B
Bleve
Guest
There's lots of ways to taper and carboload, and most carbo loading
protocols are dated, complex and time consuming, but will get trotted
out all the same
Here's what I recommend to my riders (along with a reference to the
study that it's based on):
http://www.aboc.com.au/perl/tips.pl?p=carboload
Also, a taper for a major event starts generally about 1-2 weeks out
from the event. If you accept that physiological adaptations take
10-14 days to occur, then by now, you cannot get fitter for the Alpine
physically, but you can arrive at it in a well rested, but not
de-trained, state. The art of a taper is balancing the two. Too much
rest, and you detrain, too much work, and you're not ideally rested and
fresh. For everyone, this varies according to base fitness and
individual physiology. There's no one hard and fast "right" taper for
everyone. Eg a very fit racing cyclist may treat a 500km week as a
taper, while a recreational tootler may be overdoing it at 300km. If
you can't do 300km in a week, the 200km Alpine will be a .. challenge
I'd suggest from now in to the Alpine, that anyone wishing to taper do
a few moderate hill efforts every 2-3 days, eg a pair of E2 or E3 (E2
for recreational riders who don't do much high intensity stuff) rides
up the 1:20, or a lap of Mt Dandenong and between, do some easy long
rides of 2-3 hours maximum duration. Next week, again, a couple of E2's
or E3's (high cadence, 85rpm+) up the 1:20 early in the week, and
shorter rides as the week draws to a close. No strength work for 3-4
days before the big ride (it usually takes many days to recover fully
from a strength effort!). Easy rides with some short, higher intensity
but low workload rides (high cadence, low resistance stuff, gets you
breathing hard but doesn't break your legs). JayWoo's big weekend two
weeks prior to the Alpine is a great example of a last "big" effort and
appropriate easing back to be as best prepared as possible.
protocols are dated, complex and time consuming, but will get trotted
out all the same
Here's what I recommend to my riders (along with a reference to the
study that it's based on):
http://www.aboc.com.au/perl/tips.pl?p=carboload
Also, a taper for a major event starts generally about 1-2 weeks out
from the event. If you accept that physiological adaptations take
10-14 days to occur, then by now, you cannot get fitter for the Alpine
physically, but you can arrive at it in a well rested, but not
de-trained, state. The art of a taper is balancing the two. Too much
rest, and you detrain, too much work, and you're not ideally rested and
fresh. For everyone, this varies according to base fitness and
individual physiology. There's no one hard and fast "right" taper for
everyone. Eg a very fit racing cyclist may treat a 500km week as a
taper, while a recreational tootler may be overdoing it at 300km. If
you can't do 300km in a week, the 200km Alpine will be a .. challenge
I'd suggest from now in to the Alpine, that anyone wishing to taper do
a few moderate hill efforts every 2-3 days, eg a pair of E2 or E3 (E2
for recreational riders who don't do much high intensity stuff) rides
up the 1:20, or a lap of Mt Dandenong and between, do some easy long
rides of 2-3 hours maximum duration. Next week, again, a couple of E2's
or E3's (high cadence, 85rpm+) up the 1:20 early in the week, and
shorter rides as the week draws to a close. No strength work for 3-4
days before the big ride (it usually takes many days to recover fully
from a strength effort!). Easy rides with some short, higher intensity
but low workload rides (high cadence, low resistance stuff, gets you
breathing hard but doesn't break your legs). JayWoo's big weekend two
weeks prior to the Alpine is a great example of a last "big" effort and
appropriate easing back to be as best prepared as possible.
