Why winter train so much?

[swampy1970]

Well....season was long and tough. Due to having a small squad I was down for every race the team rode, and mentally that got pretty tough....especially as in Dutch Classics only about 30-40% of starters make it to the finish. Easy to get into a vicious circle of not finishing race - not getting into a race rhythm - training too much - not finishing race etc etc

I noticed my biggest weakness is riding smoothly and confidently in the pack. With the crosswinds in this part of the world, and the numerous crashes, being near the back is suicide. Unlike the pros, there is no taking it easy after a big pile up. The fallen riders and those stuck behind them are usually dropped for good. Rival team cars won't let you draft behind them!

I had great legs for a few weeks in May / june, then should have taken a rest before a week long stage race in July. Instead I kept plugging away, and in the Tour de Province de Luxembourg I managed to get myself eliminated on stage 1 of 4. That really hurt my motivation, but I was just feeling flat, tired and ****** off. Plus I was sh*t scared descending, as that was totally new to me. Even on a bad day I am an above average climber, but it's rare to see a rider gaining places on the way up the hill, and then getting dropped on the way down!

During the high summer I got into the habit of riding 3 hrs in the afternoon and then going straight to an evening training race, so ending up with 5+ hrs on the bike including 70km racing. Doing this mon, tues, weds every week led to me getting pretty overtrained, very thin and mentally tired.

I did take a rest, and then rebuild with eye on a crit in Amsterdam near to my house. I decided to write the last couple of classics off completely, just turn up to get dropped, but was busy with crit specific intervals, and training on the actual circuit. This paid off and I managed 12th place on the day....which considering I had only managed to finish 1 crit previously was pretty cool. Mother coming over from the UK to watch was good for the motivation. After that I ended my season (mid sept) and took a month off for drinking beer and romancing Dutch ladies ;-) Only exercise I did was one run (big mistake - engine much more in form than the running muscles) and some crunches.

Since November 1st I have been riding 3-4 hrs 4-5 times a week, averaging 28-31 km/h. Can be pretty miserable at times with the **** weather. I have also been riding a few times up the only hill in the North of Holland at 45rpm on the 53x16 to build some power and muscle.

Sometimes I wonder if I will ride elite level next year to be honest. It is a big effort, and I am turning 30 next spring. However, it is just so awesome to be out riding so much, and the thought of losing this level of fitness terrifies me. I think I am going to gove my all for one more year, especially as the team is looking a lot stronger and has a varied programme. We have 2 Dutch Olympic track riders joining us for a road season, and have quite a few races outside of Holland. Once a month in Belgium at a minimum, and in Belgium I usually ride well. Tour of Hungary would be awesome if I made the team.

As far as FTP is concerned - Now i work part time and have realised that you can train outdoors in any weather if you wear enough - I don't ride the KK anymore, so I have no idea of any imrpovement. I would expect so though, as there is easily another 12,000km in the legs since the last time I tested, plus my first season racing in the elite amateurs. According to the data online, at the level I am at you would expect to need at least 4 w/kg FTP to hang in the bunch.

Next year I want to train smarter, ride nearer the front, ride less races but prepare specifically for them and be totally motivated on the day. More Belgium, less Friesland would be nice.

Also want to ride the UK National Champs. Get on some photos with Cavendish and Millar on my wheel at the start and then hang on as long as I can.

Sounds like a hard graft but props to you for giving it a damned good go! Hopefully an extra seasons worth of knowledge and experience will pay off with a good winters worth of training leading to more fun next year. Good luck!

Belgium... each time I went there I was left with the overriding impression that the entire country smelled like brussel sprouts - and I though the smell of cow sh1t around the Trough of Bowland was bad.

 

[swampy1970]

Thanks swampy and Steve for keeping me rational.
It was my post ride frustration going public

Got a cold? Chill and relax...

Just to really put things in perspective, as you may have gathered I started cycling again a few years ago after over a decade off the bike where I raced for ~10 years. With less than 3 months of psuedotraining ( messing around on the trainer and I think I climbed a few small hills no bigger than a few hundred feet) and being oh, about 60lbs heavier, I dragged my sorry rotting carcass around the first four climbs of the Deathride (12,000ft of climbing mostly over 7,000ft in altitude) and had it not have been for a 30 minute forced delay on the last descent of Ebbetts pass due to the helicopter needing to land and whisk someone off the hosipital PDQ, then I would have got to the cut off at the start of the final climb earlier than I did and maybe done all 5 (I got there at 4.05pm and the cut off was 4.00pm). I think I may have keeled over half way up that climb though....

So - 10 years off, 60 lbs more (I lost leg muscle so count 65+lb of extra fat) and 4 big mountains... you lose hardly anything over a period of a few weeks. That said, I don't think I've ever seen 'weird stuff' like I was seeing up the second climb of Monitor Pass - the side of the road was travelling faster than the road that I was staring at like a zombie...

The next time you're off the bike with a cold, flu or even something worse - just do whatever you need to do to get well and to the point where you're able to get on the bike, healthy. The little bit of top end that you lose is small change in comparison to thinking that it's all going down the pan and ending up turning that cold into a pretty bad chest infection that needs a month of the bike with some killer meds. Use that time off the bike to do other stuff or even just review what you've been doing.

Sometimes that few nights of staring at the numbers will shine the lightbulb of enlightenment on a few things.

 

[Felt_Rider]

Got a cold? Chill and relax...


The next time you're off the bike with a cold, flu or even something worse - just do whatever you need to do to get well and to the point where you're able to get on the bike, healthy. The little bit of top end that you lose is small change in comparison to thinking that it's all going down the pan and ending up turning that cold into a pretty bad chest infection that needs a month of the bike with some killer meds. Use that time off the bike to do other stuff or even just review what you've been doing.

I had a sinus infection that kept me off the bike for a short period, but the frustration was based on the first ride back after healing. I knew it was potentially going to be bad, but what I should have done is a solo ride instead of riding with my gang. I did well for the first half of the ride and did a good number of long pulls because I was the ride leader for the day and the only one that knew the directions.

The second half two other guys took over and really upped the pace more than I could handle for a comeback ride. I should have split off from them and followed my route back to the cars. If I hadn't had the time off to heal I could have held on the pack better. I wasn't the only one to fall off the small group. Two other guys had trouble keeping the pace. Twice I went back and pulled one of the guys back up to the group, but it just took too much out of me and the last few miles I struggled big time. I don't blame the guys for upping the pace because of the freezing cold air and we all wanted to get it done.

I am starting to slowly ramp up my effort again on the trainer with staying in the upper L2 and lower L3 range.

 

[BullGod]

Got a cold? Chill and relax...


"The next time you're off the bike with a cold, flu or even something worse - just do whatever you need to do to get well and to the point where you're able to get on the bike, healthy. The little bit of top end that you lose is small change in comparison to thinking that it's all going down the pan and ending up turning that cold into a pretty bad chest infection that needs a month of the bike with some killer meds"

This is real smart advice. Next time anyone gets sick, read this paragraph and then go to the couch and watch a movie.

It's the same with riding in dangerous conditions. Last week there was ice all over the place here. I went out with a teammate and I wasn't happy with how safe it was. My teammate is young, keen and obsessed with training volume. I went down on some ice, bashed my hip and shoulder....luckily managed not to bang the head (no helmet - not smart). I said "sod this" and went home - the reason being that missing one day because of ice, is not as bad as missing a month with a broken collarbone, or 3 months with a broken hip.

Younger teammate looked at me like I was mad, and went on for 4 hours. I expected him to end up in hospital but he was lucky.

 

[grahamspringett]

Got a cold? Chill and relax...

A mate of mine recommended olive leaf extract to help ward off colds. He works as a school photographer and so is in plenty of contact with bugs and nasties courtesy of little kids, but he rarely gets ill.

I was getting a lot of colds thanks to my kids so I gave the stuff a go. It tastes pretty foul but does seem to work. I have had a couple of 'attacks' where I could feel a cold coming, but then nothing happens!

I'm not in any way connected with anybody who sells the stuff, but I did a bit of (of course totally reliable) internet research and it seems to be an acknowledged immune system booster.

Seems to work for me.

 

[Flyer]

You miscontrued my message. I mentioned cat 4s bc that is likely the typical user on this forum. I'm actually a 2, and quite happy with my success on the bike. I actually stopped pursuing road racing as a goal 3 years ago. I'm more into having fun on the bike while still being 95% as fast with MUCH less painful training.

There are many pros who think like me though. Of course they probably arn't the top ones either, but still.

As far as year to year improvement. I still don't think it's neccessary to put a lot of emphasis on winter training. In season training is sooo much more important. Once you reach a level, if is much easier to get back to that level after a long rest period, the next time you build up. As long as you keep riding with some intensity, you won't deteriate like many fear.

That's great if there are guys here who have goals of being an elite amatuer or higher, but I think the majority are more interested in cat 3/4 racing or club riding. At these levels, I don't believe it's neccessary to put soo much effort into winter training. You run the likelyhood of burning out before the season gets in swing. That's all I'm trying to say.

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