Cycling Fitness / Training Advice

I look forward to seeing your dot set off like a rocket on your next ultra before you blow up two hours in and empty an Intermarche.

I’m doing it because I built an engine for being good on slightly longer climbs that don’t feature in road races and I want a decent 1-3 min power.

I think I’m going to do the CX specialty plan.

What sort of races are these?

Yeah, I'm gonna crush the Neutral rollout.

@GoatandTricycle BC road races, mostly in the north. I had (not any more because I had a full year off training) good 10-30 min power from when I lived overseas and did lots of long climbs.

But I found I was getting my arse handed to me when I was asked to repeat 1-2 min efforts in road races.

So I’m trying to work on my weaknesses in anticipation of racing returning next year. I’ll be able to do LVRC races then too. I don’t think they’ll be any easier but at least I won’t be racing teenagers who are putting in 20-25 hours training a week.

Trying to figure out what racing I can do that’s not crit or TT.
Im not a member of a club so all feels a bit secretive.

I’m surprised to see the H3 take this long to hit target power, as all reviews mark this machine as being one of the best in ERG.

What gear are you running for these efforts? My Neo reacts very differently when in the small ring vs big ring. The extra inertia of the (virtual) fly wheel when in the big means the Neo takes longer to settle at target watts. In the small ring it reacts much more quickly.

Are you in London. There’s loads of road racing around there.

Have a look at the SERRL website. Crits aren’t a terrible way to build form for them but I’ve found travelling an hour only to get chopped on to the grass is less than ideal.

I should point out I’ve probably also chopped my fair share of people on to the grass during crit s.

This is small ring. I’ve changed the smoothing to see how that affects it and I’ll get in touch with the Trainerroad guys if that doesn’t work.

Edit - I bought it because DC Rainmaker said it was the best for Trainerroad.

I feel like I'm a way off that, even at just 105%. But will keep on plugging away until decent weather and I can do outdoor training as @skinny suggests. Same PM in and outside this year which is an important improvement.

Answering your question, definitely that my breathing gets so quick and HR elevates that I have to sit up, my legs and posture all feel ok.

Yeah in London. Thanks I’ll check that site.
I’ve heard crits are very crashy...?
I do the majority of childcare and I can’t really afford to break arm/ collarbone.

Road races seem to have fewer crashes but I managed this a few years back and I’ve seen plenty of spills, including a few caused by potholes.

It’s not hugely safe if I’m being 100% honest.

Edit - I don’t want to put anyone off the sport because it’s great fun but crashes will happen.

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Other good ways to test yourself away from crits and purely flat TTs are sporting course TTs and hill climbs.

North Road Hardriders is probably the biggest Spoco down south.

spoco?

It’s a shortening of SPOrting COurse. They tend to be quite hilly/rolling.

It’s sporting because it doesn’t allow the aero nonces who’ve spent £3k on wind tunnel testing win off 220w NP.

I did the NRHR, Hainault Hilly and the Lea Valley E1/25 in spring last year - loads of fun. All hilly 25ish milers

Yeah I'm up for some of these. Hoping we can get some team stuff going maybe?
I'll try not be too much of a burden haha

Go to HHV or LV and do track training and track. I think it's the safest and possibly best.

Crits and road are full of people who cannot bike handle and are a liability. Also as good as the volunteers are, racing on open roads is mad - in hindsight.

There’s some TTs that have a 2up road bike prize. I’m not sure if you can filter on the CTT website. It’s stuck about 40 years in the past.

It has a 'ttt' filter option

Lol that’s their new site introduced a couple of years ago and seems to have cost a fortune!

It sounds like your getting there then and if your legs and posture feel ok (hips not feeling pinched and belly/chest breathing not being restricted by your position) its probably just more time to adapt and the motivation to hang in there. You say even at just 105% but staring at a wall for 40 mins at that intensity is pretty grim. I'm up to 5x10 at 100-105% later this week and I'll be very pleased if i can get through it without sitting up. Normally about a month before actual racing starts i get a mate to go a minute up the road on a 5 mile stretch of rolling A road and i really get after him each lap takes around 11 mins x4 laps and during that i never for a second think about sitting up and always end up squeezing a few extra watts out. Only on very rare occasions when I'm feeling really on it would i be able to do that on the watt bike with only a box of numbers to look at to pass the time but as soon as its competitive i nail it every time.

I’m sad you don’t have to enter by posting a cheque any more.

You have very understanding mates! Sounds like an awesome drill though. Can't wait for better weather, I usually just go for a long strava KOM nearby that's been taken by a group ride and see if I can take it solo.

Did 5 x 10 this morning at 102-103%, very little time in position but reduced rest interval to 1-2 mins rather than usual 5 mins. Last few my legs were tired but mentally actually a lot easier as each rest interval comes to an end you just think "thank fuck this is going to be over sooner than usual".

Your local kom is a good idea for that extra motivation if you can't get a live target. We do a 5-7k threshold run of that bike so my mate gets a chance to return the favour/kickin. The session has been particularly good for me as I'm only putting out 30w more than him but i always catch him. I am smaller and lighter than him but basic aero maths = 20-30w less drag from my position and kit choices i reckon. I did the same session as you today 5x10 but with 5 min spinning inbetween and for rep 3&4 i ended up alternating tt and base bars but for the last 10 mins i got myself psyched up and held tt position throughout. Obviously your body has to adapt but a lot of it is clearly psychological. I'm definitely not one of those special people that can bury themselves like that regularly without some sort of other motivation/distraction to get me through it.