, tandem, beach-cruiser, MTB, Specialized-Allez road-bike, custom track-bike
wow, nice advice guys this helps a lot. I know I shouldn't be paying attention to my overall speed a whole lot, and no I don't think 22mph is fast, I think I need VAST improvement. But I have all Winter and my trusty OCR3. I did ride for an hour yesterday and did 20mph. I practiced attacking groups I'd see in the distance but I only got up to 27mph. And some muscle on my left leg right above the knee protested violently over that. I commute every day but its 7 miles round trip and I do it without clips. The bike weighs 30lbs though so that's something
(jk).
(jk).For now, you'll want to get in lots of miles and build up some endurance. Work on spinning easy gears smoothly. Then transition into strength/power-building over the winter. Followed by speedwork in the spring. Work up to sprinting by doing long-intervals. Progress to shorter and shorter intervals and after you've got 1-minute intervals down, start doing sprints.
Here's a couple of good books I've found to have really helped me train and race:
Food for Fitness is great for nutrition ideas
The Lance Armstrong Performance Program: Seven Weeks to the Perfect Ride
The Lance Armstrong Performance Program by Armstrong/Carmichael (1984 Olympic Cycling team, USA Olympic Coach 1992-1996) gives a year-long training-programme with optimized periodization
Serious Cycling and High-Tech cycling by Ed Burke, PhD, USA Olympic Coach 1984-1988, 20-year Director OTC-U.Colorado, is great for a scientific approach.
Greg Lemond's Complete Book of Bicycling by Greg Lemond (mutiple TDF winner) is also good
Bicycle Racing 101 Originally "Bicycle Road Racing" by Eddy Borysewicz - USA Olympic Coach 1980-1984
Last edited by DannoXYZ; 09-10-08 at 12:41 PM.




