Ttn's epic PC ride REALLY appreciated now

Tim, I don’t know how you survived 100 your first time out on PC’s. I only made it 44 miles in 2:15 minutes…as you might guess, it was planned to be a 2 hour out-and-back ride. And, I’ve been on the trainer for over a month on them. Didn’t you do yours right out of the box?

I was doing OK…averaged over 20mph going out including my warm-up, rpm’s 80-85, coasting down every little hill for the rest. It still amazes me that my speed is faster uphill with PC’s even when I’m tired. Even if I’m getting tired at the end of a flat and a hill is coming up, I just stay in the gear I was in and either stay seated and motor up, or stand up and accelerate over the hill…then, I collapse into a coast for a hip flexor recovery. Where I’m slower is on the downhills (I certainly don’t pedal downhill…I use them for hip flexor/ant.tib. rest).

At one point, with a little tailwind, I was cruising along at 28 mph in top gear, sitting up, HR less than 150. Blasted by three riders like I was on a motorcycle. Every minute or so, I’d take a 15 second break, and go back to cruising. Heck, I was going faster on this section than almost any downhill. In another couple of months…well…I hope this newfound speed translates to sustainable speed…23-24 would be nice!

Still felt good at the turnaround point, then at 1:20 I hit a hip-flexor and anterior tibialis wall. I just had to stop for a while. Downed a gel and rubbed my aching anterior tibialis for a few minutes (you can get arrested in some jurisdictions for doing that in public, you know), then set out again. My rpm’s were OK for a while after every rest stop, but soon dropped to 65-70.

Tim, your 100 mile first time out ride is just freakin’ incredible. Saaaaa-lute! I certainly didn’t have another 56 in me today.

Francois, I’m aiming for 3 hours next weekend. If I can do that, I’ll try for 4 the following weekend, as you suggested. But, I’ve a sprint tri coming up March 22nd, I need to figure out what to do with all this to do well then.

What tri are you doing march 22nd?

Thats the same date that i am doing one, and i was just curious if it is the same one?

-Kevin

In Charlotte…used to be called the AMEX, I think now it is MAP.

waytogo, ktalon ! ya never know till ya try. :slight_smile: i got them one day and installed them. i did two 1 hour shakedown rides the next day. then i took off the following morning and rode the 100. i was desparate, recall, as i had committed to using the PC’s exclusively and had an IM coming in a couple months. also, i too did a loose out and back and so HAD to get back. i did suffer like a dog in there for 10 or 15 miles around mi 65. anyway, seeing as i am not an elite athlete by even the remotest stretch i think stupidity had a good bit to do with it. and, i have xc skate skiied for a long time and that uses your hip flexors a goodly bit. like you i was very surprised that i could maintain speed even when barely able to PC - it helped illustrate to me that pedalling forward and not against myself is what i want to do. it was a really fun day. :slight_smile:

I think you will be surprised how much more you progress between now and March. 100 miles should be a “piece of cake” by then. And a sprint is such a short distance i suspect you will be able to ride the PC’s hard the entire way if you chose too. It is too early to decide what to do the week before the race. Keep doing what you are doing and it will sort itself out (or you can come here and get at least 10 different opinions, including some that you should ditch the things :slight_smile: )

Thanks, Dr’s Day and Francois. I will probably do my first race on regular cranks, just to be sure…but, that is over a month away, who knows? I am able to get into a position that is almost my best aero position for short periods…but, that is a few more progressions away for me, too, at least to be able to stay down for long periods of time. But, man-oh-man, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel…and I’m moving toward that light at ever increasing speed!

I know it’s still early (my 60 days aren’t even up, yet!), but I really think PC training is going to allow me to ride over 1 mph faster on the same courses I did last year, and I know I’ll be running faster. How do I incorporate PC’s into making me swim better? If they aren’t able to help my swim, then that is my only complaint about the product!

How do I incorporate PC’s into making me swim better? If they aren’t able to help my swim, then that is my only complaint about the product!

Tuck them into your suit during swim practice. :slight_smile:

Frank

How do I incorporate PC’s into making me swim better? If they aren’t able to help my swim, then that is my only complaint about the product!

Tuck them into your suit during swim practice. :slight_smile:

Frank

Better yet, hold them in your hands while doing butterfly.

Nice job Ktalon! I received my pc’s about the same time you did (3d week of December). I did my first “long” ride outdoors on Friday; 50 miles. I did not worry about pressing speed or cadence; my focus was on staying in zone 2 (base training for IM). I rode in an upright position the entire ride. My cadence was in the low 70’s for most of the ride. Before pc’s, my cadence was usually about 85-90. My speed on the flats was about the same as pre-pc at this heartrate (17-19mph), but I saw a BIG difference on the hills. I had no trouble powering up the hills in the big ring, at about 3mph faster than pre-pc. The cool thing was that I was not toasted at the top of the hills as I usually have been in the past, even when spinning in an easy gear. I was able to accelerate at the crest with ease, and my heartrate was about 10bpm below what it usually has been when climbing in the past. This is a big change for me; I have always been a lousy climber. At the end of the ride, I felt like I could have done the course again (and probably should have tried). Instead, I did a 4 mile slow run, which was quite easy. I am very pleased with these pc things, and relieved that I can finally go the distance without my hip flexors falling apart on me. My next project is to start phasing in some “aero” work, then I’ll focus on cadence. My race plan at present is to keep the pc’s on for sprints, and take them off for 1/2 IM and IM distance; we’ll see.

Maybe you could tape them to your feet to act as “fins”.

Frank

I can hear the lifeguard now…“Are you happy to see me, or are those PC’s in your trunks?”
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of the PC’s on the swim, especially during the race. Just think how much room all the other athletes will give you if they have more to worry about than just your elbows and feet hitting them :slight_smile: And you could spot yourself on television on those helicopter overheads. Just look for the loan swimmer with about 10 feet of clear space around him.

Are you surprised at the lack of knee pain even though we’re doing these low rpm rides? Mine usually would begin to ache after only one ride at rpms under 90. Now, all my rides are under 90 and my knees are just fine! It’s been suggested that perhaps we are balancing out the stresses better by using those old lazy hammies more now…I don’t really care why it is working, I’m just glad it is!

Those hills really are more fun now, aren’t they?

Ktalon,

I know what you mean about the knees, and I don’t have a clue why big gear work on pc’s should be less stressful than it was without pc’s. Truthfully, big gear work on pc’s doesn’t feel very hard, it just feels “natural.” The weirdest part to me is that I can ride for 3 hours in big gears and still feel like I can run. I was always afraid of big gears (low cadence) because of the adverse impact on the run.

Tom wrote: Truthfully, big gear work on pc’s doesn’t feel very hard, it just feels “natural.”

Ah! I think you just answered the question…we’re not really pushing harder than we used to, we just aren’t fighting against ourselves like we used to, so there isn’t more stress! Light-bulb moment!