Newbie Tips

[rsvdaz]

Hi all - Born again rider here..although from the MTB camp!

I have foolishly entered myself into the 100k of the Dartmoor Classic on the 27th June- I figured after dusting off 15yr old Saracen Forcetrak that it wasnt upto the job - So im now the proud owner of a Spesh Rockhopper.

Need to get into a bit of a training regime..which by when the classic comes around will help me shift around 2.5 -3 stone of the excess baggage I seem to have aquired!

Im planing to get out at least 3 times a week with 1 ride a distance primarily ride where im looking to increase distance by at least 10% a week with another ride in the week to take in some hills...plenty of them in Devon and the other ride of interval - sprint /recovery. All in im lookng by at least 2 weeks before the classic to be able to get 55 miles under my belt a ride with the view of winging the last 10-12 miles on the day.

Any tips for endurance/cadence rates would be greatly received.

I wasnt planning to change my knobbly tires to slicks till probably a month before the day so I will really notice the difference when I do change! - any recommedations on which tyres would be suitable?

oh..im hoping for a bronze medal and the lump of granite..which means I have to do it within 6 hours..is this do-able?

 

[I am Spartacus]

You want to know if an average 17kph is doable?

Yes.
Can you do it?
No idea.
Next question.

Whats your aerobic engine like before worrying about what tyres etc?

 

[rsvdaz]

almost 41 year old man...3 stone over weight..my engine could do with a full service/tune up!
I was a regular gym go-er until about 3 years ago..3 spinning classes a week with 2 general weights/CV sessions in between.
Im currently going out 3 nights a week with a naval pt instructor friend fixed to a HRM and he has commented that my recovery time is pretty good

 

[marzjennings]

Endurance is the big thing and gym time, work with trainer and spinning classes won't really help. You need saddle time and lots of it. Plan to get at least a 3 hour ride in soon and see how you do. Also you'll need to work out how many calories an hour you burn as you'll need to take on calories as you go.

 

[I am Spartacus]

Then, the question should be what is the ride profile like and if it is 'lumpy' can you average ... switching to mph ... 17 or so?
You probably can..losing weight should be regarded as a bonus... by building that cv engine and then start to 'lose' your riding colleague by making it painful for him as well thats when you will know you'll have it in the bag

 

[rsvdaz]

Endurance is the big thing and gym time, work with trainer and spinning classes won't really help. You need saddle time and lots of it. Plan to get at least a 3 hour ride in soon and see how you do. Also you'll need to work out how many calories an hour you burn as you'll need to take on calories as you go.

ive done a few 6mile sedate rides over the weekend then a 7.5mile hill ride on monday night - averaged 7.5mph - planning a ride with distance thursday night circa 15miles then looking to stretch this by at least 10% a week - picking up a hrm for my own use to accuratly calculate calories lost - rough estimate is 550/hour?

Then, the question should be what is the ride profile like and if it is 'lumpy' can you average ... switching to mph ... 17 or so?
You probably can..losing weight should be regarded as a bonus... by building that cv engine and then start to 'lose' your riding colleague by making it painful for him as well thats when you will know you'll have it in the bag

Dartmoor is lumpy!

 

[ttcycle]

Ok

You probably want to be focusing on distance and endurance intially, The best way to train for the distance is to ride one and a half of the distance of the event you're training for. Then as you get stronger, concentrate more on the hills and the intervals. You want to build up a good basis of fitness on the bike first before hills etc. 10% increase is right but once after three weeks have a rest week where you ramp everything down for recovery and to let your body adapt.

 

[rsvdaz]

ok am I reading your right... I should be aiming for 150K..trouble is living in Devon your not going to get that sort of distance without encountering a hill!

 

[ttcycle]

That's fine if you meet a hill- just take it as it comes- but more intensive full on training should take place when you can do the distance - the other alternative is to plan how long you want to ride it in and be able to do 1 and half that.
Plus 15 miles is not really a long ride

 

[I am Spartacus]

150k ride is serious time and effort.
I would recommend rides circa 40 miles or so and get those rides in 'good physical order' ..adding another 20 miles should not be a problem.
Dont get mile obsessed.

 

[ttcycle]

150k ride is serious time and effort.
I would recommend rides circa 40 miles or so and get those rides in 'good physical order' ..adding another 20 miles should not be a problem.
Dont get mile obsessed.

+1 start with that for now

 

[jimboalee]

The way to improve your endurance is to encourage capillarisation of the muscles and get more alveoli to do their thing. The way to do this is to shock them into action.
Read up what 'Intervals' are. The high intensity interval should be at Lactate Threshold.


[The answer is it all depends on your level of fitness at the time you stopped training.

For those riders who train all year round and race, if they stopped for say 3 months then it is estimated they would lose half of their aerobic fitness in that time. On the other hand if you started from scratch and trained for 8 weeks then stopped you would lose all of your aerobic fitness within the next 8 weeks.

If you can't get out on the bike then you should do something else to get the heart rate up such as running or swimming or use the turbo. IMO the mistake that most people make is to measure your training levels in terms of miles or hours on the bike. IMO 2-3 hours high quality training a week, (e.g. LT 2 x 20 minutes) on the turbo or rollers, will more than keep you ticking over during periods of bad weather conditions.

This sort of training is best done every other day; so hard one day then next day easy or nothing at all. If it feels too hard then ride easy as the body may not have recovered sufficiently. I also bung in a couple of hours of gym work.

I would always compare this situation with when I was tapering for a particular race. To taper you reduce the mileage and then enhance the quality of the training to produce the performance you want. The same principle applies when you can't get on the bike in the winter. Of course you need the base mileage but training your top end in the warm can be very beneficial as you will notice the next time you ride.]


This was posted by a member whose login name is Bill Gates. Much more in 'Health, Fitness and Training' dept.

Where you live, you won't be hard pushed to find some roads which get you to LT, Lactate Threshold.

 

[rsvdaz]

cheers for the tips everyone.
although cold its been ok to get out on the bike.

should i be changing the knobblies to slicks now

 

[PpPete]

To get the weight off - low intensity miles, lots of them.

Don't worry about the Lactate Threshold stuff just yet.

 

[ttcycle]

Yeah maybe no need to do straight away but it will be easier to cycle on slicks- make sure you get plenty of practice with slicks before the big day though