A sobering ride

losidan

Senior Retro Guru
So there I am this morning giving it the beans on my ten mile tt route. I knocked two minutes off my mtb tt time last week so thought I was getting better. I hear some voices and ten super fast lycra clad missiles just cruise past chatting amongst themselves :shock: :shock:

A harsh reminder I have a long way to go yet :shock:
 
i used to be one of those guys, then i started working in the bike trade and i eventually became the guy getting passed, now i have been out of the bike trade for a year i'm going back to being one of those guys again.

it can be done, it just takes time. :D
 
This year Ive started going out with a road club after a many-years-long layoff. Its amazin how quickly you get fit going out with them rather than trying to do it alone. You must be prepared to suffer, in the places you dont want to, for it to happen. That's something I cant do when riding alone.
The steel bike takes some stick tho' among all the latest carbon bling. Still its good when you manage to drop someone (no, its not like a race, just the odd ding dong - we always regroup)
 
pigman":hf3gptn0 said:
This year Ive started going out with a road club after a many-years-long layoff. Its amazin how quickly you get fit going out with them rather than trying to do it alone. You must be prepared to suffer, in the places you dont want to, for it to happen. That's something I cant do when riding alone.
The steel bike takes some stick tho' among all the latest carbon bling. Still its good when you manage to drop someone (no, its not like a race, just the odd ding dong - we always regroup)

Riding with a club is also the best way I've found of getting (and keeping) fit. Although not at the mo :LOL:
 
losidan":2u6x1fqd said:
I hear some voices and ten super fast lycra clad missiles just cruise past chatting amongst themselves :shock: :shock:

Happens to me all the time - HOW DO THEY DO IT :evil:
 
To be fair to you it's much easier to ride fast in a group. Ever noticed how often the pro tour peleton can be riding along chatting away at the same speed as (or even faster than) their individual TT speeds.

Sure there's the fact that when you're following there's a lot less wind resistance to overcome, and bizarrely the guy at the front also has less wind resistance when there's somebody on his wheel. However that doesn't seem to account for all of it so maybe there's the psychological effect of riding alone to consider.

Also there is the small matter of machinery. I never subscribed to the idea that spending a lot of money on equipment makes you quicker. I once borrowed a friend's carbon fibre "superbike" and rode my usual benchmark ten mile out and back and took over a minute out of my best time. Familiarity with the bike would probably have trimmed a bit more of too. At first this depressed me, then I realised that, in riding my benchmark routes, I'm testing myself and owning a faster bike wouldn't actually make me any fitter or more able. It would just mean I'd got a lot less disposable income. If I wanted to test myself against others I'd start riding competitively.

So if these guys were on something horribly expensive, and they usually are, that would have helped them too.
 
Riding faster

Hi guys
In my experience the quickest way to get faster is to ride with guys, girls that are faster.
Fitness and machinery etc aside I have found you will get faster quicker doing this rather than riding on your own.You tend to push yourself a bit harder and for longer than by yourself and all of a sudden its not an effort as much, you've just picked up your average.
My experience over the years has proved this time and again, not just with cycling but from racing motocross, enduro, dirt track and even speedway back home.
I have also found that as I get older, even when my fitness is up, that I dont have the 'punch' or anywhere near the acceleration I did when younger. Not that I had much to start with but I just have less now ;)
Thats the beauty of cycling though, its many things to different people and abilities. It doesnt matter how slow or fast you ride, MTB or road, touring even unicycling as long it brings a smile, then it cant be bad.

Jamie

Jamie
 
At least a decade ago, possibly longer when I was quite fit, after lots of touring and mtb I found myself piling up a really steep bit of Tarmac near my home on my beloved mtb. I was really going for it, feeling the burn, proper adrenaline buzz.

Then two lycra clad TDF wanabe's in high gear passed me and disapeared over the crest, chatting calmly between them selves :shock: :shock:

I faded and collapsed at the roadside, my determination wiped out in a single moment.

Did I then go out and train, train, train to become one of these titans. Nah, too much like hard work, I just lowered my sights somewhat :LOL:
 
No shame in that. I wish I had the disposable income and time to train as hard as proper Lycra Warriors do, but I'm just grateful to be out getting a little bit fitter every time. Don't beat yourself up - if you trained as hard as them, you would probably get close to that speed.
 
I wish I had the disposable income and time to train as hard as proper Lycra Warriors do,

If you don't have much time to train, find a quiet hill and sprint all out for 30-60s up it. But I do mean ***all out***. Loop down, recover for 5 minutes. Repeat for 30-60mins. Don't ride hard the next day. Or even take a rest. If you don't have a hill, then sprint from zero to max, preferably into a head wind. You can either do this once a week or make it all of your training for several weeks, except for slow recovery rides.

This will make you faster, even over a distance. It's what I was taught to do 20 years ago and it really worked for me. Now people understand that it increases your lactate threshold (the rationale I was given was quite different - about blood flow and muscle contractions) and it's a big part of LanceArmstrong's training. If you've got very little training time and a decent fitness base, it's the way to go. Look up "lactate threshold training" and "high intensity interval training".

But don't do this if you're any doubts at all about your heart!
 

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