Cycling Forums - Cycling Training

Cooler Weather = Slower times?

skammer — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 02:20:43 GMT

Why does it seem that when the weather drops below 75F times on my rides seem to slow as well but effort doesn't necessarily decrease? I ride on a rail trail 99.9% of the time so it's packed limestone and such. I can only come up with a couple of reasons:

1. Air Density
2. Relative sogginess of trail
3. I take longer to fully warm

Heart Rate Or Power

sub7bikes.co.uk — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 17:47:20 GMT

Hi Guys,
Could anyone share their experiences with training to heart rate zones or power levels, I myself have always used my own heart rate zones & based my training around this, but am I missing out?

Cycling for cross-training

ex_rower — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 05:29:33 GMT

I appreciate that the vast majority of the members of this forum are cycling purists, and I don't mean to offend anyone when I say that I am planning on using cycling for cross-training.... I love riding but at the end of the day I do not want to become a Tour de France champion or anything else.... frankly I don't think I have the right build for it anyway (far too broad).

However, as a rower I am looking at moving into the lightweight category (as, at 6 foot, I am too short in reality to do well as a heavy) and need to find a way to slim down, lean up, and improve my aerobic power. And be a competitive young guy, of course I want to do it as quickly as possible.

Whilst a lot of people have said to me "run, run, run" I've got a nice bike sitting around that i bought 2 years ago, and that really needs some use now that it's summer. And I feel as though a 3-4 hour bike ride will be much more effective than a 40-60 minute run (please correct me if I'm wrong here?).

The point of this post though, is that I don't actually know how to ride for fitness. I've used it for warming up for boat races before, and I've raced a few triathlons... but whenever I go out for a training ride, I cruise on about 28km/h and it's not like running where I'm about of breath.... I can talk fine....

So as an individual who already posseses decent aerobic power and fitness (although admittedly this winter I did take off serious training so I could focus on my final year of school, with just normal maintenance training) what should I be doing on the bike? Is interval training a cycling thing? and are the intervals much longer than with running?

Just a basic guide as to what I could be doing if I was riding 5 days a week would be great... the other thing is I think just sitting on my bike for so long 5 times a week just doing LSD would drive me mad, as I have a real issue with listening to music on the bike.

many thanks,
Francis

Help please

Sam123 — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 22:47:54 GMT

Hello, I need help on some stuff.

I'm 16 and Male.

I'm a Road Cyclist and i suffer from Back Pain and Flexibility in the back (I guess)
As some of you may know in my other topics.

Im just wondering if people can give me adive on every single stretch for cycling.

Can you set it out in this layout. You can also provide links but uploading your pictures and your text would be great. So I can understand better :)

Before Cycling:

After Cycling (The cool down)

Ok the Home workouts no machines.

What are all the body workouts you can do to make A:

Stronger Back (Lower):

Abs:

Also a question how do you know if you have high blood pressure?

Another question my hamstrings, i have 1 that i cant reach as much as the other my right hamstring i can reach my toes but on my left i can't i can reach just before my ankle. How would i stretch it so i can stretch both legs at the same.

fast spin vs bigger gear

leanman — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 21:24:34 GMT

a question, and i'll try to explain myself correctly..
if riding at a hard tempo at say100+ rpm's, would it be eazier to train to spin at say 110 rpm's, or would it be eazier to spin at 90 rpm's but using a slightly harder gear? my way of thinking is that all of us are different and we all handle stress a different way.maybe for a guy thats phisically bigger, he will have an easier time adapting to the training way of using a bigger gear, where the slightly thinner guy has stronger lungs and can spin more, putting a bit less stress on his legs, but more on his heart/lungs. does this make sense?
or do you need to do both? train in a bigger gear at times.
i read two different stories on chris charmichaels muscle tension intervals. put it in the 53x11 and spin at 60 rpm's holding great form, recruiting as many muscle fibers as possible. do a few of these for 10 minutes. i also read where a well known dr. said all this kind of training does is give you tired legs..
so whats everyones opinions on getting from point a to point b the most economical way? learn to spin faster, using more lungs/heart, ot learn to ride a bigger gear putting more stress on the legs?
earlier this summer we were in a 3 man pace line doing a good hour tempo training ride,and the other two were in their say 53x17. i was in my 42x16 or so, and one guy commented saying its great i can spin that fast relaxed and keep up with them, and he even said to look out if i ever shifted it into the big ring.
thing is, if i do shift it in a bigger gear, will my legs give out sooner than if i had stayed in the smaller gear..
so i just want opinions on which way is the better way to train to be good at spinning and bigger gear riding?
thanks again

thanks

disappointed outing

stevechow — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 09:40:38 GMT

hi, i recently joined a run and cycle competition. run 11km cycle 64km and run 10km. i had many crams on the bike and finished poorly overall despite much practise for cycling. i would like to know what happen and how to prevent and what to do next time.

chronology
prior to competition day. i stop cycling for at least 1 week. i only do running minus 5 days race day. i run 6-7km and at a medium pace.

on the race day, i started running. started off and finished in my plan. i had conserve much energy for cycling. i had one powerbar before i climb on the bike. i cycled quite fast only for the 1st 1km. then at a moderate/slow speed for another 5km. after that i had my first cramp which i ignored. i drink some water. i slowed down for at least 3km. then i find my legs recover and i increased my speed in next 3km. i slowed down for at least 5-10 minutes. i increased back my speed and i am not able to push to my normal practise. i cycled at 20-22kph. i had another cramp and slowed down 18kph or less. i took very much water. i just keep on cycling in a slow pace. i sipped little water every few km. i had a 1 or 2 more cramps. i cycled very slow until i finished. my cyclometer recorded 20.8kph average.

i had 1 banana and some isotonic 50ml. i continued with running at a very slow pace. i stopped running and walked normal pace to the finish line.

Cao,
Upset and want to continue

Young Newbie Cyclist - Advice Please

beetz15s — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 02:41:52 GMT

I just bought this

Marin Fairfax 2009 - Stock
Marin Fairfax '09 | BicycleBuys.com

I ride 12 miles everyday back and forth to work and ride at nights and weekend.
70 miles a week total. Bike is very smooth so far. Very happy

Im young 20 years 150 lbs 6'2 and have been cycling for about 3 months now. I have high metabolism eat a lot of food and junk mixed in there as well and I don't watch calories.

Question
How much training and dedication will i need to become mid range strong cyclist and perhaps eventually get into racing? and would you recommend changing handle bar style and bike in future?

Stationary Cycling through Google Street View

steve — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 01:36:03 GMT

This guy has integrated google street view with with his indoor training. His solution was to build a VR rig so that he could ride around inside google street view. He has rigged a simple sensor to his wheel to determine his speed and he�s using a vuzix VR 920 as a display and orientation sensor.

YouTube- Stationary Cycling through Google Street View

What is the purpose of the Tour de France Time Trials?

John Harlin — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:33:10 GMT

What is the purpose of the Tour de France time trials? There are usually 3 very short time trials of 30 to 40 minutes included in that 21 day race. Why would they put such short time trials in the middle of a race that usually includes 6 hours per day of cycling?

Was the time trial included as some kind of training effect to keep riders from getting stale from the slower rpms of the longer races or was there some other training reason?

How many days off after a big ride?

lanierb — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 16:39:17 GMT

On Sunday I did about 375 TSS on a very hilly ride at high intensity. I think in the past I would normally have taken two days off after such a ride, but I'm curious what others think.

Should I take another day off or jump on the trainer tonight? My CTL is running about 70-75 right now.

Help with training

egati — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 19:02:20 GMT

I crashed 2 weeks ago. Today I ride for first time since then. This morning I ride ~30km for 1 hours on a flat terrain but I was feeling myself really bad. I think tommorow to ride 40-50km. Can you tell me how to train to be in a normal shape as soon as possible. :eek::eek:

Show your training spots...

gman0482 — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 16:19:18 GMT

I would prefer out on the road, but because it's pitch black at 4:30 now, plus the weather is tumbling down, I just stay inside. This will be my sanctuary for the next couple of months.

Attached Thumbnails

Friel LT Test

brady01 — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 03:02:31 GMT

I was looking for some input regarding the fitness test that Friel recommends in his books for those of you that subscribe to his books/training. In that past I had done the 30 minute LT test, recording the last 20 minutes of HR at the end of each period. However, now that I do primarily off-road endurance events, (my shortest race is 3 hours) I was thinking my end-of recovery-week test should be a little more specific to my type of racing. Maybe a 3-hour 'time trial'? Am I right in this or should I just continue with 30 minute LT tests every 4 weeks? Any input is appreciated...

Training runs

Jaypeake — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 16:56:11 GMT

Anyone know of any group training rides around Leicester area?

small group rides

leanman — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 01:18:28 GMT

after reading replies from my few previous posts, i thing i am getting a bit fitter doing the prescribed 20 minute very hard tempo on my trainer once a week.
i still cant pull thru going into the wind on my sunday hard ride, but i can hold wheels no matter how fast we go. 35 mph at some points today, and 23mph into a strong head wind.. i can climb with my 2 young fast training partners , but still lack the strength to pull thru in a cross wind , or a head wind. i guess the few guys i ride with are just better than me and they are 15 years younger, but that aint no excuse. i plan on training my tail off so i'll be able to pull thru in the wind. we had a lot of cross wind today and i stayed on the full 3.25 hours. felt good on the hills, and felt good when the hammer was dropped in a few tail wind sections..
i guess the 20 minute very hard tempo ride i do on my trainer is helping me. i will keep that up on wednesdays. and my hard long sunday ride will always be tough, i look forward to this ride..
2 days a week hard this time of year isnt too much i dont think.
i have 4 full months to build my strength back up for the 2010 season.
it'll be here before i know it.
any other pointers?increase the 20 minute hard trainer ride? or make it longer? build up to 2 of them? my hr on these is 88-90% max..
like i said i'll be racing age 55 so i'm doing all i can to just hang in on these cat 1-2 races. the masters races are only 10-11-12 guys so i rather go all out and suffer like a dog for 3 hours instead of riding 1.5 hours at a average pace..90% of the time i am in the lead group with 200 meters to go then the sprinters blow me away.i'm happy to finish a 65 mile race and be in there 64.9 milesbefore the sprint..
any more training tips will be appreciated. i do plan on upping my sunday ride 30 minutes every 2 weeks. i do 3:15 hours now so in 2 weeks i'll be at 3:45, then get up to 4:15 for my longest hard sunday training ride.
thanks alot