Last night riding home I can feel some tenderness just above my left knee. Hmmm. My inner thighs also seem to be touching the seatpost more than I've noticed before. <Shrug> The handlebars.. seems like I'm constantly reaching for them. ???
This morning the coin dropped and I figured it out. Pulled over on the bike path, looked at the saddle and found that it was jammed alllll the way back as far as it could go. No amount of painful whacking with my hand would free it, and I don't carry tools (huh-huh, except for one) This probably happened at Attleboro. Three consecutive races and 135 laps seem enough for such a malfunction. Those last two lefts on the course aren't exactly smooth.
And yes, as long as there are no preconditions about equipment, I accept the challenge to ride a 6:32 at the Bob Beal TT this year. (Last year I did a 7:12 with no aero advantage whatsoever) Let the taunting begin.
Should I do intervals at my CP6? Should I do 3 mile intervals? Should I do CP6 intervals for 6:30?.. or for 3 miles?.. whichever comes first? Decisions.. Help me NegaCoach. Read some more articles about power and get back to me please.
7 comments:
First off, if you were taking left turns at Attleboro, you're in worse shape than I thought.
You may use any equipment you choose at Attleboro. Personally, I hope you win, because I sure as hell don't want to down a 40 of this shit.
How to train for this? I don't think you need to get specific. Train your normal program. The bigger question is, if you were going to do a 6 minute interval, how would you do it? If you tried to hold the same power the entire duration, would that be the fastest way? Somewhere out there you can probably find a power file from a pursuit racer.
My approach to TT's is to go as fast as I can, not as hard as I can. Which is one reason why I don't see the power meter as the last word. Even on the cyclingpeaks web page, it says if that were the case we may as well race on ergometers.
hey- ya lucky, at least with your saddle malfunction you haven't poked a hole in your scrotum yet!
don't press your luck! I got off easy... others haven't...
I dunno solo - if you look over at analytical cycling ya need power to go fast...
on that bob beal course, it so damn short that i'd ride the first part at your CP5 or harder and then go all mental and break through the pain wall and finish that little uphill with fire...
heck you'll do better now with the motivation at least...
head over to analytical cycling, and play with the numbers, come up with avg speed and times based on power and what not...
having the numbers, using the numbers and looking back at the numbers are all very different...
and yeah... erg racing... they do that in rowing... the folks who pull the biggest numbers in the Crash B's (at least back in the day) generally were not the ones even close to winning the Head of the Charles...
there's more to riding a bike than making power...
anyone making the argument to dimish it's usefulness is just jealous.
Fact that solo spends 50% of his internet time playing with numbers at analyticalcycling.com is enough to show that he really does want a power meter ;)
The calculator doesn't help much for flat TT's because you can only guess your drag numbers.
To me, there is a big difference between "good" and "good value." While power meters may be "good" I don't see any of them on the market being a "good value." If you have tons of money, this makes no difference.
Repeating what I said yesterday, the 'net is full of you guys who don't train, then buy a power meter, start training, and then sing the praises of the thing. Training is much more effective than not training.
The HR monitor argument is just dumb. Why do you assume that not training with power means training by HR? Furthermore, there is not a single power meter on the market that does not record heart rate. So if it's so meaningless, why bother?
If I wanted a power meter, and I thought it was the best use of the money, I'd just go buy one. I'm spending a few thousand a year on cycling equipment as it is, so I could certainly work it in. So don't think I'm jealous of you underage slowpokes. But, you're doing a disservice to any aspiring racers who respect your opinion. There are several aspects of training that neither of you have ever even mentioned on your blogs. Maybe because they haven't been marketed or spoon-fed to you.
I spent $500 on a thing that records my riding, just happens to record power and heart rate (when it is working), not to mention speed and all that crap.
yeah even that was still more than a Polar thing... but... not THAT much more than the downloadable recording ones...
And i don't really train. I just ride my GD bike...
i suppose i should post that in my blog...
hell no one should listen to me about racing bikes and that shit - me of all people...
i'm a mechanic... i ain't prolly ever gonna be anything but a Cat 4 on the road... i am a data whore... i have aspirations of training, just haven't managed to do much of it more than a month or two strung together...
i like the looks of this plan...
AM's program
those intervals - long enough to use HR likely, but in essence that is what the Bikeworks TTs are. Mid week intervals surrounded by decent saddle time...
I'm not a coach - i don't even pretend to be one like Curly or Nega... people spend stupid money on bike shit... for me the pt lets me focus on the training side of things instead of spending $500 on a wheel set that won't motivate me to do intervals more effectively...
it is about motivation. some people have it built in, internal...
some folks don't have that and need to find it somewhere...
sometimes the power meters ARE the motivation that can begin the process of being 'fast'
*shrug*
and murat - turn the effing word verification crap off...
it's just annoying...
Ge, you mean you're not going to have a PT on your cross bike?
I can't read a display without glasses anyway, so I go by feel.
If you setup a practice cross course and do laps, it's pretty easy to tell what "threshold" or race pace is compared to just dogging it. Get on a course and go for 15 minutes, that's what AFM is saying.
He is a smart guy and he has an articulate way of sharing his experience.
And the word verification BLOWS.
Left turns? I'm an idiot. I was retracing the course in my mind, in reverse.
Coach is going to have me do lots of VOmax work to prepare. Zone 5a which is 120-130% of FT watts. I tend to go off like a rocket, fade a bit in the middle and then find my second wind in the final 1/3. Much rather start out a little soft and very gradually accelerate all the way to the line. I should be on top of the gear in the last 1/4 mile and hit top speed at the very end, not the beginning.
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