The 5-6 hour ride: how hard?

postal_bag

What would you shoot for as an NP or AP on a 5-6 hr "base" ride? I know what I am comfortable with but based on last week's small group ride (cat 3-ish), that would have been way too much. I guess I should ask in terms of w/kg.

I would like to ride as steady as possible, but it's as hard to convince the non PM users that you are not attacking on the downhills, as it is to not get dropped by them on the climbs.

To me, it would seem best to choose a pace that you can hold for the duration, but still challenges you in the final hour.

Spunout

Zone 2. Do 6 1 minute 125% AC intervals in the last hour with full recovery if you must.

Roadie_scum

IF ~0.7 Doesn't matter that you're cat 3, IF is relative to your FTP. I don't think it's constructive to limit yourself to a narrow power band. At least not all the time. It's not how you race... some changes of pace can be (i) fun and (ii) beneficial.

postal_bag

The day after, I do a 4 hr group "race" with ~100 riders which has an IF of 0.75 - 0.8 and a VI of ~1.44, so that covers the one aspect.

With the small group (5 -8) it's hard to get everyone on the same page, pace-wise. Maybe I have a relatively high 6 hr MP.

doctorSpoc

how are you riding with the 5-8 group? how long are pulls? i find that if you get a good rotation going with guys doing ~10 sec pulls max then it usually will smooth things out. in a direction (wind condition) just establish a speed. as the speed gets established yell out... ok, lets keep it at35km for this stretch!. if anyone needs to take a turn, or turns off they can just hang back and miss out on a few turns. this is how you control your intensity. you know the deal by now... you can reduce your intensity by ~30% by sucking wheel... if the pace is too hot for what your goal is for the ride you can moderate intensity by sucking some wheel and taking turns off... you need to keep your eye on the ball and ride the ride you want to ride and don't get drawn into the pissing contest. if others are keen to ride harder than you want to that doesn't mean you need to.. let them knock themselves out and go to the front as you need to to keep your intensity at what you need it to be.. stay focused on your needs... be selfish...

with a small group like that if you are far from home waiting at the top of hills or after a series of hills is a good thing to do to keep the group together.

but i'd say that even in the small group mixing it up can be fun and beneficial too...