Any stats please

[Guest]

Just to satisfy my curiosity could somebody give idea what you do when you serious guys go training.

Most of you know I'm a recreational rider, but to give you some idea of what I want to know.

When I go for a ride, I consider 15 miles a trip down to the shops, 30 miles a nice ride and 45 miles plus an Journey .

I also cruise at about 15 - 20mph and going downhill try to get about 35+ (over forty+ and I run out of gears )

If I get an average of 15mph I'm happy.

I mention this because I very seldom get passed by other MBters (I'm not boasting honest) but when I stray onto the roads - sometimes a necessary evil ;D - You roadies either pass me in a flash or even when your cruising you pass me with such effortless ease it makes me want to buy a road bike.

So can anybody help me (not buy a road bike , that was a joke )

 

[Guest]

Lazarus, since none of the serious roadies have replied yet, let me have a say at this one even though I am just a recreational roadie.

The way I see it, most serious roadies have already developed the leg strength to spin bigger gears than us. They also have developed the endurance to maintain their speed.

With enough training, us rec riders will eventually be able to ride as fast as the serious dudes.......with enough training.

I'd like to hear more about how our more serious buddies here trained during their 1st few years into the sport.

 

[Guest]

Well lazarus cruising on the road bike is about 30kph and on most downhills i go about 60kph. on a 50k hard practice ride i average around 30kph. on a reasonably hard 110k ride i average around 28kph. though my area is quite hilly so its not high speed stuff ;D. currently im practicing a hilly strech of 14k of road like a TT. my top is 39.23 kph. with my mavic training wheels. im buggerd by the end. i consider 30-60k a training ride. 100k is a good training ride (4hrs +- 30min) and 200k a very good training ride . my top speed has been 87kph. (need more gears ;D)

 

[Guest]

Nicholas: Was that 87 kph done on the flats? That's fast

 

[Vo2]

Depends what I'm training for:

When I'm doing hills, distance does not matter. The hills I train on are about 5 kliks down the road from where I live, so that gives me the warmup before I arrive there. After hill training, the 5 kliks back give me a good warm down.

For base training, I ride on time rather than distance. Saturday and Sunday base rides will last me about 3 hours on average, although if I feel like it I'll ride longer. During this time I'll do between 60 and 80 kliks, riding on heart rate (remember, base training isn't hi intensity stuff).

Speed work is usually a 30k stretch of road, nice and fast with minimum interuption from traffic. Here I try and maintain high speeds (on average high in the 30's).

Apart from that, there is usually a race on every weekend, which is between 80 and 110 k on average.

This week I'm doing maintenance training before the Argus on Sunday. Easy rides of about 20k to maintain muscle memory.

 

[Guest]

Lazarus : I'm not a pro and my stuf is all KM/H. I've got 3 major races a year in Cape Town. (1) The Argus 109 km = (March) (2) Sanlam Burger 105 km (October)and a qualifier for the Argus and the Double Century (November) 216km.
I'm always train for the argus and then for the rest. This means my training (fix program) start begin December. I did a 1840 long slow riding in Dec. Heart rate between 60-80%. I'll do a 100-110km on a Sat and a group ride of +-150km on the Sunday.This is with the "Andrag" group. Normally this include 2 mountain passes(depends on the group = Hellshoogte, Franschoek, Sir Lowries, Du Toits Kloof.) During the week I cycle every morning and afternoon eccept Fridays (rest day). I did 2292 km in Jan where the intensity inceases. Do the longest or hardest funride of the weekend - cycle to the race and back if its in CT. If this is a Saturday, I'll do a 100 on the sunday - On my own - to make sure there is no pressure or speed to keep up with. I did 2094 km in Feb and most of the same. After the Argus ? Still cycle morning and afternoon but waiting for the winter league (This races is mostly 60km or a 1hour race around Kaylani race track). Will pick up on the long slow distances from Aug to be in shape for the Sanlam, middle Oct. My target is to do a 38km'h ave on a 100km race. But if its hilly I'm happy to do a 34km/h. Most training rides will be around 30 km/h. The only way you can get to do this is to spend time in the saddle. Long Distances (4-5hours on a Sunday). You'll be mentally tested to go more than the 4h and this is where you get the "kick" if you do 5 h rides. Your endurance will increase within the first 6 weeks and you will find that your strengh from this improve your time. This is without "special" interval or climbing training. Think about the improvement once you start doing that. The sky is the limit and the best of is that EVERYONE CAN DO IT. The hard part is the commitment. time? if the commitment is there, you will find the time. Forget about TV Sport (Rugby / Cricket) While the rest is watching this, I'm on the road.

 

[Guest]

Pothole

Wow[/siz]

I'm going back out on my bike.

On the subject of TV Sport I'm with you on this, despite the fact that I go to watch my local team every week, there's something about watching it on TV that makes me lose interest rapidly (maybe it's the lack of atmosphere).

As for Cricket......Bluuuuuuuch.

 

[Guest]

Have to agree with Pothole on his training. It is more or less the way I trained once..... ;D

I also did a lot of short fast TT's to build strength in the legs. It helped for my climbing as the TT I did had a short very steep hill on the way back.

Try interval training on your long rides. Find a sign post or something and challenge your group in a sprint for the sign. Do this throughout the ride. Lots of fun and usefull when race day comes and you end up sitting 20 meters off the back of your group.

Most of all make the ride fun......