Cycling Workouts: Discussion/Encouragement/Sharing/Banter

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Legs

usually riding on Zwift...
Location
Staffordshire
... then to get it showing your W'bal in intervals.icu, you need to input your W' in your Settings, here:
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Thanks @Legs - have just done that. I’m not racing much so not sure how accurate that number really is, but it’s definitely the most accurate number I have, so I will use that and see how representative I feel it is.

I wasn’t aware of the zwiftracing.app website either so should probably go and check that out 🙂
 

Ming the Merciless

There is no mercy
Location
Inside my skull
After a month my pace is slower but I feel healthier and certainly less fatigued. Hopefully the pace will come back.

It will, it just takes time then you’ll start seeing break throughs. I follow a mostly Z2 volume with a sprinkling of intensity on top training regime. Since Nov 21 that has seen my Z2 pace increase 3 mph, but it took a full 4 months before the needle starting moving. It’ll move a little at a time, once you see the initial movement. Keep up with volume, frequency, consistency, progressive overload and recovery and then be patient. Quick gains it isn’t, but sustainable gains it is.
 

Ming the Merciless

There is no mercy
Location
Inside my skull
A 2.5 hour ride today, mostly Z2 with some three 20 min efforts in low Z3. Self selected cadence today, which for me meant average 80 rpm and max 121 rpm. Mostly nice and sunny but the rain that blew in gave me a proper soaking, fortunately sun back out for final leg home and got back not too damp.

DFD327C6-2FE3-4AD6-BA7B-DA5C72D1536A.jpeg
 

nagden

Über Member
Location
Normandy, France
It will, it just takes time then you’ll start seeing break throughs. I follow a mostly Z2 volume with a sprinkling of intensity on top training regime. Since Nov 21 that has seen my Z2 pace increase 3 mph, but it took a full 4 months before the needle starting moving. It’ll move a little at a time, once you see the initial movement. Keep up with volume, frequency, consistency, progressive overload and recovery and then be patient. Quick gains it isn’t, but sustainable gains it is.

Thanks very much for that. It's nice to hear of someone else has had success with this method
 
OP
OP
Norry1

Norry1

Legendary Member
Location
Warwick
Thanks very much for that. It's nice to hear of someone else has had success with this method

What outcomes are you looking for @nagden ?
 
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OP
Norry1

Norry1

Legendary Member
Location
Warwick
I am hoping to be able to complete a 200 km audax next year and take it from there. At my age I am not looking for speed but to be able to sustain a reasonable pace for Audax riding.

Ah, then your new approach is very likely to help.

You mentioned before that you struggled with fatigue. Have you tried using some of the metrics to check when you are over-training? Even Strava has a Fitness/Freshness/Form chart which does this.
 

nagden

Über Member
Location
Normandy, France
Ah, then your new approach is very likely to help.

You mentioned before that you struggled with fatigue. Have you tried using some of the metrics to check when you are over-training? Even Strava has a Fitness/Freshness/Form chart which does this.

I use Strava as a record but I don't use it for anything else. I do feel better with this approach so I am happy that it suits me, if it results in a better performance I will be happy. I ride more by feel these days I have a HRM but only refer to it on hills just to make sure I am not overdoing it. Thanks for your reply.
 

Ming the Merciless

There is no mercy
Location
Inside my skull
am hoping to be able to complete a 200 km audax next year and take it from there. At my age I am not looking for speed but to be able to sustain a reasonable pace for Audax riding.

Ah I’ve been audaxing 12 years, with 10/11 of those years including the longer ones.

Do not think that speed does not matter, it does, but it’s your all day pace that matters. You still want to include the high intensity and not just think you only need to do the Z2 for audax. Z2 should still be your foundation but do include the intensity as Polarised does. When you hit a long or steep hill you’ll be glad you’ve done the intensity.

Because they are such long durations even small increases in speed make a difference.

At 18 km/h moving average you have a maximum of 2 hours 22 mins stopped time, and 11 hours 8 mins moving.

At 20 km/h moving average, you have maximum 3 hours 30 mins stopped time, with 10 hours moving.

At 22 km/h moving average, you have maximum 4 hours 24 mins stopped, and 9 hours 6 mins moving. That’s 2 hours less riding, than at 18 km/h, plus much more time to stop eat and have a break and digest food.

These are true moving averages rather than the ones reported by GPS set to auto pause when stopped at junctions etc. Auto pause often inflates moving averages by 1 or 2 km/h, good for the ego, but not your calculations for time limits.

The other mistake made in audax is not eating and drinking enough. This is often because what you can get away with on a 3-4 hour ride does not scale up at audax durations. Thus performance can drop off a cliff later on. You often see this with sportive riders new to audax. They speed off into the distance early on, riding tempo and above, only for you to pass them as they crawl along 6-7 hours later, having burnt their matches and realised gels don’t work for the duration.
 
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Legs

usually riding on Zwift...
Location
Staffordshire
So I squeezed in 70 minutes of Z2 with Coco before breakfast. My God, it’s boring! I’m not sure I’m cut out for RoboPacer rides on Zwift - you have to pay attention to the ‘action’ so that you don’t slip off the back or front of the group, but there’s never anything interesting happening. From now on, I might just do a 67% FTP workout while watching TV for this kind of session.
 
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