<< My bike times have increased significantly due to my purchase of a QR Santo >>
"You meant to say DECREASED significantly. If they had indeed increased, then you indeed may want another bike.
The ST semantics police never sleep."
Oooops, guess the eggs, cheese, boogers, etc. are on my face! For the record, yes, I have gotten faster with the new bike. My speed is FASTER and my times are LOWER as opposed to my road bike with aero bars where my speed was SLOWER and my times were HIGHER. Glad we could clear that up! Loving it in Austin, āCenter of the Triathlon Universe,ā Robert
Itās said that the best predictor of road cycling success is sustainable power (i.e., the power one can maintain for, say 30 minutes or an hour; call it critical power or CP). That power level is produced at some percentage of V02Max, and can be increased via interval training at a level of ~90-105% of CP (level 4) in blocks of no less than ~15 minutes (any shorter and the anaerobic contribution is too high). Typically, cyclists can handle two, or perhaps three sessions per week of 30-60 minutes of these intervals (as someone said, itās a āflog festā). Itās been suggested that a 10-12 week block of said training, increasing the power level a bit every two weeks is a good plan. Itās also said that doing level 5 workouts (say >105% of CP, in blocks of 5 minute intervals with a couple of minutes rest between) will increase your VO2Max, which effectively raises your CP power at the same percentage of VO2Max. A couple of weeks of that, and you can then do the L4 workouts again, with a higher CP (the same percentage of V02Max will result in a higher CP).
You are already āstrongā enough. You need to build your aerobic capacity. Do 8 weeks of L4 training, followed by two weeks of L5, followed by another 4 weeks of L4, followed by taper. Use the other days to do longer rides (L3).
Just because you passed people with disks says nothing about the value of disk wheels. They are the fastest rear wheel in nearly all race situations anyone on this forum will encounter.
I may be a smart-ass, but Iām not a coach. I am just barely smart enough to listen to those who know better and who have provided justification for their training techniques.
I agree that motorpacing can be a big help if used right. The strength of the motorbike is in its consistency. Group rides are fun, and they can help your body adapt to variations in intensity, but motorpacing just keeps you grinding along right at the rivet.
If you are out on your own and you try to go as hard as you can for a while, it is easy to tell yourself to back off for just a second. One example is at the top of a hill - most of us will work our butts off most the way up, but will relax a bit right as we crest the top (congratulations! you just finished a hill!). The bike carries that speed right over the top and you have to push through your mental barriers to stay on the wheel.
In a group ride you will often have āre-groupā points for everybody to get back together after a tough stretch, so if you crack you can just roll in to meet the group and then try to be ready to turn it up again. When you are out with just a buddy on the motorbike it just keeps going and going at your limit of intensity.
My thoughts are that if you have a coach, you sure are doing a lot of homework.
Anyway, what Francois said is right on the money. Working at around lactate turnpoint (Iām reading Noakesā this weekā¦) in a consistent basis is the single best way to improve 40k TT perfomance. Anything between 20 and 60min of total work time with rests that are up to 1/4 of the workbout will work. The examples are endless, I donāt know whatās the deal with the fixation with the 2x20minā¦ Oh wait, some guru of the week recommended itā¦
How it fits on the periodization is up to the person actually doing the periodization and the objectives of the different mesocycles.
Good thread. Iām keen to get some advice too. I went from 1:10 in '03 to a tad under 1:05 (once) on a 40K flat course last season and would like to drop 2-3 minutes this year. Upping my mileage should help. At this point Iām 20 percent ahead of last year (time-wise anyway). But that mileage is necessary as my first HIM is in the works. Good luck! -TB
One way to get over the āletting up on the top of a hillā thing is to pick an object (sign, electric pole, roadkill, whatever) just OVER the crest of the hill and do repeats on the hill, sprinting over the top to that object.
One way to get over the āletting up on the top of a hillā thing is to pick an object (sign, electric pole, roadkill, whatever) just OVER the crest of the hill and do repeats on the hill, sprinting over the top to that object.
Iām not saying that there are not many different good ways to replicate the benefits of motorpacing. Your suggestion is a great one, but roadkill wonāt yell out that you arenāt cracking, you just think you are cracking, and you can push it for another 50 meters. A good motorpacer will offer encouragment/harassment in appropriate dosage to push you further than you would have on your own - of course, so can strong friends on a group ride.
For the record, yes, I have gotten faster with the new bike. My speed is FASTER and my times are LOWER as opposed to my road bike with aero bars where my speed was SLOWER and my times were HIGHER. Glad we could clear that up! Loving it in Austin, āCenter of the Triathlon Universe,ā Robert