training Archives - Page 4 of 10

Cycling in Sicily

January 6, 2016 by tejvan

After a quiet November and December, I went to Sicily, with training bike.

The weather was excellent 10-18 degrees, mostly sunny – only rain one day. After the persistent drizzle of England in the past few weeks, it was welcome relief. The first day, I had to panic buy suncream and sunglasses, you get out of the habit to think about sunglasses – cycling in the UK mid-winter.

I stayed near a town called Sciacca, the other side of the island to Palermo. The hotel waiter proudly told me he had served Marco Pantani and Miguel Indurain when the Giro passed through here one year. The island is very hilly. If you stay off the main roads, the terrain is constantly up and down. The main roads are more horizontal because of bridges over the innumerable dips. The good news is that the climbs are well engineered, with average gradients of 5% making it all quite palatable. From Sciacca to Caltebellotta there is a 15km climb – which goes from sea level to 930m. It averages 5% and is a great climb to both go up and then come back down.

Muscular tiredness

December 8, 2015 by tejvan

Since end of racing season, my training has been stop start, but mostly stop. I wouldn’t say it is an injury, but a feeling of tiredness in right leg. Aching muscles. It’s perhaps no co-incidence it occurred at the end of a relatively long season.

Because of the warm weather, I’d like to get some good training in, but I’ve had to take it fairly steady and last week did nothing on bike.

I went to physiotherapist who identified some weakness in various muscles so I will work on that and also greater flexibility. There is a degree of imbalance between legs – see: imbalance in legs – which caused previous problems with knee.

It’s not the end of the world to take it easy in November and December.

On the positive side, I went out yesterday for 20 miles and cycled up to Langbar, a mist was clearing from the Wharfe Valley, which looked great from the top of the moor.

Questions on five minute efforts vs 10 mile TT

November 22, 2015November 18, 2015 by tejvan

I’m Irish, but live over in Czech republic, I’m back in the sport after 10 years (I did a race called the FBD Ras, 8 day affair – popular with strong UK riders, its a 2.2, its my modest claim to fame) I have a coach based in the US. A former student of Hunter Allen – he is good and works you hard.

This season I rode a 6 minute hill climb and was 9th overall and 3rd age group, big event. About 6 minutes at 6%, and I hit 400w at 65kg. Good for me but I got beaten by 15 seconds so a rather convincing defeat. I have since done 430 for 5 minutes and am averaging about 500w in minute on 3 minute off repeats – about 10 of them.

But my question is about a comment you made re flat vs hill power. Riding 320w for 10 miles, one would think that at 450 for 5 minutes you would be way higher that 320 – is this a deliberate training choice ? or you found it to be a physiological limitation ? I’m about similar to 320 for 20 minutes on the flat – but it is growing, and my curiosity lies in how far I can take the longer efforts.

I’ve just got back from Czech Republic (Zlin) over weekend. So will answer as blog post.

In 2015:

My max power for 10 mile TT (20 mins) was about 338 W this summer. (Quark)
My max power for hill climb (5 mins) is about 450 watts. Though it may have been closer to 470 for last few climbs I did without any power meter.

There are a few reasons.

They are different power meters, I think hill climb bike (Stages) gives slightly more power than Quark.
If I did a 5 minute TT on the flat, (I’ve never actually tried.) but, I would be very surprised if I could get anywhere near 450 watts. In other words, it is easier to post a higher power figure for a steep climb on road bike than a flat 5 minute TT bike test.

Why more power for short hill climbs?

You can get more power on a steep hill, when you stand on the pedals rather than stay seated (I think it is due to the extra use of body weight increasing power.)
Different physiology for hill climb vs TT bike. I’ve not tested, but it might be easier to get more power on a road bike. Depends how much you train on TT bike too. Certainly, if you’re not used to riding on TT bike, you need to spend time getting used to different muscles used.
I don’t train only for 5 minute climbs. One interesting thing is that at end of time trial season I can get close to my max 5 min power for hill climbs. Two months of specific hill climb training does increase 4-5 minute power a little, but less than you might expect. But, I also train for 10 mile TT, by doing five minute intervals.

Secondly I’m not sure I fancy spending 10k on a tt bike for next year. I may buy an old Stuart Dangerfield frame I found, and might just build it up with newer wheels and a good cockpit. Do you believe in the 10k spend for tt bikes?

Yes and No. I did spend a lot on my TT bike (Speed Concept), but then it wasn’t that much quicker than my previous Trek Equinox that I sold for £750 on ebay.

The simple answer is you don’t need to spend 10k on a bike. For example, winner of UK national 10 spent £1k on bike (he got a lot of aero coaching / wind tunnel testing, which is probably expensive, but probably more effective than spending money on a bike.)

If you go Ultegra mechanical rather than Dura Ace Di2, you can save $4-,$5000, but the difference in speed over a 25 mile TT is practically ‘nothing’. I still bought Dura Ace Di2 though. You might be better off spending a lot of money on skinsuit, helmets and aero-testing. See also marginal aero gains

Next year I just want to develop, not winning doesn’t bother me too much as I just want to build the engine. (I was 30th in the non UCI nationals here of 340 riders – on an R3 with t-bars)

A simple TT bike can help improve over a road bike with t-bars. But, I agree the real test of time-trialling is building your engine and seeing how you can stretch your performance. Aerodynamics do make a lot of difference to your speed, but for me the real buzz comes from improving performance – not relying on aero improvements.

Related

10 mile time trials

How to increase average speed cycling?

November 22, 2015November 12, 2015 by tejvan

Readers Question: I’m a commuter/leisure cyclist and I’m looking to getting into race fitness for a few sportives next year. I’ve never raced before and would like to know the best training methods to start increasing my fitness and speed. When I go out for a ride it’s usually only 20 miles and I ride just under my threshold to average 17mph. What should I do to start seeing that go up? I’m also going to start longer routes. Looking forward to your insight.

I remember when I started getting into cycling (quite a few years ago, I forget the number) every ride was just below at threshold, and I was obsessed with average speed. It was in the days before heart rate monitors and power meters. The only thing you had on your bike was speed, time, distance and average speed. I remember my first ever ride with a speedometer. Menston to Burnsall and back – average speed 13.5mph. Every time I went out, I always tried to get higher average speeds for my usual routes. I remember being very happy when I averaged 18 mph for a 35 mile ride from Menston to Burnsall and back.

Life without cycling

November 22, 2015November 8, 2015 by tejvan

This week I experienced a most unusual phenomena of not doing any training. Well, when I say a week of no training – I mean no training all week – excluding Mon, Tues and Saturday.

To be honest, it would be easier to say I had three days off the bike. Though when I say off the bike – that obviously still includes cycling 10 miles into town and back every day. Never miss an opportunity to clock up miles – even when you’re not training, that’s my motto.

So, to clarify, it was three days without any ‘proper’ training. It’s quite an interesting experience to suddenly have lots of free time to do things like er. visit a science museum and art gallery. Walking around town, thinking about going shopping, but not even having the enthusiasm for that.

For the first day of no training, I had the odd anxious thought that my grand plans to do a bit more of the ‘long stuff in Summer 2016’ was taking a monumental and irreversible set-back. Winter miles missed in November and the long-term grand plan is already going out of the window.

Fortunately, I had a sufficiently rational mind to realise that a day off in November, not only – doesn’t hold back goals for eight months hence – but may even do a bit of good.

Long slow steady miles

November 22, 2015November 4, 2015 by tejvan

The national hill climb now feels like a long time ago. The season has changed – both in terms of weather and the approach to cycling. Rather than eyeballs out for 4 minutes, it’s time to dust off the winter training bike and get ready for relatively long slow miles through the foggy Oxfordshire surroundings.

The day after the national hill climb, I got the winter training bike down from the loft, the difference in speed and weight was too much, and I wanted to put it back up in loft. So I’m still riding the Emonda whilst the weather is relatively good. I know from bitter experience that by early Dec, many of the quiet roads around here become barely indistinguishable from muddy farm tracks, and I will have surrendered to riding at 15mph on thick Armadillo tyres, mudguards, winter overshoes and three pairs of gloves. But, if I can get a few rides in November on a summer bike, that is an added bonus.

Getting lost – finding new roads

Oxford is a great place to cycle, if only for the sheer diversity of routes, roads and directions you can take. I’ve been in Oxford since 1994, and I still am finding new roads to rides. When training, I tend to stick routes I know well – the last thing you want when you’re really training hard – is getting lost and wondering where to go next. November becomes a good opportunity to follow the proverbial nose – head in a general direction and take which ever road appeals. This is one of the best ways to learn all the intricate lanes and stock pile possible training routes for next year. It’s OK, so long as you don’t head completely in the wrong direction.

Video and interesting stat

September 5, 2015September 5, 2015 by tejvan

A friend, Adam, made this video a while back. It features me eating a muesli bar which is a bit scary, but apart from that it’s pretty standard fare.

Two stats show 2015 has been a good year for cycling uphill.

2015 Sept 5 – 138,000m of vertical ascent.
2014 – Sept 5 – 108,000m
2013 – Sep 5 – 82,000m
2012 – Sep 5 – 58,000m

So I’ve cycled uphill nearly twice as much as in 2012.

Graphs courtesy veloviewer.com

Distance

2015 has been a good year for distance

Interval training tips

September 3, 2015 by tejvan

At this time of the year, quite a few people email me for tips for hill climb training / intervals. It is hard to reply:

Hill climb training is quite individual depending on general fitness / condition. For example, the training I do know is different to when I first started cycling. Years of training have enabled me to cope with a greater volume of training than in the early days.
It is not false modesty to say I have no particular qualifications or knowledge of training. I have accumulated bits of knowledge and tried to use what works for me, but it is somewhat ad-hoc and individual.
Occasionally, people ask if I would consider becoming a cycle coach. The honest answer is that the idea of becoming a cycle coach doesn’t appeal to me at all. There are certainly plenty of coaches to choose from though!

I found an article I published on an old cycling blog in 2010 – Called ‘interval training tips. The funny thing is that I ended up revising almost everything in the article! It would have been easier to write new article. It shows I’m always changing my mind about what is a good way to train. I suppose in the past few years I’ve gained more experience, (e.g. using power meter and having coach in 2014)

It is hopefully a start for some interval training tips, though there is always more to add. See also similar article – Hill climb intervals.

Training in Yorkshire Dales

July 3, 2015 by tejvan

Last week was quite interesting 3 races – (ECCA 100, BTTC 29 miles, and BDCA 50) First two races were good, third quite a bit of tiredness. I’m taking it a bit easier this week. Hopefully, it’s a bit of tapering for national 100.

This means just a few steady rides from Menston to Buckden and back. The B-road from Bolton Abbey, Grassington to Buckden is a great cycling road. Not too busy, and very scenic. There are plenty of climbs around this part of the world – if you take a detour off this road. But, if there’s one thing I know about tapering is that it’s probably best to avoid taking your time trial bike up Park Rash at full pelt.

Level 3 – ‘sweet spot’ training

January 7, 2017June 19, 2015 by tejvan

The races are coming thick and fast at the moment. This weekend the ECCA 100, then a few days later the UCI elite mens British time trial in Lincolnshire.

There is a smattering of time trial regulars on the BTTC startsheet – but it looks a little more like a truncated Premier trophy road race, with a few top pros flying in from the continent. It will be an interesting battle between Alex Dowsett (former World Hour record holder) and Geraint Thomas (winner of this years Tour of Algarve, E3 Herelbecke and one of most accomplished all-round pro riders). I’m worried that doing a 100 mile TT on Sunday may not be best preparation for short TT race on Thurs, but at least I won’t have the Tour of Switzerland miles and climbs in the legs like Geraint Thomas.

I started doing the BTTC in 2006, where I think I finished 14th. Since then the quality and depth of the field has increased quite significantly. There are many really quick riders on the startsheet, who kind of slip through the radar – such is the quality in depth of British cycling at the moment.