Testing Day

The previous day didn't definitively answer the question of whether my training was working. It's a complex question:

1. Does SST on the VT lend itself to improvements in shorter durations such as FTP on the VT?
2. Do increases in power on the VT translate to increased power on the road?
3. Do increases in power on the road translate to increased power climbing?

Yesterday, I seemed to be riding faster and not feeling discomfort at power outputs that used to be fairly taxing. To help satisfy my curiosity, I had an impromptu testing day.

Typically, testing is infrequent and planned out well in advance with a sufficient taper. It is typically not done when I have been subject to a high training load, the day after a hard ride, and certainly not after the first outdoor ride which introduces new stresses.

As a result, I expected to either be in agony a few minutes into the first 20 min interval or complete the workout but suffer like a dog the whole time. Interestingly enough, I did not find the workout taxing at all.



Late last fall, 3x20 at 270Wwas brutal even when I tapered for the test day. That was followed later in the year by 3x20 at 275W, 280W, and 285W, all at high PE. Imagine my surprise when 3x20 at 285W was no longer painful even when I wasn't particularly rested.

As a result, I have conservatively set my FTP to 290 VT watts or 300 SRM watts:

-5W for doing 3x20 instead of 1x60
+5W for not tapering
+5W because perceived exertion was low.

I still need to do a good amount of climbing outdoors before I can draw any concrete conclusions but the past two days provided enough validation to continue with my training without making any changes.

A little validation is good when it's 2 am and I'm watching the snow pile up while doing a 2000 kJ ride.

Opening Day

Today was unseasonably warm. Not unusual in Colorado but such days have been rare the past two winters. Last winter was dreadful but this winter has not been that much better in terms of ridable weather. It's been consistently cold even though there hasn't been that much snow.

As a consequence, a Sunday with 60F temperatures and level 3 winds saw riders swarming the reservoir. No doubt they were all anxious to get in an epic training ride in a futile attempt to undo months of detraining in one day. Good luck with that.

The personal significance of today was that it was my first outdoor ride in a long time. It's always an interesting day because it gives a little insight into the efficacy of my winter training or whether I've been wasting my time.

While you may never forget how to ride a bike, it may take a little time to remember. I felt detached, as if I was watching TV or playing some kind of video game rather than actually being on the bike. Simple things like slowing down to make a turn or dodging clumps of snow had to be relearned.

Grimace

Grimace has the distinct honor of being the first "kill" of the season. But don't feel sorry for him. Like all RRs, he brought it on himself.

On my 2nd trip around the park, I saw a few riders ahead of me. One was passing others but I was gaining him steadily without actually chasing him. As I got closer, I saw that he had a handlebar plug mirror and that he was using it. Unbelievably, my first RR encounter of the season entailed an RR playing keep away with me. His body language and form indicated that he was pushing hard to stay ahead of me. Among other things, he got down into his drops (I remained on the hoods) and got out of the saddle and hammered a few times.

I kept the pace steady at around 270W which caused me no discomfort whatsoever. After all, I'm just doing my thing and not chasing him. We hit the turnaround point at the other end of the park and he U-turned and paused for a drink. Not being one to take advantage of the situation, I slowed to drink as well and waited for him to begin accelerating.

He appeared to be fairly cooked already and maintaining the same steady pace, I soon drew even with him and then ahead. To his credit, he did not draft off of me when I was ahead of him and instead hung back a bit. I could see he was digging deep to keep up. His face was contorted with pain. He soon detonated completely and was out of sight. Elapsed time was perhaps 10 minutes.

name: Grimace
fitness rating: 5/10
aggressiveness: 4/10
pusillanimity: 5/10
arrogance: 5/10
special ability: can see behind w/o turning around


The Herm'

Later, I saw what appeared to be the remains of a group ride up ahead. Bringing up the rear were the really out of shape recreational riders. I passed small clumps of riders at a fairly good clip. The strong breeze was behind us at this time so speeds were high.

I soon got to the pointy end of the group and got to see who had shattered the group. It was a relatively small person with a QRR on its wheel. Usually, you can tell if a rider is male or female with a quick glance but not in this case.

Engage RR mind probe:

The Herm': "I'm rockin' this season, shattering this group ride."

[I go zipping by.]

The Herm': "Who the f%$k was that? I'd better give chase. My honor is on the line."

RR Slayer: "Was that a guy or a girl?"

[The Herm' holds the gap for a few moments and then fades. The gap grows rapidly and soon the Herm' is out of sight.]

The Herm': "Sh%t! I guess I'm not the sh%t."

RR Slayer: "I need to pee."

name: the Herm'
fitness rating: 5/10
aggressiveness: 5/10
pusillanimity: 5/10
arrogance: 5/10
special ability: can reproduce asexually

Anti-RR Tactics

Keep Away

RRs love to chase riders in front of them. But when you're aware you're being chased, the hunter becomes the hunted. This is best done discretely with a mirror. RRs will often put all their energy into trying to catch a rider in front of them, leaving nothing for later. It may require a L5 or L6 effort to maintain the gap because, unlike someone intent on actually getting a good workout, they're willing to put all their energy into a brief effort which means you may have to lift the pace above L3 or L4.

Allow the RR to get close but not too close. Once the RR has closed to within several bike lengths, match his accelerations and frustrate him by not letting close the final distance and claim his victory. It's often quite obvious you're being deliberately chased. RRs will dig so deep trying to close the final gap to you. When they fail and are exhausted, they will drop their pace a great deal, allowing the gap to grow rapidly. If you sit up and let them slowly chip away at the gap until they get close once again, they'll often think they have another chance to finally catch you and will put forth a big effort. Of course, you match their acceleration and continue to frustrate them. This pattern of accelerations and decelerations indicates you are being chased.


RR Baiting

This was my favorite new tactic last season. Many of my rides were at a park with one large hill and a lot of wide open area. You could see riders approaching the hill from quite a distance (#1 and 2). That often encouraged riders to engage in long chases in an attempt to "pip" me at the top (#3) or "Kloden" me. This usually happened when I was doing an easy ride and minding my own business only to get sneak attacked.

I decided to take advantage of this behavior by riding slowly towards the climb. Because I could see behind me, chasers lost the element of surprise. I would adjust my speed so that they would catch me on the final part of the hill, baiting them like I was a wounded elk--an easy kill. Just when they got within striking range, I would go absolutely ballistic and rocket up the remainder of the hill. This would often make the RR/QRR so angry that he would chase me hard all the way down the descent and across the flats. I can only imagine how much more frustrated they were when their attempt to teach me a lesson also failed.

Of course, it wasn't fair for the chaser to chase hard for such a long time while I rode at a leisurely pace until the very end. I'd be sprinting with relatively fresh legs while they were tired from their Herculean effort. But it would be hypocritical for an RR bent on a surprise attack to complain about fairness. It is particularly ironic because RRs are largely dependent on the element of surprise and pitting their perpetually fresh legs against your tired legs. With this strategy, it is the RR who is surprised and the one with the tired legs.



A mind probe of the RR at the time would go something like this:

RR Slayer: "Ah, there's a victim. But he's so far behind it would be nearly impossible for him to catch me no matter how slow I rode."

RR: "That rider is so far ahead that it'd be almost impossible to catch him no matter how slow he rides and how fast I ride."

RR: "You know, I'm gaining on him. Maybe I can pull this off."

RR: "Wow, look at how much distance I've closed. I'm a gifted climber. I should pour it all on. This is the validation that I so badly need."

RR: "I'm so close but it hurts so much. I've almost got him."

RR Slayer: "Steady...steady...jump!"

[I rocket away from my pursuer who is way too tired from chasing to even have a chance at following the acceleration.]

RR: "What the...? I'm going to chase his punk ass down and teach him a lesson."

[The RR fails to catch me.]

RR: "I cheated and I still lost. This is bullshit."


Possum

This is is a new tactic that I hope to try this season. It's less exciting than the other tactics but is an energy efficient way to deal with RRs when you're not willing to work that hard. A race initiated by an RR has an arbitrary finish line. There is no chase group and no group up the road. If it was an actual race, would you happily tow someone to the finish line so he can come around you? Absolutely not. What would be appropriate would be to force the other rider in front even if you have to play dead on the side of the road. It would probably be enough to simply stop pedaling and coast. Once the RR has taken the lead, simply get on his wheel until you find a nice place to attack. Turnabout is fair play and maybe the RR will learn how annoying it is to have someone do this to them. Because my workouts this season are far less structured, I no longer have to choose between adhering to my training plan and towing an RR to "victory."

Wind scale

With spring around the corner, we are bound to be subject to windy conditions. Having spent many years riding in the midwest, I've become acquainted with riding in windy conditions. I use a 5-point scale similar to tornadoes.

1. Imperceptible. Flags hang limp. Trees and other vegetation not moving.
2. Perceptible wind but not strong enough to make your bike ride better or worse.
3. A good stiff breeze. Enough wind to be annoying but does not compromise handling.
4. Wind strong enough to move the bike around a little but not dangerous. Very annoying.
5. The Hand of God. Control of bike compromised. Risk of being blown over or into traffic without time to react.

Dumb Post of the Day

Link

Hey, can you help me collect some data on bb resistance - AKA spin their BBs with their index finger? - NEW	Quote | Reply

I know this isn't scientific but I think it will be interesting...

Can you kindly remove (or hold back) the chain and give your crankset a good spin with your index finger?

Please report back how many spins your crankset spins and what type of bottom bracket you have.

My 1999 Ultegra 9speed with octalink (internal) bb gets 6 revolutions.
My 2007 XTR (external) bb gets 2 revolutions.

Dumb Post of the Day

Link

I don't have rollers, or any stationary device to measure speed or watts, but it would seem logical to me that your HR would be higher on the road because of the wind resistance outdoors. In other words, if you're going the same speed on the indoors on the trainer or outside on the road your HR would be higher lower indoors due to no wind resistance. Alternatively, if your speed varies but your wattage is the same bewteen indoors and outdoors, I'd think you're HR required to accomplish those watts would be lower indoors.

OK, more confusing than stupid but still entertaining.

Dumb Posts of the Day

http://www.bikeforums.net/showpost.php?p=5955668&postcount=13

If your frame is felxy and you race, I tihnk it's good for beginners, because you learn how to pedal efficiently to reduce the flex. Therefore your pedalstroke becomes awesome. I think that this is one of the reasons why the riders of the olden days had such magnificent pedal strokes.

http://www.bikeforums.net/showpost.php?p=5953014&postcount=48

Aerobic vs. anerobic refers to the energy system being used to power the muscles, not the muscles themselves. The muscles used by the aerobic system are exactly the same as the ones used in the anerobic system. Before the muscles can be powered, they must be adequate to get the job done. Weight lifting (modest weight, high reps; IOW, not power lifting) will build muscle useful to cyclists. As an example of this, I looked at some of Lance Armstrong's off season training sessions (they were posted on the web on some news site I was looking at). Many of his off season drills consisted of riding at 60 rpm! That's leg presses on the bike; i.e. weight training!

Intervals are a different beast and are used to train the energy systems. Long intervals train the aerobic energy system. Short intervals train the anerobic energy system. The muscles that these energy systems provide energy for are the same. There are no "anerobic muscles" or "aerobic muscles". If you don't have the strength in your legs to push your bike up a slope at a certain speed, you can do all the aerobic intervals you wish and you won't get considerably faster. You will simply get more comfortable riding the bike up a slope at a constant speed.

Perhaps you are talking about short twitch and long twitch muscle fibers. Short twitch produce power quickly (useful for sprinters), and long twitch are associated with endurance (useful for climbers). As far as I know, the ratio between the two is genetic and you cannot change the ratio by any sort of weight lifting or interval training.

As to the mimicing motion: weight lifting is about isolating and working only specific muscle groups. It is beneficial in that regard, and you modify the exercises to change from one muscle group to another. All sports use weight lifting to assist in building muscular strength, and none of this weight lifting can precisely mimic the actions of any specific sport.

Dumb Post of the Day

Today's winner:

http://forum.slowtwitch.com/gforum.cgi?post=1622542;sb=post_latest_reply;so=ASC;forum_view=forum_view_collapsed;;page=unread#unread

trainer effect is not being able to go as hard on the trainer as on the road, a lot of times due to a bit more motivation while riding with others on the road in a race format, or just being outside. or riding uphill.

if you are doing a test on the trainer indoors you should look at either becuase they should be the same if you are pacing correctly, and if you are outside and racing with your buddies you should watch the road.

Tools of the Trade

Velotron Dynafit ergometer. The equivalent of the stealth bomber in the war against the RRs. They don't have it. They don't understand it. But it will kill them.


Adjustable length cranks so children of all ages can slay RRs.


SRM powermeter. For slaying RRs in the field.



I saw this jersey on eBay awhile ago. Although it doesn't seem to be available in the U.S., it seems like the appropriate jersey to wear when sending RRs to meet their maker.

Soon to come...altitude "tent."

Nomenclature

RR--recreational racer. A recreational rider but with a hypercompetitive bent. Usage: "Freaking RRs."

QRR--quasi-RR. Might actually do real races. Largely indistinguishable from racers except for the RR-like attitude. Usage: "Freaking QRRs."


© "Bumblebeedave"

Repasser--a special and particularly despicable subspecies of RR. When caught on a long climb by someone who started way after them, the Repasser decides to latch onto the wheel of the passer and even attack. Usage: "Freaking repassers."

Thunderdoming--see Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome. When two individuals or parties decide to engage in an unofficial race. Generally, when two parties decide to throw down in some fashion. Usage: "I saw two RRs thunderdoming today."



RR hunting--euphemism for a hard training ride.

RR watching--a recovery ride.

Introduction

So, what is the point of this blog? Well, I've had so many interesting encounters with RRs that I can't just keep all the stories to myself.

This will not be a personal blog nor a racing blog though it may have references to racing. It will be primarily about training and the interesting interactions I have with other cyclists while out training.

In the beginning...

God created the Earth and saw that it was good. Then it became infested with pestilence in the form of RRs. Then came the RR Slayer to smite them from the face of the planet.