Climbing has got worse

[limerickman]

Went out today for a spin - third spin this week.

I took the "circle of death" route which involves a lot of uphill drags and hills.
The climbs are steep but short.
8% to 10% mostly lasting half a kilometre.

Basically my climbing has got to ****!

Where previously I used 40x17 or 40x19, I'm reduced to using 30x21 or 30x23.
I kid you not.
It's like every bit of climbing that I've ever had in my legs have deserted me.

Has this happened to anyone else?

yes, I am getting old but this year I feel like any sort of base fitness/climbing ability has evaporated completely.

I'll get out again tomorrow and cover the same route but I'm not hopeful.

 

[davereo]

Went out today for a spin - third spin this week.

I took the "circle of death" route which involves a lot of uphill drags and hills.
The climbs are steep but short.
8% to 10% mostly lasting half a kilometre.

Basically my climbing has got to ****!

Where previously I used 40x17 or 40x19, I'm reduced to using 30x21 or 30x23.
I kid you not.
It's like every bit of climbing that I've ever had in my legs have deserted me.

Has this happened to anyone else?

yes, I am getting old but this year I feel like any sort of base fitness/climbing ability has evaporated completely.

I'll get out again tomorrow and cover the same route but I'm not hopeful.

Limerickman location at the bar
Loved to ride his bike quite far
The circle of death
Beat out his breath
Tomorrow try again before the bar

 

[limerickman]

Limerickman location at the bar
Loved to ride his bike quite far
The circle of death
Beat out his breath
Tomorrow try again before the bar

Touche!

 

[wooliferkins]

Are you over training? Rest is as key an element in training as anything else. When I bought my first heartrate monitor I found I'd been over training for years this relatively cheap bit of kit has helped in my training and a structured training plan including rest and exercise other than the bike was a real eye opener.

 

[limerickman]

Are you over training? Rest is as key an element in training as anything else. When I bought my first heartrate monitor I found I'd been over training for years this relatively cheap bit of kit has helped in my training and a structured training plan including rest and exercise other than the bike was a real eye opener.

Wool,

Thanks for the suggestion.

Yeah, I'm Mr Old School in that I just go out and pedal away.
Nothing scientific about my training regimes.
I use the old school version of rest/train/rest.
can't say I've been over doing it this year though which is the real worry because I should have fresh legs.

My former racing buddy has gone the heart monitor route and has extolled the virtues of better training to me.

Looks like I need to go down the scientific route.

 

[Chapeau!]

can't say I've been over doing it this year though which is the real worry because I should have fresh legs.

Maybe there a little too fresh.

 

[swampy1970]

So this just happened recently? One month you were riding fine and a month or so later everything was shot to sh1t or are we talking a longer period?

 

[daveryanwyoming]

.... I'm Mr Old School in that I just go out and pedal away. Nothing scientific about my training regimes.....

Just taking the thousand foot view and some guesses about how things might have changed since your pro racing days....

When you can and do ride a lot of miles on a regular basis and do a lot of racing you can afford to 'just go out and pedal' as enough time on the bike and enough time in races and you're gonna hit the key systems and get a lot of time training each key system. Drop the mileage or the regularity and it pays to structure things a bit more to make sure you're hitting the right systems and doing enough sustained work for each system.

Or paraphrasing something posted on the Google Wattage lists a while back:

- Train a lot and you've got to do a fair amount of it easy because high volume at high intensity means bad things happen.

- Train less and you'd better do a fair amount of it fairly hard because low volume at low intensity means nothing happens.

I don't know if that applies to your available training and recovery time and what you're actually doing on the bike these days vs. what you did when you raced as a pro but if you can't manage big hours (and recover from them) then it pays to structure things and make sure you get a lot of quality when you ride. The discussions on SST, FTP, Lydiard and such on these boards sum it up nicely for the athlete that can't ride all day every day.

Some have offered 12 to 14 hours per week as a swag at the breakpoint between low volume (and need for more focused intensity) vs. high volume (just go out and ride and race). It's probably more complicated than that and depends in part on your goals and approach to training but if you're much above or below that rough breakpoint it may suggest which training approach might work best.

FWIW, it doesn't have to be all that scientific nor does it require a HRM, PM or other toys(though they can help by telling you how well you stayed on plan and give you regular feedback to track improvements), it just requires a more focused approach to riding where you intentionally push yourself for sustained efforts of appropriate durations at least a couple times a week regardless of what methods you use to pace those efforts.

Good luck,
-Dave