Cycling

[jorbjorb]

This is Scenic Drive. It's closed to traffic every Sunday morning for like 5 hours. Short ride but pretty fun overall. Here's some data for those interested.

ScenicDrive 1[/url] by J. M., on Flickr[/IMG] ScenicDrive 1 by J. M., on Flickr[/IMG]

ScenicDriveSign[/url] by J. M., on Flickr[/IMG] ScenicDriveSign by J. M., on Flickr[/IMG]

ScenicDrive4[/url] by J. M., on Flickr[/IMG] ScenicDrive4 by J. M., on Flickr[/IMG]
Just below the horizon above my seat is the river and Mexican border. You can see Juarez's big red X if you squint.

ScenicDrive3[/url] by J. M., on Flickr[/IMG] ScenicDrive3 by J. M., on Flickr[/IMG]

This looks unreal. I'll have to visit someday.

 

[RayP]

You definitely will. I did all Sufferfest last offseason and improved my FTP by 12%. No real base period, just intervals of different lengths and intensities:

- Sweet Spot, 4 weeks
- VO2 Max, 3 weeks
- Anaerobic Work Capacity, 3 weeks
- Sprints, 2 weeks.

I'm doing something similar this offseason after CX season. More applicable for MTB and CX energy demands.

Nice.

I won't get a real indicator on my improvements until my 3rd FTP test. When I did my initial FTP test for the beginning of this, it was my first ride in 17 days (due to us moving). It was down from like 270 to 235, I think. I can already see my improvement when I just cruise around Zwift, though. It's pretty nice to see.

Also a good way for me to meet some people in a new city. Since we can't ride on the roads out here in the winter, there are "long group rides" on Saturday where everyone brings their trainer and gets together.

 

[Unlimited Chequing]

It's been snowing the last couple of days so I finally got to put the fat bike to use.

 

[Havre]

Anyone done Tour de Flanders before or will be doing it in 2018?

 

[The Imp]

I had a few friends and my brother do the Roonde last year last year. The biggest surprise was the DOWNhill part of the climbs. Wet pavées, with no traction. Not crashing was a matter of luck.

I'm looking into next season's game plan. Looks like Sjælland Rundt on June 30th (300 km, 2.500m altitude change), and then La Marmotte Pyrenées in late August (160 km, 5.600m altitude change).

Just need to drop 10 kgs first

 

[Havre]

I can imagine. Invested in some Vittoria Pave to get the best grip I can.

Do you know their average speed? Really have no idea what to expect. Obviously weather dependent as well (I believe the weather was good this year - 2017).

The first 70-80k look more or less 100% flat. Got no idea if people will ride 40-45kmh or just keep it pedestrian at 30+.

 

[CactusEverywhere]

It boggles my mind when I see people getting snow. It's still t-shirt & short weather here during the day, so I just kinda assume it's like that everywhere, haha. It is getting on the chilly side at night now, though.

Haven't ridden in a while, but went out yesterday again finally. New front tire got christened on the dirt. I also took a tumble trying a skinny line of sorts atop some dirt mounds. Landed on a goat head plant and got scuffed a bit, but no biggie.

Got a question about helmet though. My leg, elbow, and shoulder took the brunt of the fall, but I did bop side of my head as well. I would call it a light hit, didn't get dazed at all or anything like that. Helmet shows no visible signs of damage, but of course that doesn't necessarily mean anything. Should I replace it even though hit was light?

 

[RayP]

Such a love-hate relationship with this Sufferfest. Today they had us do 90 intervals of 15 seconds hard, 15 seconds rest. 30 in a set, 5 minute recovery. 3 sets.

I’m too ADD for that so did 30 seconds on and off instead.

f***.

 

[The Imp]

I don't know, no... I could ask?

Geting back into the swing of things now... Never a day without running, biking, swimming, or weights/core work.

Saw a physio today, my left leg hasn't been going at full speed lately. Turns out I need to do some more hip/pelvis specific work (insert dirty joke here). Anyway, feels pretty good. There's a long way to go, but I know where I'm headed.

 

[RayP]

Just a little over a month left in 2017, and I had the goal of 10,000 miles on the bike and 1,000 running. Going to come up well short, due to when I got hit by a car on the bike. But should still be 6,000+ and 600+ for the year assuming no injuries.

It boggles my mind when I see people getting snow. It's still t-shirt & short weather here during the day, so I just kinda assume it's like that everywhere, haha. It is getting on the chilly side at night now, though.

Haven't ridden in a while, but went out yesterday again finally. New front tire got christened on the dirt. I also took a tumble trying a skinny line of sorts atop some dirt mounds. Landed on a goat head plant and got scuffed a bit, but no biggie.

Got a question about helmet though. My leg, elbow, and shoulder took the brunt of the fall, but I did bop side of my head as well. I would call it a light hit, didn't get dazed at all or anything like that. Helmet shows no visible signs of damage, but of course that doesn't necessarily mean anything. Should I replace it even though hit was light?

Is it an expensive helmet? If not, then I'd just replace it and be safe. But if it were a $200-300 helmet I'd maybe consider not.

 

[UnrealMachine]

Such a love-hate relationship with this Sufferfest. Today they had us do 90 intervals of 15 seconds hard, 15 seconds rest. 30 in a set, 5 minute recovery. 3 sets.

I’m too ADD for that so did 30 seconds on and off instead.

****.

Sounds like a much harder version of Half is Easy? I used to be good at that workout, but as my FTP has gotten higher it has actually become one of my worst ones. My legs just lactate out. After my 2 races this weekend I'm going straight to Sweet Spot offseason training, via Sufferfest of course!

 

[Unlimited Chequing]

I just rolled over 6000km on the year on the ride home today with a month to spare! Feels pretty good to hit it. I thought I'd cut it a lot closer towards the end of December and I wasn't sure if I'd even get there on account of the unpredictable snow and cold weather, but I guess riding the extra long scenic routes on the way home added up in the end. I'll probably scale back a bit for December and take shorter, more direct routes to and from work (unless we get some really nice warm days) and then ramp it up again in the new year.

It boggles my mind when I see people getting snow. It's still t-shirt & short weather here during the day, so I just kinda assume it's like that everywhere, haha. It is getting on the chilly side at night now, though.

Ha! I feel the same except it boggles my mind when I see people not getting snow

 

[RayP]

Sounds like a much harder version of Half is Easy? I used to be good at that workout, but as my FTP has gotten higher it has actually become one of my worst ones. My legs just lactate out. After my 2 races this weekend I'm going straight to Sweet Spot offseason training, via Sufferfest of course!

Not sure on exact workout names, because the tri club uploads them as their own to Training Peaks for us to follow, and then do via Zwift, Wahoo app, or Trainer Road... but that's not to say they're trying to take credit for the workouts, for the record.

The more I do and the more different types of workouts I do, I'm finding I really prefer the longer set stuff.

Tomorrow is an optional hill climb day the club added, then Friday is 5 sets of 5 minutes at 100% FTP, 3 minute recovery at 50-60%. Now that type of set is my jam. I do however do it via Zwift, and on a flat course so downhills don't ruin an interval.... so I'm kind of on m own of regulating my wattage. However, I like that, because 9/10 times it means I'm pushing even harder than what I'm suppose to.

 

[Havre]

I don't know, no... I could ask?

If you could that would be much appreciated.

Not that I'm especially nervous or anything. I'm from Norway so I'm quite used to all kind of conditions and from what I hear amateur races in Norway are far less "civilized" than further south - so that part of the race shouldn't be an issue. But if there are some things that one should do or shouldn't do - or things one might be aware of - it would be nice to know (more than the crazy descents).

It would be subjective, but also interesting to hear how tough it is. I'm used to climbing hills during races (nothing is flat here), but never as many as in Flanders and basically never hills that steep (certainly not multiple ones). Difficult for me to say how much a climb 500 meters long at 10%+ after riding 200k will drain you. Got one race in Norway with a hill like that (a bit more than 500 meters) at the end of a 120k something race. One hill is not a problem, but.....

 

[anros]

Except for teaching group exercise classes and dance, road cycling is my preferred form of cardio. Where I live, there are lots of hills, some of them short and steep, others long, but less steep, still a challenge though.

I typically cycle for an hour or so and my aim is to go as fast as I physically can for as long as possible, so, no 60 milers for me. Might do some long cycles this summer though.

 

[UnrealMachine]

My transition from racing to offseason training last week has been so good that I almost can't believe it. Seems like the racing season was taxing me so hard that it was masking the gains I was making in the process. I've done 4 hard (relatively speaking) training rides and 4 recovery rides in between with a much bigger focus on pedaling technique. I'm already up +5% in my average power and normalized power from the 1st workout with no sign of slowing down. My offseason plan is:

- Sweet Spot (6 weeks)
- Sub-Threshold (3 weeks)
- VO2 Max (3 weeks)
- Anaerobic Capacity (3 weeks)
- Sprints/Repeatability (2 weeks)

This is very similar to last year's offseason, where I made a 12% gain in FTP. Goal is another 12% increase in FTP, which would take me over 5W/kg.

 

[Havre]

I wish I could do 5W/kg. I would be world class on flat TdF stages with my 100kg body weight

I'm dreaming of 350w (so around 3.5). Might manage 350w for 20 mins in 2018. Then maybe FTP 350 in 2019.

 

[The Imp]

Finally got to talk to my brother about the Roonde.

He did it in just over 10 hours. His main words of advice were to:

- Doublewrap the handlebar tape, and use the spongiest gloves you have. It's a rattlefest.
- Use at least 25 mm tyres with good tread. For instance, don't go with Continental GP 4000s, go with the 4 seasons
- Watch yourself on the descents. There is one particularly tricky one, where you enter a 90 degree turn right at the bottom of a cobbled descent, AND you cross railroad tracks (you might well be able to find that spot on a map)
- Bring the granniest gears you can find. There are a lot of stingy climbs to overcome.

 

[Havre]

Cool. Thank you very much.

Will doublewrap my bars. Already bought some Vittoria Pave 27. Never understood why anyone would go below 25 on any kind of surface (last year in the TdF all teams went 25 or 26 - still amateurs keep on using 23). We got cattle guards here so a railroad track should normally not be a big problem.

Thankfully it is a bit shorter in 2018 (237km) than in 2017 (260km), but 10 hours seems quite long? I was hoping to hit 7.5, but that seems a bit optimistic if he did 260 in over 10. I'm hoping he isn't as good as you (I seem to remember you having some very solid avg. speeds on the 180km ironman stages) cycling? If so I'm looking at closer to 15 hours than 7.5

 

[The Imp]

Yeah, I rode both my IM in under five hours. My brother has never done an Ironman, but his bike splits on 70.3s have been marginally slower than me (around 10 minutes each time). It's a thinly veiled brag, I know, but sub-5 was my main goal for each IM, so I'm pretty chuffed about it .

My brother's pretty heavy, which will have served him well on the cobbles, I imagine. Do remember to think about the gloves too, something with a lot of padding will serve you well.

Any thoughts on the pressure in those 27s? I usually go to at least 7,5 bar - I'd keep to 7 or so for a ride like that.

 

[UnrealMachine]

I wish I could do 5W/kg. I would be world class on flat TdF stages with my 100kg body weight

I'm dreaming of 350w (so around 3.5). Might manage 350w for 20 mins in 2018. Then maybe FTP 350 in 2019.

How tall are you? You could probably put out the same wattage at 90kg than you can at 100. That'd be an 11.1% gain in W/kg right there.

I'm a hair under 5'9" and 155 lbs (AM weight). The idea of being as low as 70.5 kg was unthinkable to me 5 years ago and still distasteful even 2 years ago, but after getting there this fall I'm essentially just all lean muscle at this point and feel great.

 

[RayP]

My transition from racing to offseason training last week has been so good that I almost can't believe it. Seems like the racing season was taxing me so hard that it was masking the gains I was making in the process. I've done 4 hard (relatively speaking) training rides and 4 recovery rides in between with a much bigger focus on pedaling technique. I'm already up +5% in my average power and normalized power from the 1st workout with no sign of slowing down. My offseason plan is:

- Sweet Spot (6 weeks)
- Sub-Threshold (3 weeks)
- VO2 Max (3 weeks)
- Anaerobic Capacity (3 weeks)
- Sprints/Repeatability (2 weeks)

This is very similar to last year's offseason, where I made a 12% gain in FTP. Goal is another 12% increase in FTP, which would take me over 5W/kg.

That’s awesome. In a similar boat here. Doing my first FTP test in a little over a month this Saturday. This Monday I “accidentally” set a new FTP on somewhat fatigued legs during a Zwift TT race. Not a huge improvement from prior FTP, but enough for Zwift and TrainingPeaks to both notify me I had set a new 20 minute FTP.

Needless to say, excited to see what I can do on rested legs this Saturday. Not to mention I think I finally have a good strategy for the test itself. Last few times I’ve gone out way too hard.

This time I’m going to try, and think I can, hold my prior FTP fot the first 15 minutes and then go balls to the wall for the last 5 minutes.

 

[Havre]

How tall are you? You could probably put out the same wattage at 90kg than you can at 100. That'd be an 11.1% gain in W/kg right there.

I'm a hair under 5'9" and 155 lbs (AM weight). The idea of being as low as 70.5 kg was unthinkable to me 5 years ago and still distasteful even 2 years ago, but after getting there this fall I'm essentially just all lean muscle at this point and feel great.

I'm 6ft6. I used to be between 90-95kg when I was playing football (or soccer if you want). If I wanted to become the best possible cyclist I would try to get down to around 90 (which I wouldn't really have a problem with doing), but I like to lift weights etc. - so - around 100 has kind of become a compromise for me. I might drop down to around 95 for the Tour de Flanders.

Cool that a real person can do 5W/kg. Kudos.

 

[UnrealMachine]

I'm 6ft6. I used to be between 90-95kg when I was playing football (or soccer if you want). If I wanted to become the best possible cyclist I would try to get down to around 90 (which I wouldn't really have a problem with doing), but I like to lift weights etc. - so - around 100 has kind of become a compromise for me. I might drop down to around 95 for the Tour de Flanders.

Cool that a real person can do 5W/kg. Kudos.

Alright, that explains it. For what it's worth I used to be a competitive powerlifter and still do strength training 4x week. I've just gravitated towards more bodyweight stuff or bodyweight + weighted vest or bands. I just don't do powerlifting exercises or olympic lifts anymore. I'm also 37.

Not at 5, yet, but I'm getting there. Around 4.75 and closing...

 

[UnrealMachine]

That’s awesome. In a similar boat here. Doing my first FTP test in a little over a month this Saturday. This Monday I “accidentally” set a new FTP on somewhat fatigued legs during a Zwift TT race. Not a huge improvement from prior FTP, but enough for Zwift and TrainingPeaks to both notify me I had set a new 20 minute FTP.

Needless to say, excited to see what I can do on rested legs this Saturday. Not to mention I think I finally have a good strategy for the test itself. Last few times I’ve gone out way too hard.

This time I’m going to try, and think I can, hold my prior FTP fot the first 15 minutes and then go balls to the wall for the last 5 minutes.

Good luck! I've gotten away from actual FTP tests and rely on powermeter data, prescribed training wattages/results (IF) and other analysis tools to derive my FTP. Thankfully, there are many other options out there that can provide an FTP value without taking an actual 8, 20 or 60-minute test. Xert rolls out free real-time FTP app on Garmin devices