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Uncle Woog'z Trainer Tipz:

1: If possible, always use an Allez. This is the best bike (GAnG)

2: Fan angle is chronically underappreciated. If you have a fan, no matter how strong, a blow direction parallel to the floor will leave at least 1/2 your body out of the sweet, sweet breeze. The key is to get the fan low and angle up. Proper fan placement changed my life.

3: Golf towels. They have a little carabiner on them so you can clip them to a cable or put a little tie and clip to that on your bars. This way, 17 minutes into your FTP test when you have lost all motor control and salty sweat is pouring into your eyes, you can just swipe at your towel and wipe your face without fear of it falling to the ground.

>My goal now is to raise my average speed

TL;DR: Get a power meter - don't use speed to train or gauge success - learn about training with power and then go into structured training

Based on this comment, I'm assuming you're pretty new to structured training. First off, I would either get 1) a power meter (crank, pedals, etc.) or 2) a smart trainer/trainer with a power meter and a training peaks subscription. Using power to train is without a doubt the most advantageous step a cyclist can make to improving. It is miles better than using speed to train.

When I first started really training, I got a power meter and looked at my data every ride for an entire season before even starting structured training. This gives you a sense of what numbers look like, allows you to learn about all the different acronyms and metrics, allows you to compile data, and gives you a base to build off. When you're first starting off too, gains come much easier so even just going out more regularly you will see gains and now you have watt figured that you can aim for even if its just "higher avg watts for my regular route" training. It also helps with pacing which is a HUGE part of being a great cyclist.

Now - for your question, I personally favor TrainerRoad for structured training. I think its a great tool, provides very easy programs to choose from with great descriptions to guide you on what program to chose, etc. I use TrainingPeaks for evaluation of my outdoor rides and TrainerRoad for structured training.

Edit: also - read the bible - its a bit dated but a great place to start

Exercise physiologist here.

If you're new to competitive cycling, just keep riding. Ride with friends. Ride with groups. Go hammer up hills. Go get hammered up hills. Try to hang with the guy you know who will drop you, then come back the next week and try to ride it at your pace.

As your base builds, you'll want to start being more deliberate. Ultimately, the key to avoid a plateau (again, not really a problem for an new racer) is:

> periodize your training (build your endurance first)

Make sure that you don't just go out and do the same workout 2-3 times a week. It's fine to focus on one type of fitness for a month or two, but then you've gotta shake it up or you'll stop making gains (plateau).

If you don't already have it, The Cyclist's Training Bible should be... well, your bible.

Also what sescendra said about sticking to your plan - remember that plans fall apart when you start second guessing them and when the taper-crazies set in. If your training plan calls for an off or recovery day today, actually recover. That will allow you to go harder tomorrow. The black hole of endurance training is going too hard on your easy days so you can't go hard enough on your hard days.

You're looking for something that's already been written. It's called The Cyclist's Training Bible by Joe Friel and Training and Racing with a Power Meter by Andrew Coggan (the latter is entirely relevant even if you have not got a power meter).

Cat one from Canada here, consider me an elite if you want but I'm putting in the time at least to warrant consideration. About 2/3 of my training volume is outdoors. I do the more intense/structured sessions indoors - if it's a z2 base type ride I'm going outside -but when it's super effed outside and I need a base day I will try for 2 hours indoors on rollers followed by xc skiing, or vice versa.

I'm a mess this time of year, and my poor 'cross bike is even messier.

https://www.strava.com/athletes/276709?utm_source=top-nav

Last Saturday I had an interesting day of 4 hours riding outdoors, then I got home and drilled it for an hour on rollers to make 5 hours with the final hour at a very high intensity (like .93 IF). Brutal but effective.

Edit: As a addendum I should say that my major objective races this year are the long and grueling one day races and/or stage races, most of which will be up against continental pros. Maybe I don't need to do this crazy stuff to race amateur locally but if I want to get to the next level I sure do.

It was pretty surreal looking back and seeing John Brown (Axeon) and Nate Brown(Cannondale) in your draft when you're trying to start a break.

Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/681172557#kudos

Have not used this personally but a hospital bedside table is an alternative option for $40.

edit link: https://www.amazon.com/Silver-Spring-SDL102-Adjustable-Tilting/dp/B06XS6LTVH/

I cooks lots of food from this and really enjoy it for lots of reasons. I can expand on other reasons if anyone cares, but the most relevant one is that it helped me get off the last weight I was looking to lose and now maintain my goal weight with ease.

Thug Kitchen Cookbook

Crit or road?

Crit, it's not your threshold, it's the ability to go 1000+ watts dozens of times, plus your ability to risk your life pretty much in every turn to stay in a good position. Some people are willing to die for the 5k they make a year on a pro team.

Take a look at Adam Myerson's Strava, he's a good example of a dude who doesn't have the hugest engine, but does well due to the ability to read a race, be well positioned and only burn matches when absolutely necessary.

Not exactly. Most of the folk on here are road cyclists so they do a lot of interval training to imitate the sporadic and repeated power needs of criterium and road races. The type of training you will be looking for is more targeted at time trailing which to be honest I don't think many non professionals put a lot of time into doing.

Compare the power output of these two stages by a pro. The first is a mountain stage and the second is a TT.

https://www.strava.com/activities/170340847/analysis https://www.strava.com/activities/171431035/analysis

First race ever, Ronde van Palouse. 34 mile RR (Cat4/5) with about 12 miles of dirt roads. Rain, hail, snow, wind...my god the wind was like a punch in the face. Felt pretty hilly to me as well.

I was with the main group for 3 miles, then we hit a hill. Ugh. At 230lbs, I'm not a good ~~climber~~ cyclist so I got dropped right there. It was essentially a solo ride from then on. I worked with a few people for a bit but got dropped from them.

Uphill finish in the dirt, cramped right as I crossed the finish line (thank god for pickle juice shots, that shit is amazing). Doubt I'll do it again and judging by my performance will probably be, not only my first race but, my last race.

No business being out there. But there was (amazingly) some fun to the whole thing.

Be like an ogre/onion - have layers. You can throw on another pair of tights over your leg warmers and bibs for extra insulation. I have some fleece lined Adidas ones that are ��.

I also always have a hip pack on so I sneak in a lightweight rain/wind jacket just in case. You can also just stick one in a pocket or rolled up under your usual jacket too. Useful if the weather changes, or if you have to stop and get your outer layer wet.

In that same vein, nitrile gloves can turn an unbearable ride into a bearable one. They take up very little space and can be used on your feet or hands. They're especially useful if you have to stop and fix something on your bike.

And speaking of fixing things, make sure you're probably geared up to fix things. I wouldn't mess with patching a tube in the cold unless I had to. I'd just tag in a fresh tube to speed things along. Bring two tubes and a real pump just in case.

Battery pack handwarmer - charge your phone or computer, or stick it in your middle jersey pocket under a jacket for some extra toastyness.

i love obree -never a guy who would follow the crowd. Would thoroughly reccommend his book which shows how insanely determined he was to succeed (on his terms) despite some pretty insane barriers to overcome.

I do a lot of riding on both city and country roads, and I find the Garmin Varia extremely useful. If you have a Garmin cycling computer, it lets you know of approaching traffic and if they’re coming up on you dangerously quickly.

Garmin Varia Rearview Radar Tail Light https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0116O10SY/

I’m not a fan of mirrors, personally, but I’ve found the Varia very helpful.

https://www.strava.com/activities/515955606

Crit at University of Louisville. I was racing in Men's C. The D field had 60+ people in it, but C was rather barren at 22. Previously, I had only raced at my school's yearly crit and a D race last year. I've been pretty shit all those times. Thus, I was a little worried about this race.

No fear, though. I stayed in mid-back bunch for most of the race. On lap 4, some guy ate shit right in front of me, so 4-5 people got dropped. I was pretty beat and probably would not have made it back on, but some bro from Purdue told me to grab his wheel and pulled me back up to the bunch. Stayed on the back of the bunch for the remainder of the race until the second half of the last lap (lap 6). First third of the course was all downhill, so I was doing fine, but as soon as we started the latter part of the course, University of Illinois went for it and pulled most of the group away. I didn't have the energy to keep up, so some guy from U of M and I just kinda took turns pulling to the end of the race. We didn't sprint at the end or anything. We tried to finish at the exact same time, but I think he came away with 17th and me 18th (out of 22).

I had a great time and performed much better than I anticipated, so I'm really looking forward to the race at Lindsey Wilson College next weekend. Got a 50mi road race, which will destroy me, and then a (hopefully flatter) crit on Sunday.

Fastest I've can think of was probably this one at 46kph https://www.strava.com/activities/209948715

I remember it because although it was just a tuesday night crit, it was the last race before our summer series started, so the local hitters were in form, and we had most of the Australian team pursuit squad rolling around, along with a couple of WT pros back in town for a giggle. The first five guys across the line had either an olympic medal, or a world or national title in one discipline or another.

It was probably a harder race than any part of the whole 'elite' series that came after it.

As for fastest I've heard of, I'm pretty sure that sometimes the races in the middle east will average 50+ if there's a tailwind.

I raced my first uphill time trial, and quite a special one : 2kms at a nearly 15% average gradient with 2 portions at 24% and 25% !

I qualified for the 2nd run (first 50 of the 1st run were qualified) and finished at an overall 24th place. My goal was a top 30 so I'm really happy with the result.

The climb of "la bastille" (Grenoble, France) is one tough cookie, here's the strava segment : https://www.strava.com/segments/644240

You can see some riders struggling on this video : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cN-pGkQ-E_4

> https://www.strava.com/activities/270855266

You came here asking if you were fit enough for a CAT5, but then you stated 'you're hoping to win' which indicates that you clearly believe that you're fit enough. Did you just want strangers on the internet to give you affirmation...?

I also was struggling with heat and have an industrial air mover now, these things will blow you away. These are not fans, these are highly directed, intense air flow monsters

XPOWER P-230AT 1/5 HP 800 CFM 3 Speeds Mini Air Mover with 3-Hour Timer and Built-In Dual Outlets for Daisy Chain, 2.3-Amp https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BY48UU8/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_5M3QBbW9KB97C

Gastown Grand Prix is one of the oldest and most prestigious UCI crit races in North America, and the highlight of BC Superweek. This would be my first Pro event and the goal was just to finish.

Positioning is key right from the line to take the top corner near the front and avoid getting held up. A teammate last year described the race as "you're constantly trying to jump on a train that's already half way left the station.. and you just have to hold on for dear life as it rips down the twin straightaways".

https://www.strava.com/activities/640804394

My race started well but I got chopped (cut off, whatever. Racing incident) in the corner on lap 3. Bent front spokes, bent front derailleur, dropped chain. Reached down to pick it out from the frame as bodies were flying past and shoulders were bumping. I panicked a bit and tried to chase back instead of going straight to the pit for a free lap. When I finally did go in, I said "I dropped my chain" instead of "I was involved in a crash"... and that was race over.

Rookie mistakes.. but amazing taste of pro racing making me eager for more!

It's interesting to note how efficient some of the above riders are (or have inaccurate power meters - but most likely efficiency). Evan's above is certainly incorrect. Here are two more Strava files of 25th and 30th (myself).

25th Ben Fogle

30th Andrew Seitz

Also Strava's weighted power is low here. WKO shows normalized power of 322w, average 290w.

Great Orme Road Race. In North Wales, UK. Absolute monster of a circuit in my opinion. Event is 2/3/4s. Open for 140 Riders (I think 100 signed in on the morning). 38 miles, 4,000 ft. Straight up and straight back down again. Like a crit on a hill.

https://www.strava.com/segments/8235105 This is the segment, except this year was 7 laps, not 5.

I had a bunch finish, I was happy not to get shelled and lapped to be honest, really doesn't suit me as a race, so finishing in the middle of everyone was good enough for me. Next race is in a fortnight, suits me down to the ground, and is my last.

this didn't feel worthy of an entry into the WRTR post, so it will live here instead:

 

I skipped work on wednesday with some buddies to scout a brand new route I came up with for my club and man it ruled so hard. I'm not particularly new to route planning in general, but this was the first time I inflicted a route of my own unique design upon friends and it came out so fuckin' rad.

distance: 95mi
climb: ~7400ft
max grade: 11%
rwgps link

overall, it was a long, exhausting day. but man. it ended up being such a gorgeous route. not just scenery-wise, but even the roads were incredible. the vast majority of them were quiet, single-lane/no divider roads that wound past isolated homes or farmlands. great visibility on the descents; almost every major descent was presented in a way where you'd come around a corner and be presented with the full length of the descent and just be able to smile knowing you had the whole road in view. even managed to get air time on the descent at mile 62 — if you've experienced it before, you know how much you cherish those moments of feeling completely weightless while on the bike. climbs were long but at a low enough grade where you could still keep a nice high cadence going.

 

I can't say this route is particularly convenient for anyone who doesn't live near NYC (the point to point is on train lines but you're still kinda fucked if you're going anywhere that isn't Newark/Penn Station) but I highly recommend it if you have the opportunity to make it work. I set out with the goal to make a route that had all the things I love about cycling in it and while I wouldn't say it's perfect, I'm still pretty damn proud of how it came out.

>not to mention that 10-spd components are going to become harder and harder to find over the next few years.

Exhibit A: You can buy a 5 speed freewheel for $12 on Amazon with free 2 day shipping in 2020, about 55 years after 6 speed freewheels were introduced.

Anyone trying to stir up fear about 10 speed bike replacement parts becoming unavailable is uninformed. If we're still actively producing 5 speed parts, we're decades away from discontinuing 10 speed parts

First race for a very long time. Last raced as a junior. I'm 24 now so back to A4 or CAT 5 in the US I think. It was a pretty flat crit. No hills to speak of so I wasn't too hopeful about my chances as I'd be better once the road starts going upwards.

Got out and did a 20 minute warm up before the race. Small field of about 20 or so riders. It was full gas from the start of the race and only eased after about 17 laps. The group split pretty much instantly. I tried to get a break going but no one was willing to work. I did far too much work on the front and attacked way too often.

With about 3 laps to go I thought if it stayed together until the bell I'd jump. It stayed together and I just sat second wheel. I'm not sure what I was thinking. I may have been daydreaming some what. Coming into the last corner I didn't expect the rest of the group to jump until closer to the line. I tried to go with 2 of them but couldn't close the gap into the headwind. Ended up 3rd overall. It was great to see all the training pay off. I said if I did well I'd think about getting a power meter. Now hopefully the girlfriend is as easy to convince.

https://www.strava.com/activities/514704661

Hey guys! First time commenting here.

This was the WCCC's last race weekend of the semester. UC Berkeley put on two really great races.

Placed 12th in the RR - https://www.strava.com/activities/292532085

And 6th (I think? Forgot to check official results) in the Crit - https://www.strava.com/activities/293339134

Evan Oliphant who is a Pro-Continental rider for Raleigh-GAC here in the UK and is based out of Edinburgh fairly regularly turns up to a training chaingang that I go to and destroys the bunch. I'm talking a 24 mile APR style ride that normally finishes in 53-55 minutes for the "scratch" group that's filled with Cat 1-2 riders and he sits on the front, stringing us out at 30mph turning it into a "Chase the bastard" instead of a chain gang. Hurts like hell...

That's your size/power difference. In crits there hills are short or nonexistent. I am 180lbs and have a 1 hr of 330. My 1 min is just shy of 600. I like crits :-)

Crits is more about raw power, handling and knowledge. Less about sustained wattage.

https://www.strava.com/activities/607586594/shareable_images/map_based?hl=en-GB

12 Nov 2015 - 236W https://www.strava.com/activities/431554373/analysis/1825/3016

26 Apr 2016 - 356 https://www.strava.com/activities/557175042

Current weight 62kg

Last one was not really a true ftp test but i have hit those numbers for around that duration a few times over the past 2 weeks. Working on my longer Vo2 5min mark power atm which aint great

TD Bank Mayor's Cup from two years ago: https://www.strava.com/activities/197431047

Ted King avg 31.7 mph.

Clarendon Cup: https://www.strava.com/activities/150692163/overview

Avg only 26.6, but it was a 100 km crit

Justin Rossi went from being a D1 top swimmer to near-professional cyclist (he's keeping his day job as a firefighter, which is smart).

Anyway, an engine is an engine. If you swam at a high level, you should be able to translate that fitness to the bike.

I like using Trainerroad for training plans. I'd give some of their "canned" programs a go to see if you get improvements, maybe talk to a coach or any of the better amateur riders in your area/team.

A lot of the knowledge I've gained has been via lurking on various forums and reading "Training and Racing With a Power Meter." Also, I just raced a lot and learned what worked for me and what didn't.

If you're interested in the formulae that lead to these results this is a nice, simple walkthrough: https://www.omnicalculator.com/sports/cycling-wattage

Or you could just go ride your bike on a windy day, you'll very quickly discover just how big a difference it makes.

>Of course the only possible reason to ban non-district elite racers from the race is so that the tiny penis NorCal riders can not only win the jersey but also be first across the line.

Cool insults buddy. I don't think your big ego would be enough to beat Nate.

It's also apparently impossible for the author to understand how out of district riders could influence the race to a different result for the in-district riders (say, three UCI pros show up and tow some random in-district nobody in a winning break to a district championship).

Raced our provincial road series.

Niagara Classic. Moved up to M2 this season. Last year got popped lap 3 and finished way back of the field. One main climb that's a bitch. It's 400-500m and cracks 15%.

This year I held close to the pack on the main climb. Always having to close a small bit. Last lap I lost about 40 seconds. I got to the top, quick descent and tried forming with a couple others. They were not going to bridge and didn't have the horsepower. I went to bridge back solo. Chase cars both passed me and spurred me to work harder. I put my head down and caught the field with about 5km to go. Recovered and regrouped.

Final km worked up the pack and tried to position in the front 10-15 riders. Held and opened up on the final 300m for 5th. Super happy to go from last years destroyed effort to a 5th. A lot of hard work the past year and shedding the final 10lbs helped.

https://www.strava.com/activities/306540320

Speed is useless for trainers with adjustable resistance (you could put resistance all the way down and fly along at 50kph, but do about the same power as 10kph with high resistance).

There is one use: for trainers (mostly the cheap ones) that don't have adjustable resistance, you can combine the speed reading with a known power curve for the trainer and somewhat accurately determine the power you are putting out. TrainerRoad has power curves for many trainers, I think. (of course, the relationship to speed on the road or distance is still tenuous, but who cares if you can measure power)

If you don't want to pay for TrainerRoad, you can try GoldenCheetah, though some setup is required. I usually have GoldenCheetah on one screen in training mode on some workout, connected to HR + the trainer for cadence and power over an ANT+ stick, and some movie/TdF stage on the primary screen.

Or just do an out-and-back seven times: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/28989117

John Heinz is quite flat as well. I don't know a great route from JH to the SRT - Cobbs Creek takes you too far west, and Lindbergh is tolerable but kinda meh (narrow lanes, limited bike lanes, lots of lights). SRT can be crowded on the weekends though - fine for casual cycling, but I wouldn't want to try to do a rotating paceline through it, at least not in the Center City portions.

I know a bunch of guys that followed this program and were fitter and faster with less time in the saddle than they ever were before.
https://www.amazon.com/Time-Crunched-Cyclist-Race-Winning-Fitness-Athlete/dp/1937715507/

I just received this tub of maltodextrin which I ordered on a whim to mix my own SIS Beta fuel knock off.

I neglected to read that this was 8lbs. This tub is bigger than my head...by a lot. My kids were stoked that there was an Amazon box to open (which is like a daily thing at the house and yet still elicits 100% of their excitement), and that out of this box came a giant orange tub of SOMETHING. My wife, on the other hand, thinks my already pretty weird hobby is now a whole head-sized-tub-of-carbs weirder.

I love this sport.

How large of a weight do you need? You can get a very accurate scale that can measure up to 500g for less than $20. Maybe there's some way you can measure multiple smaller individual weights and then combine them.

I've used this scale for several years: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06X6LW4V9 ($15.29)

CTT courses have to have start and finish within a mile or so (EDIT 1.5 miles for a 10 miler after checking the rules, but this course is under a mile) of each other so it out definitely not one way...V718 course on strava if you're interested https://www.strava.com/segments/689034

That is A LOT of going hard. Like too much. I'd recommend you check out this podcast from /u/c_zeit_run . The guys also go over what to do if you are time crunched but it seems you have about 1,5 on tue and thur so maybe some SST work would be better, depending on what the power profile of the group ride looks like.

http://imgur.com/a/K67J4

Riding a 2016 Specialized Venge, 105 all around (because Cat 5), on Zipp 404's.

Just started racing this year, won my first 4/5 crit yesterday. Got a little antsy on the start and started a break on lap two with one other rider. Managed to make it stick, and sprinted for the win!

https://www.strava.com/activities/603359160

Maybe I didn't explain what the workout I did was properly.

-Warmup + the intervals took 4 about hours.

-2:40:00 of that was at 90% of FTP (~2900kj), the rest was around Zone2.

-My averate power for the first 4 hours was about 84% of FTP. (~3900kj)

https://www.strava.com/activities/556019382

Thanks! I'll have a longer video up in the next few days with the number overlays, but power was nothing astronomical. Kicked up to about 1100 W, the sprint efforts were each around 800 W avg .

This race was all about taking the chicane in good position and being first through the final two turns. I had thought through this tactic from racing it last year (my first ever Cat 3 crit) and was super happy it came off as I had expected/hoped!

Behind me was about a 20min gap as I crossed the line :) 2 seconds gap on the official timing.

Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/547425975

If you're looking for a nice big ride with lots of climbing, I would suggest something involving Tunitas Creek. Hamilton is nice, but the scenery and grade don't change much(save for two intermediate descents). With a route more like https://www.strava.com/routes/2684525(start from Woodside or Portola Valley) - you can see the Bay, the Ocean, Redwoods, Hills/Oaks all in one ride! Tunitas is terrific - hardly any traffic(lots of cyclists though!), great scenery, its mostly shaded.... and there's a cool spot on the way called the 'bike hut' where you can top off your water and chat with locals.

https://www.strava.com/activities/487518952 here is the 450 watt test. Your right, Most people can't bring their power so high so fast,but there are some who can. I just happen to know one. He bought a state bike fixie about a year and a half ago and was able to beat me in a sprint on his first week biking. I told him, I'm betting he goes pro before 2018.

They also just announced the Edge 200 for $150:

http://www.engadget.com/2011/08/18/garmin-edge-200-is-a-gps-cycling-computer-for-riders-on-a-budget/

> The Garmin Edge 500 and 800 are pretty sweet GPS-enabled cycling computers, but they're also pretty expensive. The new Edge 200 shaves a cool Benjamin off the price of the aging 500 by cutting back on non-essential features. There's no navigation function or even the ability to pull in data from power meters, heart rate monitors or cadence sensors. It will, however, map your rides, let you download them over USB and share them via Garmin Connect. The 200 offers up basic info like speed, distance, calories burned and time without the need for additional harfware or a complicated set up. You can keep on pedaling for quite a while too, thanks to the roughly 130-hour memory and 14-hour battery life. The Edge 200 should start popping up sometime in Q3 for $150.

60 mile rolling RR was minging and hot (for wales). Was far too jumpy near the start and ended up cramping half way through, managed to sit still long enough to get rid of it and attacked a miles out from the finish chasing a breakaway with two of my teammates in. Held it and caught 4th!

My first NCC crit had ~4000' of climbing in 90 mins. 62 laps up and down a hill, 20 m of elevation per 1 km lap. My body was so broken by the end... ugh

https://www.strava.com/activities/315193537/analysis/4004/9470

I used TRIMP for a couple years before I got a power meter. Plug this data into something like SportTracks with the Training Load plugin and it's certainly accurate enough to allow you to train with periodization, peak for events, etc.

http://www.zonefivesoftware.com/sporttracks/plugins/?p=training-load

https://www.strava.com/activities/279173108

This is a road race where my heart rate was average 192 for almost an hour and a half. I rode with the pack for the first lap and got into a small break, then I was dropped by the break by only a few seconds on the second climb so I tried to TT my way back in solo for the entire second lap. In fact, the last lap average HR was just shy of 200.

My LTHR is just shy of 200.

My resting HR is usually 55. So I guess my point is, high heart rates aren't terribly unusual.

Be sure to ride up the Brocken which is the highest mountain in the region and northern germany. there is a road from Schierke with nice tarmac going to the top of the hill. expect high tourist traffic at the last 1kilometer though.

I have a strava track from 2013 which is quite a nice route, including the brocken(but can easily be left out) https://www.strava.com/activities/68460589 just make sure to ride trough altenau and not clausthal-zellerfeld(which we did because at that time a bridge near Oker dam was closed.)because its much nicer landscape. also the easiest place to start this route from Celle would be Bad Harzburg.

Raced the springbank O-cup (provincial series) M2 (moved from 3 this spring)

Finished 4th of about 55 guys. Had a strong race and actually played around in the field. I know I need to work on holding position, moving up and not getting boxes in. Spent the first 15 laps doing just that. Learning and learned a lot. With 5 laps to go I started working a bit better to sort a plan out since it was going to end up as a sprint. I know I am strong from about 500m out and can kick at 100 still. Went a bit early but still happy with the result. I have the benefit of some strong local riders and also a weekly crit/rr series that also helps.

https://www.strava.com/activities/297346372

Yes bot, preemptive I know. ;-)

Road race, 3 laps, 103.8km total, 1300m of climbing.

This one was a bit about overcoming a "trauma". Last year, this was the first licensed race i ever did. Totally blew up in the 1st lap and got hit by 2 times heavy rain and 2 times hail in the last lap. I felt the opposite of well afterwards.

This year i didn't get dropped, formed a small group with a bunch of others and made it to the finish line without dying. And i wasn't even last :-) This last year of structured training is really paying off.

For those who are interested: https://www.strava.com/activities/283911949/

>j is an outlier here, considering that he is 5'9/145 and Froome is the same weight and has 4 inches on him. But you're right. I want to just build my legs and cor

I suggest those books, in one year I added 300w to my sprint (!) :

friel (chapter on strength)

strength and conditioning for cyclists

Strength is quite important especially for shorter climbs, I could also see a big change. You won't gain weight significantly, even for natural (meaning no steroids etc) body builders it's very hard, I remember that in my case I would at the very most be able to gain 1kg a year. That is with doing no endurance work, which limits muscle build up...

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002SQTRXK/

Personally, I prefer to just start over if I have issues I can't get rid of. Take off the pads, push the pistons back, replace pads, and use the feeler Guage while closing the pads and tightening the caliper into place.

After a 100km race day through dirt sectors in pouring rain, I can strongly recommend Jagwire's fully-sealed road shifting cables (Amazon). Perfect, butter-smooth shifting without even cleaning the bike, and no shifting problems whatsoever on the next day's crit stage. All I needed was to re-lube the chain. Easy to install and the weight difference is minimal.

For those of you who ride through the winter, or just do CX, these things are the business.

I'm a big fan of the cheap Iberia lightweight ones on Amazon. They're aluminum which means you can bend them in to keep the bottle in tighter if its too loose. I recently raced Rasputitsa and there were a couple of hairy sections where people were shedding bottles all over the place. I came through those sections with both bottles still firmly attached.

https://www.amazon.com/Ibera-Bicycle-Lightweight-Aluminum-Bottle/dp/B0030O907C/ref=pd_lpo_vtph_468_lp_t_3?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=RGHSRXZT7N1VMSEF7RWN

You actually can do that with just about all smartphones. For example on android, Runtastic has an app. You just hold your finger over the camera and the led at the same time.

It's not as convenient as an always on monitor, but I think I read they're pretty accurate. It's the same technology as any optical heart rate monitor.

I've broke both of mine now. One 4.5 years ago - no plate, and the other exactly 5 weeks ago - plated. The second one was a worse break and I pretty much had to get a plate. I'd really recommend getting one to anybody who breaks their collarbone now. My first one ended up healing super funky and I had to get a 'bumpectomy' so I might as well have paid for the surgery in the first place.

With the plate I was able to use my arm for basic things within a few days, did one armed stationary bike intervals a week after surgery, and then two armed the following week. I started easing back into riding outdoors this week with short commutes to work and one slightly longer errand ride. Felt a bit sore after the errand ride, but nothing bad.

I also do daily infrared light therapy on my collarbone for what it's worth. If you do this make sure you get a light in the 850-860nm wavelength. Seems like one of those crazy pseudo-sciency things, but there are a lot of reputable studies showing how it helps healing, recovery, and athletic performance. I think it helped me tremendously.

Ninja Edit: current collarbone status: https://instagram.com/p/0MmckJTGmN/

Pretty amazing, I've even managed to polarize my work commutes https://www.strava.com/activities/694016430/zone-distribution

In terms of my power curve everything from 2 minutes and up has increased, my FTP recovered from 261w and now sits at 282w after 8 weeks. I've also mixed in running for days I've been away with work, feeling on form!

I'd say just below that level. Most of the top riders are former riders on CT teams, and thus probably not at the level they once were. The fastest times are usually found in the 35-39, 40-44 or 45-49 age groups, probably because the top riders in the 19-34 age group are still pro or trying to go pro, and thus still riding UCI races regularly. If we look at the results from last year, many of the riders in top have been on CT teams in the past. Michael Johansen Gamst and Claust Holm, 2nd and 6th fastest overall, both used to ride on CT teams in Denmark when they were younger. Samuel Plouhinec, 3rd fastest overall, is a bit special in this regard as he was actually a fully fledged pro, with a few years at Cofidis in the late 90s, then again at Agritubel in 06-07, even starting the Tour in 06. I don't think there are many who were as successful as him in their prime at these events. Most of those with a few years at the CT level seem to have been mildly successful at best. But some are amateurs all their lives. Igor Kopse, overall fastest and five time winner, has never done a UCI registered race as far as I can tell.

I found Igor Kopses ride from last year on Strava. His weighted average power over 4 hours was 327W, which is pretty damn impressive, and shows that these riders are no slouches.

https://www.strava.com/activities/386356258/

From myself:

• I am just finishing eBaying a load of crap out of my room to get a power2max power meter (or maybe a quarq - not yet decided... help me decide?)

Ideas for others:

• Zinn and the art of road bike maintenance
• A nice little phone/keys/wallet purse to slip into my jersey
• Could do with a cap now that it's getting colder (and my hair is longer!)
• Some proper cycling socks - probably the only bit of cycling clothing (other than the cap) I'm lacking.

I joined an my Cycling Club's sortie to Belgium at the end of April.My first goal was to complete Liège-Bastogne-Liège. All Aboard the Hype Train and read about my build up to and adventures on the first stop; Liège.

​

Podcast: #003 - Wallonia 2019 | Belgian Waffle Hype Train - Stop 1 An episode of Breeze Shooting x Luke GJ

Just dug this up in response to another comment:

https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Maximal-fat-oxidation-rate-and-cross-over-point-to-Gonz%C3%A1lez-Haro/a1ad9ee452d0d040b4d4ae3866a4e043e48211e8

or google "Inigo San Milan substrate utilization"

It's something about which he's produced a great deal of information.

Ault Park Points Race is a 1 km loop that is half uphill and half downhill (with max grade of about 4.6%) with a nice little chicane after the sprint line. Sprint for points half way up the hill ever 5 laps for an hour.

CRC Thursday Nighter crit series is kind of a training race, but growing in popularity.

https://www.strava.com/activities/581746902/overview

Tonight I had no outcome oriented goals, just wanted to get a workout and experiment with what kind of attacks and chase efforts I could get away with before I blew up.

And blow up I certainly did... I was getting a bit pukey and slow to close gaps by around half way through the race, but not before giving myself some good training numbers to work with and winning a candy prime!

If you're looking to do ~20 minute consistent efforts w/o lights, stop signs, or down-hills, it's really tough in NC SD. For the ideal roads you have to go east or to Fiesta Island like mentioned. That said, I use the San Dieguito - TT segment in Rancho Santa Fe which is just east of Solana Beach: https://www.strava.com/segments/2326727

It's all right-hand turns, with only 1 stop light that can really stop you. It's not ideal but useable for me because I normally ride mid-day.

https://www.strava.com/segments/706610

I usually test on the Dover TT loop. Closer to me than the Massapoag loop, less traffic than the Blue Hills loop. Which is a shame, because I live very close to the Blue Hills. Perfect warm-up ride distance. But the descent down Canton Ave can be a bit tricky, and there are two stop signs and a traffic light along the loop, along with lots of traffic on evenings and summer weekends.

Another nice thing about the Dover loop is you can pretty easily modify it to be more appropriate for the kind of testing you're doing, and possibly remove some of the descending. One obvious change would be to continue on North St. instead of turning right on Farm, then take a right and take Hospital Road and onward out to 27. Bunch of options from there, even sticking to right turns. You can also add distance by taking Pine Street, though that's not the easiest road to test on simply because of how twisty and rolling it is.

Second race of the season, same course as the first. Waay more wind than the first edition. Did a better job staying towards the middle of the pack at the start, hung in well through the first 2-3k, a crash happened and split the pack, I was behind it so I kind of ended up on my own. Grouped up with a few guys, got dropped when we turned into an even stiffer head wind, a 12 year old kid rides up next to me and yells "Jump on!" and i'm like "okay man whatever" next thing I know I'm back to the group that dropped me. Trying to make an echelon work, shorty rides us off his wheel, other dudes in the group don't wanna work (one of them said "Yeah I think I'm done for today.") ended up dropping them, felt good up the climb, rode solo for most of that lap, a local young rider squad kid caught me on the run in to the climb I was excited to maybe have someone to work with for the rest of the race when I heard him having mechanical trouble behind me on the climb. I didn't stick around and just kept going. I ended up finishing the race 32nd out of 41 finishers and feeling pretty good about my form. https://www.strava.com/activities/521259211 TL;DR Race was super windy but I finished anyway.

Since when? Every study I've ever read has shown that low carb/high fat diets reduce the level you can train at because fat requires more oxygen to metabolize. More importantly, studies on endurance exercising mice comparing low carb and normal diets showed that although low carb/high fat diets resulted in less weight gain than normal diet mice, their % body fat increased. source. So what we can take away from this is that yes you will be lighter than if you ate a normal or high carb diet, but your power:weight will not improve and the additional adipose tissue (which is metabolically active) will reduce your VO2max.

Usually just Budweiser. I have a wheat allergy so I have to be careful with what I drink. Thankfully there's no wheat in Guinness.

http://i.imgur.com/cwRXw.jpg

This is my all time favourite beer in a pub at the bottom of the Col de la Madeline:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/w7tag5z68zkp9m9/SAM_0116.JPG

I would focus more on your power than your heart rate. Power is a measure of output, heart rate is a measure of your body's response to that output. Two people can have vastly different physiological responses to broadly the same output.

See:

https://www.strava.com/activities/400968313/analysis/32/836

vs

https://www.strava.com/activities/236896363/analysis/4958/5743

If your performance/output (power) is improving relative to the effort you are putting in (heart rate), you are definitely improving and there is nothing to worry about.

What's the fastest time you have done the loop so far and what are you expecting to do it in? 20 mins or so? I would put more effort in at the start going up Broomfield. After that it is a bit of a down hill drag where you can recover and maintain a decent speed at a lower power output. Then going along the long back straight I tend to put in a big effort again because you don't need to save much to get to the top of Sawyers.

https://www.strava.com/activities/326508768/analysis/1535/2852

That's my power profile for my fastest loop. When do you plan on racing? As others have said, it is worth doing it with one of the London Dynamo TT's, that way the police will not stop you too (which is unlikely anyway).

https://www.strava.com/activities/415878972/

Data from my state's road race championship. (Cat 3) I'm 130lbs and I didn't win, but the data is all there (Power, HR) with Strava Premium.

Hope this helps!

Sounds awesome! I spent a week last April cycling nearby, around Fincastle. If you can, do the climb up Thunder Ridge. My group loved that climb. Keep in mind that a lot of the best riding happens on the roads up the Parkway, on the Parkway is a lot of gradual, extended climbing but the roads up include some great steep, switchback climbs.

 

I don't know too much about your specific area but you really can't go wrong there. If you have cyclocross bikes/braver than me on your road bike, there are a lot of rough gravel roads near the BRP that look like a lot of fun.

There's a loop I used to ride in Wakefield that might be suitable for you, especially early weekend mornings. There are a few stop lights on Main Street, but once you turn onto 129, it's all right hand turns or rotaries between there and the start. Here's a link if you want to give it a shot: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/36149542

Do the Dam Loop! It's one of the most popular routes around Austin. Link here. There's a HUGE dam loop ride Saturday mornings from Bicycle Sport Shop.

As for specific hills, I really only know the north side (near where I lived). Spicewood Springs, Adirondack Trail, and Yaupon come to mind, but it sounds like you won't be around there at all.

I'm jealous, man! I miss it.

https://www.strava.com/activities/372231791

This was my 2nd crit race I've participated in.

This is a training race. 45min + 5laps. The pace is controlled for the first 30min to ensure everyone is getting pack riding experience, but after that... it's everyone man/woman for themselves!

Sorry for the length, but I figured I'd share an whole session for review for other new riders who want to see what it's like... along with the numbers required to participate.

Feel free to make any constructive critasisms or what ever.. I'm here to learn!

In my first attempt, I last able to last for the first 30min, but as soon as the pace got hot... I was dropped.

After picking up a power2max power meter, a month a training and additional experience I was able to finish the race... though I did get dropped on the bell lap...

Just as my GoPro died(45min into the race), there was a huge wreck in front of me. One rider ended up with serious rash and brand new Tarmac frame destroyed... ouch!

This wreck forced me to pull off the track and 'take a lap'... upon rejoining the diminished field, already travelling at 50km/h... I put myself into the redzone. I was maxing myself out and could not recover to stick with the pack on the last lap.

The guy with Black shorts, no logos, blue bike and mega calves won the race.

Next time I will finish with the pack!

Here's the site that I use to find races around my area (Flemish Brabant) www.toeristenkoersen.be. As others have already said, the races around here are no joke. There was thread here the other day about the differences in racing in Europe vs. America.

I'd say the biggest thing in your category is the coordination in some of the teams. At the Junior race I attended last year, a guy got away on the first lap, two teammates joined him the next lap, and they worked together to sweep the podium. They could have passed for pros; that's how smooth they were. I think they were from this team: www.davo-cyclingteam.be

Here's a the Strava for the corresponding Gentlemen's race. Keep in mind that the Juniors were much faster. https://www.strava.com/activities/78962830

It's a fair bit easier than Ventoux :D

https://www.strava.com/activities/200426111#4724837239

And nearly always clockwise :) I usually ride around in a Dulwich Paragon shirt. My flag is a disabled logo with speed flames, feel free to say hi or tell me to go faster.

I have been thinking about Richmond Park in London.

This is my data from my fastest lap so far: https://www.strava.com/activities/326508768/analysis/1552/2872

I use a handcycle, so my arms, which means my speed variance is much greater. I tend increase and lose speed a lot with even a 1% slope. I have to put more effort in to get up the hill anyway and usually aim to do that minute at 200-250 W (I can keep 220 W up for about 3 minutes). I can then drop down to 140-160 for the slight descent that follows to recover.

I am aiming for a sub 20 minute lap, and eventually a sub 60 min 3 laps, but I am not sure if that is possible.

Pacing is something I can do reasonably well, I've just got back from a 15 mile TT in which I didn't manage a negative split because I didn't realise how much of an undulating course it was - 350ft in 15 miles, so not much but a little more on the way back and just one big kick on the way out.

Felt good - no TT bars or aero helmet but still managed 38.45 for my first time there. Best guys got 36's and my target was 40 minutes so I'm happy.

https://www.strava.com/activities/342605312/overview

I live in Ann Arbor, about 40 minutes outside of Detroit.

• My two favorite places to ride are Hines Drive between Plymouth and Dearborn, and Huron River Drive in Ann Arbor. Hines is great for cyclists. No serious hills to speak of, but huge wide shoulders for bikes, and on Saturdays they close a large portion of the road to vehicle traffic. Mostly bikes on the weekend. Huron River Drive is a bit hillier (the area around Ann Arbor is fairly hilly overall), nothing like you're used to in Italy but lots of rolling hills.
• Can't help you with your second question but looks like a lot of others have chimed in.
• Southeastern Michigan doesn't really have a ton of hills. Some of the northern suburbs like Bloomfield Hills and Rochester Hills feature a lot of rollers, but they also lack any serious cycling infrastructure.
• mbra.org will have a race calendar.

If you're ever looking for a riding partner, shoot me a PM.

The ramp up is about 2.5 seconds. It's no big deal at all. And if there were no ramp up people would complain about hitting a wall.

Here's a workout where I was doing a tempo pace with 15 second bursts. If you zoom in you can see that I reach the full target power of the burst, 385W in a little over 2 seconds. The average 15 second power after reaching full power is 381, since it drops off gradually at the end too. Do you really think you can target a 15 second interval more accurately with a fluid trainer, or on the road?

https://www.strava.com/activities/250499229/overview

And I'm a mountain biker who just started structured training for the first time ever last month, so don't give me shit about my weak numbers!

At first I was all like Golden Cheetah, but then I was like all Garmin ANT. But it may not, ultimately, satisfy your needs. I'm curious what you find.

Heart rate variability is real, and physiologically meaningful, but you need an accurate heart rate monitor (eg polar h10) to get accurate measurements. The budget version is the Garmin stress score which comes with most Garmin watches (lower variability => higher stress). Another way to test for under-recovery is the HRV4Training app which doesn't require an external sensor. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.asma.hrv4training

https://www.amazon.com/SE-Bikes-Chain-Tensioner-BLACK/dp/B078H8VYJN

But, yeah--you'll probably impress your date more with a faster bike :)

https://smile.amazon.com/Lasko-Pro-Performance-Pivoting-Blower-Utility/dp/B077BMBR5B

These are good. 375 CFM on high. I had two, just got a third so I can have one dedicated to me aero bars as my hands were getting sweaty on them.

I used GCN plus the ExpressVPN vpn to watch everything up until this month. Set the vpn to think you're in the UK, then start GCN. Works great after you set it up. I'm sure you can get cheaper vpns - ExpressVPN is $12.95 for monthly. I don't know if it gets you ALL the races you want, but I had access to a couple per week.

I like the bull frog sport gel. It goes on and dries right away like hand sanitizer.

The amazon pricing looks a little weird, but it even has a picture of a bike on it. I've usually found it at walmart or something similar.

I patch a lot of tubes at the local co-op. Aside from sanding the area around the hole, you can also give it a wipe with some rubbing alcohol to ensure it's clean. Good vulcanizing fluid like Rema or the park patch 'glue' is what we use. At the co-op with have a stitching tool that we roll the patches with so they get a great bond. At home I used a little wood clamp and it generally works well. You can also use a butterknife or other dull thin metal to draw a bunch of cross-hatch marks across the tube, it's kind of like the stitching tool... seems to help.

You can get Shimano's lower end pedals for something like $55 (https://smile.amazon.com/SHIMANO-PD-RS500-SPD-SL-Without-Reflector/dp/B07QFZR8YV/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=shimano+SPD-sl&qid=1588035281&sr=8-2 on amazon, but you can get them cheaper elsewhere). Low end pedals are low end pedals- heavier and not as long lasting, etc.

You can get good pedals, or cheap pedals from both companies, and really, its how much you want to spend, how much the weight matters to you, etc. I have the RS500 version on my old bike and I think the'll hold up fine, they are just heavy and not as nice. I expect this is more similar to your LEO Classic 3. To me, its really about how long the cleats last and how the overall platform holds my foot. With Shimano, its wider and I feel like it supports my foot better and I like that when you walk on them, you're not actually walking on any of the points that contact the pedal, so you aren't wearing them overly fast by walking on them. With look, you walk on the same interface points that the cleats touch on the pedals and in my experience the cleats end up wearing much faster. Just me :-P

My b, IpWatts: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.iforpowell.android.ipwatts&hl=en_US

Though I think this app specifically is for ANT+, so you'd have to borrow a Samsung or use an ANT+ adapter.

Heavy sweater living in the humid American South here. This is what I do:

I use a Halo band. I had a GUTR for a while, but it kept getting caught under the upper edge of my glasses and then sliding down over my eyes during mountain bike rides. I would end up with a band of plastic covering my eyes so I threw it away.

I also use Fogtech (http://www.amazon.com/MotoSolutions-FogTech-Anti-Fog-Paintball-Glasses/dp/B001JR4CIO) before rides on humid days. I used Cat Crap for a while, but Fogtech works so much better and and is nowhere near as fiddly.

Finally, I wear Tifosi Seek (http://www.tifosioptics.com/products/0180305234/) glasses. They're open to the top and sides so it's harder for sweat to condense on the inside of the lenses. Any good-quality pair of cycling glasses would work, but this is what I use.

something like this top tube bag, goes behind the stem?

There are lots of variables here, but for most people 10hr/week is enough training to show significant long-term improvement.

As others have said, a coach can help you get the most out of your training time. If you can't afford one then buy The Cyclist's Training Bible and read it.

The TLDR of smart training is 1) figure out what you want to improve (sprinting, short climbs, long climbs, etc) and 2) do training that pushes you to your limit in those specific areas. Then get plenty of rest after hard workouts.

do read cyclists training bible by Joe Friel. I recommend just reading it straight through. Don't worry about making your plan. Then reread it, and layout your plan. I don't think, at this point, you should really be paying for any coaching.

I think you should think about what your goals are and the respective time periods. i.e. "race crits next year" or "race a crit this season" since they will change how you prepare.

The sports gene deals with this with countless of examples. The variety in human genes means we all adapt so differently to training. What works for one person will not be the same for another, it's about experimentation.

I use the Suunto Movestick Mini, it's $35 on Amazon.