Cycling Workouts: Discussion/Encouragement/Sharing/Banter

[HLaB]

I took advantage of the near empty roads to do a VO2 Max session (Hubbard). It was a bit longer than I planned as I had to divert up Woodwalton Hill rather than the gradual Stangate Hill (the old A1) which had been resurfaced with loose chippings.

I had another diversion as I rushed to beat the light. I wanted to go up the old A1 to Stilton and back via London Road (the quickest route) but the Highways Agency also took the opportunity of near empty roads to close the A1(M). The old A1 was queued as far as I could see so I doubled back and diverted up to Holme, up Holme Road and to Yaxley instead. Annoyingly that saw me on the wrong side of a now busy London Road so I had to come back on the bumpy cycleway. I’d barely seen a car to that point, but some drivers were using that route to bypass the queue too.





Hubbard



Session Complete, Buckworth:



Made it

 

[Ming the Merciless]

My form is looking good. May have been for long ride over weekend.

 

[Dogtrousers]

Well, my totally unstructured structured training worked OK. I had a fairly daunting big target (two ascents of the Grand Colombier) so for the past 8 months or so I threw in two weekday turbo sessions in addition to whatever I was doing at weekends. At weekends I tried to push both distance and climbing targets. Mission accomplished. I'd never done anything like it before and didn't know if I would manage it even once, but it all went well.

I gave up on the idea of trying to be structured or scientific about my turbo sessions and just did something that felt hard. Mainly intervals at threshold, or over/under. In so doing my ramp test measured FTP increased by 10 watts or so, but I'm suspicious of how precise/reproducible these ramp tests are so that could have been experimental variation.

So now I don't have any kind of target - at least not this year - but I want to try and keep my two turbo sessions a week habit going. Normally they are supposed to be 1hr sessions, but they often end up at 40 or 45 minutes as I start late. I might give Sweet Spot sessions a bash. I now need to figure out what that actually means. But they sound cool enough.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

I might give Sweet Spot sessions a bash. I now need to figure out what that actually means

Slightly less hard for longer. It’s basically tempo to just under threshold type efforts.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

To add the main thing is whatever keeps you consistent without getting bored. A couple of hard sessions a week (hill repeats works for me) plus whatever floats your boat on other days is enough to keep your existing fitness.

 

[Dogtrousers]

To add the main thing is whatever keeps you consistent without getting bored.

This is the conclusion that I've come to as well.

I've read articles and books on training but it all goes in one ear and out the other. I'm no kind of athlete really - and as long as I'm doing something and I enjoy it (or at least don't find it boring) that's good enough.

That's why I go for hard interval sessions. An easy hour on the turbo is really dull - a hard session gives you more to concentrate on and a feeling of satisfaction.

A visit to the Tourmalet is pencilled in with my cycling friend in roughly a year. I reckon if I can maintain my current level of fitness and maybe even lose a bit of weight (ha!) I'll be fine.

 

[Norry1]

Well, my totally unstructured structured training worked OK. I had a fairly daunting big target (two ascents of the Grand Colombier) so for the past 8 months or so I threw in two weekday turbo sessions in addition to whatever I was doing at weekends. At weekends I tried to push both distance and climbing targets. Mission accomplished. I'd never done anything like it before and didn't know if I would manage it even once, but it all went well.

I gave up on the idea of trying to be structured or scientific about my turbo sessions and just did something that felt hard. Mainly intervals at threshold, or over/under. In so doing my ramp test measured FTP increased by 10 watts or so, but I'm suspicious of how precise/reproducible these ramp tests are so that could have been experimental variation.

So now I don't have any kind of target - at least not this year - but I want to try and keep my two turbo sessions a week habit going. Normally they are supposed to be 1hr sessions, but they often end up at 40 or 45 minutes as I start late. I might give Sweet Spot sessions a bash. I now need to figure out what that actually means. But they sound cool enough.

Sweetspot is an intensity between 88 - 95% of your FTP. If you are doing shorter turbo sessions, I'd think about doing something like over/unders or VO2 max efforts which will complement your weekend distance rides. You can get good benefits in say a 45 minute workout at these intensities and you won't get bored.

 

[Legs]

@Dogtrousers , do you have a smart turbo? I find that using the turbo erg mode to control resistance allows me not to have to concentrate on holding a specific power, nor to have to match my gearing and cadence to the virtual terrain, which means I can focus on smoothing out my pedal stroke, transcending the pain of the interval, gathering up my lungs for the next effort (or, in the case of Z2 sessions, concentrating on whatever I'm watching on TV).

Indievelo, which is free atm, has a good library of basic workouts.

 

[Dogtrousers]

@Legs I do have a smart turbo. (Tacx direct drive - I forget which model) In fact the smartness is the only reason I use it because it can make things interesting. And on Saturdays when I don't have enough time to go out riding I can grab 2 hours first thing to "ride up" Ventoux, or the Tourmalet or some such, with a video accompaniment. If I were to go outside for just 2 hours then most of that would be spent negotiating suburban London which isn't much fun.

Focusing on pedal technique might be something I might try. If for no other reason than to keep the interest levels up. I subscribed to Trainerroad for a bit until I decided I wasn't taking things seriously enough to gain any value. They had some workouts which concentrated on technique.

Z2 on the trainer doesn't really appeal. Because I'm a lazy bugger, much of my outside riding gravitates to Z2 anyway. I find it hard to increase my effort levels on the road unless I'm going uphill. I may tell myself to, but I soon forget and relax and start enjoying the ride.

 

[Legs]

@Legs I do have a smart turbo. (Tacx direct drive - I forget which model) In fact the smartness is the only reason I use it because it can make things interesting. And on Saturdays when I don't have enough time to go out riding I can grab 2 hours first thing to "ride up" Ventoux, or the Tourmalet or some such, with a video accompaniment. If I were to go outside for just 2 hours then most of that would be spent negotiating suburban London which isn't much fun.

It's very cool how you can do that, isn't it? I love the convenience of being able to get a quick ride in at 5:30am, and knowing that I'll be in the kitchen for breakfast at 6:15 when my kids emerge. No worries about being waylaid by punctures, mechanical mishaps, accidents, or getting cold and wet.

Focusing on pedal technique might be something I might try. If for no other reason than to keep the interest levels up. I subscribed to Trainerroad for a bit until I decided I wasn't taking things seriously enough to gain any value. They had some workouts which concentrated on technique.

It's something I don't think I do enough. Some of the workouts I use on Zwift set you a target cadence for certain intervals. I like the high cadences (110rpm+); not so much the 50rpm strength work!

Z2 on the trainer doesn't really appeal. Because I'm a lazy bugger, much of my outside riding gravitates to Z2 anyway. I find it hard to increase my effort levels on the road unless I'm going uphill. I may tell myself to, but I soon forget and relax and start enjoying the ride.

I don't think that much of my outside riding even touches Z2! Z2 on the trainer is definitely something that needs a good film to accompany it, because I don't feel it's really worthwhile doing it in tiny chunks - it feels rubbish to ride for an hour and find that you've accrued less than 50 TSS!

 

[CXRAndy]

I do Z2 with big weekend group rides on Zwift 100-200 riders.


I sometimes split the screen and watch a film

 

[HLaB]

I had a go at South Twin -1 tonight. I succeeded in making the VO2 max intervals VO2max but only 109-113%, they were supposed to be 120% and my HR was only just hitting 90% according to garmin, although I don’t think I saw higher than 88%. Its been a long day after another sleepless night (dam hayfever and hot nights) after a hard cycling weekend and it was done on an empty stomach. I should have worn long fingers too! In what was a perfect temperature for the rest of me my chemo damaged fingers went numb and sore. I dont think the unusual wind behind me helped with anything either. I didn’t feel able to confidently get out power until I started going into it.





Lol, after I had a go at local but half way up it I got caught by a farmer in land rover (with trailer) and whilst I could have been awkward with the road being narrow, I decided to let off power slightly and started to move to the side slightly. Before I even started that though he started to push through a non existent gap. Obviously not an England fan as I thought the roads would be empty at the back of 8pm


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[Legs]

A hot, sweaty half-hour of SS work, followed by some sprint work (inspired by watching the Olympics on the big screen).

Achieved a highest-ever peak power 😎

 

[Legs]

My wife goes away once a month for the weekend to see do chores for her elderly parents, so I usually do a long Z2 Zwift on those Saturday nights. Last night, however, I did a ride from the Zwift workout library that was manageable but tough.

The real killer was that the 5-minute Z3 block on the way up each pyramid was to be done at 110rpm, and the 2-minute Z5 effort at the top was to be done at 70rpm. All the way down that second block, my legs felt super-heavy and I was struggling to turn the pedals!

 

[HLaB]

I set up a new plan last night a general fitness one, as oppose to a TT plan which I’ve done for the last few years. I think it mixes more workouts instead of mainly VO2max and Threshold, well it gave me a SS workout and given I haven’t done one through TR in a while it was quite a low level (Jordan SS Lv 2.0). I felt about that or at least how I think a SS Level 2.0 workout should feel.



I maybe should have been more aggressive on my plan set up too as TR recommended but my new commute is on faster/ busier roads so I decided not to do a workout after that yesterday and set up back to back workouts for when I WFH, and I decided to be more conservative. My new plan is:
Sun - Group Ride 2-3h
Mon - Rest
Tues - Commute 110mins am, 105mins pm
Wed - TR Session (Used to be Tues)
Thu - TR Session
Fri - Commute 110mins am, 105mins pm
Sat - Group Ride 3-3.5h