jslopez

So I've estimated my LT at 174 and on today's ride I did extended periods beyond that and so I blew up for a few minutes. It really sucked, but no biggie.

So my question is for long rides (ones where you would ideally want to do well and still finish strong as strong as you started), do you ideally want to be (just) below LT the whole time? I'm sure there are periods where one goes above LT but do you try to limit that to a certain time period? Do you also try to limit how much you do it? (say go over LT every 10 mins)?


Just curious as to how to ride smarter while still pushing my limits.

geneman

Joe Friel covers training at LT very well in the Bible. Training just slightly above and below for extended periods of time is common practice for those interested in increase their threshold.

While the ingredients that make up a good strong ride invariably include managing effort relative to LT, that's simply one element of the equation. So it's hard to answer your question. Rather than maintaining effort just below LT the whole time, most rides include peaks and troughs centered around hills or wind, or group activity, etc. For this reason, people (myself included) tend to "feel" their way through a ride to ensure they leave something in the tank for later. How this relates to LT is hard to say.

Mark

jslopez

Thanks. I think today I tried to do to much, pushed hard thru one climb (then waited for the regroup). Pushed to keep up with one guy who was pushing thru a descent, then later went after another guy during a climb.

I was going over 180 (high of 186) at certain poing which I'm guessing isn't recommended for any sort of training. IF ever you do go at this range how long would be a reasonable time to keep it there or is it a matter of conditioning?

geneman

Totally depends upon your goals. If you race and expect to find yourself WAY beyond LT and bumping into MHR often to bridge or to contest a sprint, then you better train there sometimes as well. If reaching these heights is what it takes to stay with your group on those weekend rides, then you better train there. If you never want to feel pain on the bike and prefer the group that does at most 70% efforts, then I'd say that don't bother.

How long to stay at MHR? Again that depends upon your goals and plans. If you intend to race, the longer you can stay there without blowing up, the stronger you will be as a rider.

Mark