[Closed] So I want to try road racing + build a bike specifically for this

Yes Matts- that's my hunch. The workout prescribes easy spin / coasting between work intervals for a reason.

I've found another solution though- I'll just skip tomorrow's Zwift race and do my AE intervals tomorrow instead. That way I can race properly on Saturday.

That's a nice meaty Build week too.
Mon- rest
Tue- AE intervals
Wed- Z1 or Z2 if fresh.
Thu- ME intervals
Fri- Z1/Rest
Sat- Race @ Hillingdon
Sun- Group ride.

Yes they are from Strava. Don't read too much into absolute values, just trends for your own data. The model by Bannister in Strava has the same parameters for me, you, and all those very fit second cat juniors iv spent the weekend chasing. Mine has climbed since January on a regime of three week high volume training. Not high enough though 😆 I clearly need the intervals for explosive power to stop getting dropped!

With regards to training, I think hard intervals when fatigued are likely to be a better strategy for road racing. Banging out explosive efforts when you are fresh is great. The problem is that if you want to race for longer, you can't just simulate 120 minutes of race, followed by more intense effort to avoid being dropped (not unless you have lots of time and a high boredom threshold).

Focussing solely on threshold will only get you so far and, is ideal for the one hour circuit races. But I noticed a big jump to road racing where I was only good for about 75-90 minutes, and an even bigger jump to 2/3 road racing, where I've pushed out that level to 120 minutes. Now I need the final push to consistently finish in the bunch.

Still at about objective 3 at the 2/3 level 🙁 ! About 6 for my 3rd cat road, and 9 for masters circuit racing. It never gets easier.

It depends what adaptation you are trying to elicit from your body. If you want to improve your max sprint power, then you need to be dong intervals that hit very close to your true max value. If not, then you are not effectively stressing the neuromuscular power systems. Imagine going to the gym after running a marathon and then doing some max deadlifts. You might be able to pick up half your max to rep. That isn't going to help you improve your max deadlift. It will hurt. It may improve your fitness if you recover properly afterwards. But you are not training effectively.

The same goes for VO2Max. If you want to elicit maximum gain to improve power at VO2, then you need to be working high up in the band. Working low in the band for short periods at the end of other efforts will definitely help your aerobic fitness. And it will help you learn to suffer. But it will not be as effective at improving power at VO2Max as targeted intervals.

Sessions that could help these race efforts are 5x4min pyramids, (95%-100%-105%-100%-95%) with 10s efforts at each 4min. Or over/unders with 2x15x sprints, 15s rest before the start. 3min under (95%) 3min over (105%) x 3. (so 1 minute for the sprints then 18 minutes of o/u). Then 10 minutes spinning before repeating. So this is basically a mixed-up 2 x 20 session with the sprints to deplete your anaerobic capacity such that the threshold work is really unpleasant. 😆

A good way to improve race endurance is to do some focussed group rides. Go out on a know route, or a route with a loop and then get into a working chaingang and ride hard for a couple of hours. Then spin home. You can mix things up by agreeing some 'games' to play during the ride. Maybe go on a hilly ride and have a KOM challenge where you award points for first and second up each pre-determined hill. Another good game is playing hare and hounds (Nath would probably like this one!). Elect one rider as the boss. You ride tempo in a chaingang and the leader taps one guy to be the 'hare'. Some time in the next couple of minutes, this rider then launches an attack out of the bunch. The leader lets them take a few hundred meters of a gap and then instructs the hounds to chase (blowing a bugle optional). The group has to work together in the chaingang to pull the attacker back. When the catch is made the leader taps another rider. This one works best if you can ride on a fairly quiet circuit to avoid stopping at junctions and lights.

I have to say, the Newbury chaingang the other week with 8 of us was almost as much fun as a race. People drilling it off the front and racing every climb.

I think that's it, if you have a very specific hole in your power curve, you aren't going to fix it very quickly by riding at that existing power number.

In the plan, I've only actually got 6-8 sessions in the next 6 weeks in which to add the Anaerobic fitness I need to complete the picture so every second of pain counts 😀

Slight thread hijack, but mostly on topic.
What do people think to the training benefit of race pace group rides? Starting today I have the option to do a 1hr APR on a Tuesday - so 40 min easy spin out, 1hr hard group riding, 40 min spin home.

Not done them in a few years as i've generally ridden solo and done some form of interval session, but I do enjoy them. The main thing putting me off is I find they take a lot of time to recover from and i'll probably lose volume/quality later in the week.

I've found another solution though- I'll just skip tomorrow's Zwift race and do my AE intervals tomorrow instead. That way I can race properly on Saturday.

A good solution, given the whole point of this is to race bikes.

@Fifeandy I found them extremely useful for raising my fitness in short order (though from a relatively low base). As for recovery, there's some interesting thoughts on training while fatigued [url= http://road.cc/content/feature/136769-why-you-should-train-when-you%E2%80%99re-tired ]here[/url]

@Fifeandy I found them extremely useful for raising my fitness in short order (though from a relatively low base). As for recovery, there's some interesting thoughts on training while fatigued here

My experience too - the first time I did them (2010 i think) I was flying after 6 weeks.

I try to be quite careful with my recovery as A) i've got an underlying medical problem that slightly compromises recovery, and B) i've been bitten by over-training before (probably as much due to A) as any massive training load).

I'm going very well already this season on a diet of only big gear(strength) work and z1/z2 volume, so interested to see if I can step it up a bit further with some dedicated muscular endurance and anaerobic work.

As Friel said on Twitter the other day (yes I know, I'm such a fanboi 😆 ) :-

Never tired; never fit. Hard workouts produce the potential for greater fitness as evidenced by the resulting fatigue.

I'm going very well already this season on a diet of only big gear(strength) work and z1/z2 volume, so interested to see if I can step it up a bit further with some dedicated muscular endurance and anaerobic work.

If nothing else, its more fun than solo training, and it'll freshen you up psychologically

I'm going very well already this season on a diet of only big gear(strength) work and z1/z2 volume

What do you mean by "strength work"? Track starts / 10s sprints?

What do people think to the training benefit of race pace group rides?

It depends what adaptation you are trying to elicit from your body. If you want to improve your max sprint power, then you need to be dong intervals that hit very close to your true max value

I need the adaptation to hit 400+ Watts after 2 hrs of threshold. No point having a great sprint, if you can't stay with the bunch to execute it at the finish.

What do you mean by "strength work"? Track starts / 10s sprints?

Force may be a more accurate description than strength.
I took a look at Friels triangle of abilities 2 years ago and decided I could do all the muscular endurance work in the world, but it wouldn't help if I couldn't push hard enough on the pedals.
Saw some gains during winter 2015/2016 by adding big gear work and delaying move to 2x20's etc.
This year I decided to take it to extremes and do nothing but rides designed to build force or z1/2 rides, and i'm delighted with progress so far.
Trying to keep it mixed to avoid adapting to only one session.
GCN 40 min strength session (1,2,3,4,3,2,1min 60rpm pyramid) has been a favourite when weather is poor.
(5x1)x3 @ 60rpm
Some standing starts (on a hill)
Hilly (and windy!) singlespeed rides.

Probably not a program that will work for most, but being built like a stick man and spending a few years seeing very gradual improvements doing more traditional intervals I decided to risk a year trying something different.

I ride fixed for the same reasons. Nothing better than grinding along at 60-70rpm into a headwind with NO option but to press on. And I'm also a stick build. My different was volume this year. Just passed 6000 km. Intensity comes from racing. I can't stand indoor riding.

I need the adaptation to hit 400+ Watts after 2 hrs of threshold

For what duration though?
Let's say it's for two minutes- nice crisp fresh two minute interval sessions would get you that adaptation much quicker wouldn't they?

I think this is where the relationship between your power zones and your HR zones (decoupling?) comes into play. You need enough power capacity at each stage of your power curve to allow for being fatigued (decoupled) during a race??

The thing is, the only real time you can to proper 'strength' work on the bike is 100% all out sprint efforts like track starts. Anything less than that is just hard endurance work. Even flat out for a minute pace is simply far too much below utilising your maximal muscular force to build muscle. This is why track sprinters spend so much time in the gym.

So then you're left with the question: Why would I do a 1 minute interval session 700W @ 50rpm vs 700W @ 90rpm?

Needing strength to ride into a headwind is a complete red herring. There's no reason why you should be forced to ride harder into a headwind. It's just a mental thing that you feel should always be riding above a certain speed and so you try to pick it up when you slow down. But you get the same effect from just riding faster into a light headwind. Just change gear! Yes, there is a slight difference in pedalling momentum when you're climbing a hill, or riding slowly into a stiff breeze. But you don't have to grind it out to do the same Watts.

That's interesting Matts. Obviously Force workouts are a part of The Cyclist's Training bible but it seems Joe Friel has actually modified his thoughts on them since then and come up with a more 'Maximal effort' based workout than the 50rpm Threshold workouts described in the book....

http://www.joefrielsblog.com/2010/11/force-reps.html

And in fact, he now describes the workouts in the book as being 'strength maintenance' for keeping the Weight Training gains made in the gym at the non-specific Base phase of training rather than as a method of increasing force.

http://www.joefrielsblog.com/2010/11/base-1-training-part-4.html

Can't wait for his new book this Autumn 🙂

Looking at other riders power profiles, every lap of yesterday's road race required a 700 Watt sprint for about 20 seconds just to stay with the bunch. I managed two of these. I do 20/40 sprints to 800 Watts on my commute, but there is still a big difference between these sprints and a race.

matts, I note you don't ride fixed - what is this "change gear" 😉

I created myself an ambitious Pyramid set on the Zwift workout mode and failed! It was 3,4,5,5,4,3 @ 380w with 4 min rests and I didn't complete the second 5 or 4 fully 🙁
I don't think Erg mode helps as it makes it hard to shift the effort around between cadences so I reckon I'll get them done outside next week.

Still, I got 20minutes of Vo2 Max+ into the legs which I doubt I'd have managed in a race!!

What's your threshold do you reckon at the moment, CH? Was it just over 300?

I think I would struggle to do that set at 125% of threshold indoors. Outdoors on a hill would be touch and go.

Matts,
Yes- a few caveats though.
One, my last FTP test was indoors so probably conservative.
Two, after my Build 1 weeks, I think my Threshold has risen anyway- all my HR zones seem to suggest so.
Three, I had to use my Kickr Snap without the Stages in order to access ERG mode and it's generally a couple of percent lower so I wanted to account for that.
Four, I did a set of three minute Vo2 intervals plus a couple of 3 to 4 minute hill climbs the other day and was 370-395 in all of them so I knew I could get close.
And it was meant to be tough 🙂

As I say, in normal mode up the Zwift mountain or outdoors it would have been achievable I think.

The book says CP6, which from Strava Power curve is 360w and at that, I would have smashed them I think.

@TiRed - Is that for riders your size? What sort of W/Kg would that be for you?

I've definitely lost some top-end power since I stopped going to the gym about 5 years back - even accounting for the fact I'm 3-4Kg lighter now. Some of it was probably also a lack of plyometrics since I stopped playing volleyball. Do you incorporate any gym work or explosive leg work into your training? As well as doing plenty of anaerobic intervals to boost your ability to repeat those efforts, you can also push up your max so that each one of the efforts in a slightly lower percentage of max, that way you burn slightly less of a match each time.

This is somewhat of a do as I say not do as I do given what I just typed, but deadlifting and squatting is a really good thing for a cyclist to do for their general fitness. Obviously you don't want to be trying to bulk up like The Rock, but some load bearing is good for bone density and the closed-chain compound movements are good for muscle balance.

That's my clubmate. Same size as me - 10 W/kg! The matchbox was already empty after six hours of racing over the two previous days 😉

I don't do gym, but could do with a little load bearing, perhaps a small kettle ball. Just for bone mineral density. I like 20/40s on my fixed wheel. But 800 Watts is pretty much where it all stops for me.

@matts, afraid my scales and measuring tape disagree about the efforts not being close enough to maximal to build muscle. Up about 1.5kg and 2cm round each thigh since end of last season.

Decided to go for the apr tonight, and glad i did, showed what i've been doing has been working. Went with the middle group which wasn't? working very well, but felt super comfortable. Fast group came past at the bottom of a shallow climb and i just latched on and was able to stick with it and do some short turns on the front.

Well done Fifeandy. Sounds fun 🙂

First round of the Castle Combe summer series tomorrow. Anyone going?

Sounds fun

You are doing the standing hill starts though. That is definitely a session that is focussed on NMP.

But the (5x1)x3 @ 60rpm session is anaerobic endurance. You're doing 15 sets of 60 reps (per leg).

Yes. higher force, anaerobic level, exercises will result in some muscle growth. Studies of weight lifting (people working out for personal fitness, not Olympic lifting) show that people who did set of 30-40 rather than <10 reps did build muscle, but their 1 rep max did not increase as much. If you want to be able to push out a higher max sprint, you need to be able to generate significantly more maximal force on pedals. This is the adaptation that you get from absolute max force workouts.

EDIT: From my personal experience, about 6-7 years ago I could hit just under 20W/Kg for 5s power. Without any weights/plyo I'm now down to about 17.5. I'm certainly an all-round much stronger rider now though.

Looking at other riders power profiles, every lap of yesterday's road race required a 700 Watt sprint for about 20 seconds just to stay with the bunch. I managed two of these. I do 20/40 sprints to 800 Watts on my commute, but there is still a big difference between these sprints and a race.

All I can say is Ouch!

This is somewhat of a do as I say not do as I do given what I just typed, but deadlifting and squatting is a really good thing for a cyclist to do for their general fitness. Obviously you don't want to be trying to bulk up like The Rock, but some load bearing is good for bone density and the closed-chain compound movements are good for muscle balance.

I don't do gym, but could do with a little load bearing, perhaps a small kettle ball. Just for bone mineral density

You could try some bodyweight plyometrics. When i was playing Ice Hockey i used to like jump lunges/squats and [url=

Russian Box[/url], occasionally using the tabata protocol

On my to-do list is to get a squat rack for the bike shed, but finding the time to do a decent block of weight training between the Cx season and the summer has proved a bit difficult, especially when I needed to make big gains in aerobic/muscle endurance to be in a position to even think about road racing this summer.

I've been doing the occasional Les Mills "Body Pump" classes with the missus at the local gym 😳 Quite fun and really feel it in the legs afterwards (it takes my upper body a week to recover haha). I prefer to be told what to do and as the missus is friends with the instructor I get picked on a lot 😆

Finally got to where I want on this mornings weigh in:
70kg
20.9 BMI
13.2% Fat (need to work on this...)
65.6% Water

My FTP is very realistic at the moment at 315W (4.5w/kg), I've been using it a lot to help with Zwift racing.

Feeling in good shape & looking forward to getting back out there once I sort out other things....

Feeling in good shape & looking forward to getting back out there once I sort out other things....

I'm not entirely sure why this issue exists, but feel free to dismiss as it's private. But if you're training, riding, etc, why not just ride in races, for £20 you may as well ?

Slightly unemployed at the moment 😆

Even though I've got enough savings to last me many years, last time I tried racing I couldn't get my head into it. I was thinking about the situation and interviews etc, once I've sorted an income I'll be back. 🙂

I may have to rethink this week now! Today was the first time in weeks that a workout compromised how I felt the following day- I felt hanging!!
I reckon I'll get enough Muscular Endurance work on saturday and Sunday to skip the planned intervals so tomorrow is now complete rest or 30mins Z1 and Friday just an hours Z1.

Then I'm excited about Saturday!

I found racing to take my mind off everything. And based on my year, I'd probably not be in a very good place without it. I brushed off two serious crashes without a moment's thought.

And math if you want fun and cheap, the Hounslow 10 tomorrow night is £3. It's £25 for the whole season. And you get a decent training ride to and from Chobham common.

I'm the opposite 😆

I can muster enough concentration for just spinning my legs as hard as possible (zwift) but turning, traffic, and being around other riders is a bit out of reach mentally at the moment.

Won't be long (hopefully) 😆

I love the fact that once the Comm says GO! there's nothing else to focus on for an hour! Just living right in the moment!

Wait until Mrs Nath-to-be pops out a sprog- you'll long for an hour to yourself without being pulled in ten different directions 😆

What with a few months of new-job nerves and wedding planning, I fear your racing is Zwift only for the foreseeable future!!! 😉

Lol!!!!!!

'Someone I know' has just claimed that not only is he the fastest rider in Richmond Park but that there's no chaingangs in the area that are worth going out with as he would just ride away from them* 😀

Any of you Londoners care to recommend him a chaingang that will pull his pants down and give him a sound thrashing??

*I may be paraphrasing a little for dramatic effect but not much 😆

That's not what I said 😆

What I did say is I can't remember the last time someone overtook me in Richmond park 🙄

Nath is always welcome on our Tuesday evening club rides. Will need to serve an apprenticeship before he's allowed into the (gulp) fast group. BTW the fast group like to see an NP of 330 Watts for 90 minutes, towed by Liam, who is currently the 11th fastest 10 rider of all time. I ride with the next group 😆

No-one left to come past when you're last.

😆 😉 😆

Hey who said it was you Nath 😆

You did say there were no group rides fast enough.....

I don't think I did CH 😯 haha.

Quite content with ploughing away on Zwift for the time being: https://www.zwiftpower.com/profile.php?id=8544067

Thanks for the invite TiRed!

Trophies trophies everywhere

https://www.zwiftpower.com/profile.php?id=2631412

Whilst the OP has a right to talk about whatever he wishes- don't come in here talking about your pretend racing Weeksy 😆

This thread is for people who actually race other human beings in the fresh air 😉 😀

[img] [/img]

But whilst on the subject of Zwift, my new team jersey arrived today. A little more aero than the other one 😀

Those shorts don't look very aero. HTH

I couldn't afford the new bibs 🙁

.This thread is for people who actually race other human beings in the fresh air

Must have been my imagination then my racing both a roadie event and multiple xc events this year.

Weeksy-
Yes- and we all enjoyed reading about it when it was in the correct thread 😀

Although now you have the road bike back, you may beat Nath back to racing 😉

CH I've got lots of fresh air coming into my garage thank you 😆

So Nath, are you coming to watch on Saturday? Or does even the sight of bike racing make you feel guilty for being unemployed?? 😆

haha. Not sure yet, I was hoping to!

May be doing the parkrun on Saturday morning, helping the missus get back into running 😐

Ah cool. Jesper, Johnny and I will be there- it'll be like old times 🙂

By helping, I hope you mean 'racing' 😆

Getting excited about tomorrow now!

Seeing as it's a bonus training race, I may cover the front for the first couple of laps and see if London Dynamo try the same tactics. Not saying I can make the bridge or maintain a high enough pace if I do but it will be fun trying!!
I would love to make a plan with Jesper to try something but I've watched enough of his Zwift streams to know that pacing isn't his forte 😆

That's ideal then, he goes off like a loony, you follow him for some laps then you solo TT to victory !

CH are you point or glory hunting tomorrow?

What time is the race?

Yeah there's no way that I can just jog with her as other people are overtaking, the pointless competitiveness fibres in me will kick in and I'll end up not being able to walk on Sunday lol

Nath- 15:30.
Neither really, the goal is an enjoyable race and have some fun. But also to stretch myself a bit.

I've been over thinking things and come to the conclusion that the only two options I have at the moment are a last lap sprint out or an early break with others that fools the bunch into thinking we've gone too early.

Weeksy- I don't have enough pace for that and neither does he. But working together at threshold, we could maintain 25mph I reckon....

Where you racing CH?

Ta!

At Hillingdon @mrblobby

If the legs aren't broken I might pop along. Entry on the day possible?

"Entries on the day - there is NO guarantee there will be entries on the day and therefore it is highly recommended that you sign up in advance. Advance registration for each event, that is not already full, will close at midday the Friday immediately before the event."

14 spare places at the mo so I reckon you'll be ok

https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/events/details/160239/BIG-Events---Central---Hillingdon--2-2017

Well the legs aren't filling me with confidence to match my outlook. Had a sluggish recovery ride earlier where my legs felt totally blocked.
I managed to work late and get everything done I wanted so at least I'm mentally free to enjoy myself 🙂

The anticipation is crazy though! I'm a little bit addicted I think 😀

Probably really good for them to have gone out to do a gentle spin. Good luck tomorrow, CH. 8)

So, it’s fair to say I was a little bit over excited this week!

Having talked a good game, I wasn’t sure I had the legs to match.
I like to arrive early and cooly execute my pre-race prep but I foolishly agreed to collect Jesper from Feltham. What with the M3 traffic clogging the M4, it was touch and go for a while and making up ground in the fast lane I missed jct 4!! So I had to go down the A4 which seemed to take forever.

Jesper and I made a plan. For the first two laps I was going to cover the front and try and join a break. If this failed, with 20minutes gone, we would rendezvous at the back of the bunch and figure out where best to launch an attack together. Sadly, we didn’t make a three to go plan as I was resigning myself to a sprint after that.
Anyway, panic averted, with a bit of streamlining of my routine, we still had numbers and transponders on with 20mins to warm up.

We set off. Covering the front, it was all a bit of a blur. I think everyone was thinking of the same thing and the pace was high. A few guys tried to get away but to my mind, they kept picking the wrong spot! The were attacking just after the hill and into the downhill, negating much of their kick.

I forgot to press start until lap 2 but by about lap 4, normalised power was 330w so a lot more frantic than last week! Of course, as soon as I drifted back through the bunch to recover, someone did break but he was solo so pretty much guaranteed to come back.

The next phase was a blur of moving forward and back. The bunch was worse than last week with probably 8-10 close shaves across the race. Jesper described me as a Fabian Cancellara calming influence in the bunch ( 😉 ) with my “Easy guys!” and “Steady now!” and “Hold your lines team!”
What it really needed of course was a YGA…….

With 27minutes gone, I found myself next to Jesper. “How you feeling?” I enquired. “Fine!” came the reply.
We agreed to spend a lap moving up and launch on the Start/Finish on the next pass.
As I chicaned my way through the bunch (TiRed is utterly correct of course- this is a so much more energy efficient way of moving up.) I knew Jesper wouldn’t be able to follow but hey, we made a plan- let’s see this thing through.

The bunch hit the wind and as usual, took this as a reason to spread across the road and nearly wipe each other out. A combination of the front easing off and the back drilling it not to get dropped meant every lap was a crash waiting to happen!

I found a gap down the left and kept moving up. One of the Condor guys was off the front by 20yards but in an accidental way, not an attack. As I passed the front rider of the bunch, he cut me off at the apex and we nearly came together. My fault, I saw a gap and didn’t call it but luckily we both held our nerve and it also served the purpose of slowing the bunch.

I knew Jesper wasn’t with me but went anyway. Sprinting hard, I was soon on the Condor guys wheel. He was just cruising along. As I hit his draft, I shouted “GOGOGO!” at him and he suddenly realised he had a gap! Anyway, we went but it was a totally bungled attempt and soon we had the front of the bunch with us. But nobody had the pace of the early laps so I kept the power on and spent the next two laps working with various folks and even if we didn’t get a gap, we at least made the bunch try a bit harder.

Playtime over, it was time to drift back and recover so I did, right to the back. Knowing how each lap panned out, I was able to casually take a drink whilst riding on the tops some 5-10y off the back knowing that it would all come screeching to a halt on the straight.

Sure enough, I drifted back on as the 5 lap to go banner appeared.
Right then, sit-rep. Breaks still trying hard but getting nowhere, it was time to rest up. I spent two more laps right on the back. Three to go- time to get in the zone.

Two to go and WTF!!!!!! Someone that looks like Jesper has launched a proper attack off the front!
WTF!!! - IT IS JESPER!!!
The bunch just let him go. He soon had a huge gap and my twin thoughts were a)Go Jesper!!!!! And b) Shhhhiiiiiitttttt! He’s gonna get points before me!!!

It was a cracking effort though and I wished him every success!! But of course, as I predicted, pacing is not his forte.
As we crossed the line on the last lap, he was totally spent and half the bunch nearly crashed into him. The pace ramped up to 28.5mph and I felt in control still. A little too far back but moving up.

We passed the clubhouse and I knew I was too far back. Any super-motivation faded and I settled for safely holding my place. But then!!!! I realised I was next to the Henley Rider now known as "Fighty McFight-face" from back in the day 😆
So I pressed on! And dropped him whilst picking up another 8 or 9 places.
Finished 25/46 but it was so much fun! I know a point is my goal and ultimately 12 of the buggers but to be honest, I’m racing! Properly racing. And I don’t think a single point is worth the trade-off for what I’m learning.

I think Tuesday can be business- see if being boring does get me anywhere…..

Well done, Crosshair, it's coming on!
I've been following the thread since page 1, watching everyone's progress.
Now I've marked the thread, I'll sit back and watch.
Good luck all.

[img] [/img]

So yeah, Sprinting on lap two is good right?? 😆

Well done, CH. You'll get there.

Nice one CH! Your racing is getting stronger and stronger each time. Points are imminent!!!

I was thinking of you all as I was printing out envelopes for our save the dates 😆

I did a race today too, I was only supposed to be there to help the missus get into running. But after 1km by her side I sprinted off lol: http://www.parkrun.org.uk/gunnersbury/results/latestresults/
(First one since Central Park in November 16 lol)

A friendly face on todays club run! (Not that the others aren't friendly mind you 😆 ) Sadly, less than 18hrs from my race, not much sleep and an early start to check livestock meant I didn't put on a good showing 😀 As in- I got dropped up pretty much all the hills 😀

277w normalised for 2h21 means it was pretty much like back to back Hillingdons for me 😮

A day of rest and carb loading now or else Thruxton could see me out the back of the bunch 😆

I feel your pain CH. I went out to do some threshold intervals yesterday and ended up doing another couple of hours blast afterwards. Did 275NP for 3:25. I was ruined. Mrs was not happy.

Best thing was when MrBlobby and I were doing a turn on the front. Just as I hit LTHR, MrB clicked up into Z3 😆

I need to see how Tuesday goes and structure my week from there. I reckon it will be rest or Z1 Wednesday, Tempo/Threshold intervals Thursday, Z1 Friday and then a Power and Anaerobic Endurance medley on Saturday.

Which sadly means I'll be hanging for next weeks Sunday ride too 😀

If I'm recovered on Thursday, I can swap the intervals around which means I may cling on a bit better.

Winner of the Bec RR yesterday did 329NP for 3 hours. I'm guessing he must be 10ks lighter than me (I'm 74). Nuts.

Winner of the Bec RR yesterday did 329NP for 3 hours. I'm guessing he must be 10ks lighter than me (I'm 74). Nuts.

As a previous winner of the Bec RR, I have no idea what that means. I would have said he rode his bike faster than anyone else 8)

You know what, I think you might be right. 😆 He's going pretty well this year. The Bec course probably suits him to a T.

NP = Normalised Power.

Grrr! Wish I had written this in MSWord the first time!
Try again….
So, Thruxton this evening. It was cracking weather and a great atmoshphere. The plan was to be lazy and sit in for the final 500m.
Prep went to plan and after a couple of warm ups, I was as ready as could be.
A guy on the line was like “Andrew?” and I said “Yes?” turns out it was his first race and he knew me from Jesper’s Strava picture of us that he had posted on Saturday! Anyway, I enjoyed being able to pass on some of TiRed’s advice and see him maintain contact with the bunch the entire distance.
I chilled at the back. When I say chilled, I mean 156bpm, 217w average (top of Z2), 22minutes below Active recovery type chilling!
The bunch is hilarious at Thruxton. They all follow an exaggerated racing line, clipping the Apex from a wide entry. Yet actually, you could ride pretty much flat out and hold the inside line and get around fine. This is discouraged by the fact that you will get chopped by everybody else.
So instead, I hung literally at the back and maintained contact by following the shortest route. I was able to roll back into the draft just after each Apex as they hustled each other into slowing down. It must have looked comical to the Comms in the following car.
I won’t quite say it was boring as ripping around a racetrack at Cat 4 industry spec 25mph is fun regardless but nothing happened. Some very poor break attempts were made but there were the most teams I have ever seen out so it didn’t take much to shut everything down.
Bell lap arrived and lots of people were very fresh. The pace ramped up to the usual 27mph and I was still quite far back having attempted to soft pedal up the final climb of the penultimate lap without investing too much.
So, I kind of ruined my chances by doing 420w for a minute downhill to move up. This was pretty much the end of my race. I arrived at the critical final hill in around 5-7th place and started pushing as hard as I could. Sadly, my top end was lacking- partly because of the previous minute but partly because I just hadn’t recovered enough from my weekend.
A big switcheroo occurred and 1-10th probably finished 25-35 and those with brains who saved it for the post-chicane finale made the sprint.
So, I rolled in around, well, I want to say 25th but 30th wouldn’t surprise me. I PB’d the final two sections so I had improved on my last race here but was nowhere near my potential.
The climb at the end of my road is a similar gradient and length to the Thruxton finish and I can do that at 550w at the end of a 30mile Tempo type ride so to only average 380 tonight shows there is more there- despite the easy race.
So- no excuses. I got the result I deserved in a strong field I think. The ingredients are coming together and when I finally get to my Taper week- I’m hoping it will click.

Nice write up CH, definitely got a feeling points are coming soon.

I went to the local APR training ride again tonight. Found myself in the unusual (for a 60kg climber type) situation of doing the bulk of the work for my group on a windy flat ride 😐

Fast group caught us with about 2 miles to go - sitting in was pretty easy, but 6 or so guys just wanted to sit on without rolling through to the front. Not much into jostling for position for a training ride, so just sat at the back. Final half mile or so was an uphill finish and the ones not going through predictably exploded and blocked the whole road.

Pretty sure i could have gone with the moves up front if i'd been in position, but like i say, not worth risk taking for position on a training ride.

Next time that route is used, may try to force a split earlier so less traffic at the end.

Really wish we had some climbs in the UK. Would love to get stuck into some racing if some 30-40 min climbs were included. Don't see me ever generating the raw power to be competitive on typical flat to rolling UK routes with dire road surfaces. 🙁

BCWT E123 race at Hillingdon for me. Can't race masters tomorrow, so chose to ride the smooth fast roller coaster. Hard. Group got away, some of us worked hard to try and bring them back. To no avail. I managed to remain top third for most of the race. Come last lap and it's hammertime. Legs said they'd done enough, so I rolled in at the back of the bunch. Did I say it was hard?

Then rode 11 laps to calibrate my powerpod properly and home.

CH for hills you want Redbridge. Aka Hog Hill. Youngsters go up the hill.

Big Events are at Redbridge this Saturday.... I need more training and more rest now so I'm going to skip racing and the group ride next weekend. See if I can turn up fresher on Tuesday.

Nath, Cat 3 only race at Hogs Hill- sounds perfect for your real life comeback!!!

Well done CH!

Richmond park on Sunday? 😆

Sounds tough TiRed!

I was contemplating this as my comeback: https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/events/details/160243/BIG-Events---Central---Hillingdon--3-2017