Road Cycling

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Some of you will recall I've entered a cycling event with work in May. A small group of riders is riding round the entire country, taking in all of our UK offices, which will come to a total distance of somewhere around 3000 miles. Larger numbers of people are riding individual legs of the journey. I'm riding Liverpool to Sheffield, via Manchester. We had a briefing yesterday, and the guy in charge said the route is going to be about 80 miles, with about 4000 feet of climbing. The first half, from Liverpool to Manchester, will be pretty flat and easy. We're coming in via Warrington, and it's a pretty flat run. The climbing is definitely backloaded, as from Manchester we're heading South to Chapel En Le Frith and then up to Mam Tor and over Winnatts Pass to Hathersage and on to Sheffield. I should have a GPX file soon, so I'll be studying that closely.

It sounds like we've got a very mixed group in terms of ability. There's people reckoning it'll take them 10+ hours, while I'll be looking at somewhere between 5 and 6. I think we'll end up splitting the group up, not least because a group of 40 riders on open roads isn't exactly practical...

I need to get some sponsorship going for this, though it's a bit tricky when I'm a keen cyclist as it is. People aren't really in a hurry to sponsor me to ride 80 miles when I'd be doing that anyway, given half a chance :p There's talk of people getting their legs waxed as a fundraiser and I've said I'll throw my hat in the ring for that, which is a decision I'll likely regret... Watch this space...
 
Roady said:
At the risk of answering my own question here but... How important is it to stick to a plan? I find it hard to do more than 1 evening sessionson the turbo after work - I just don't have an extra hour (or more) to spare as I work 7:30-5:30 and don't spend enough time with my Mrs enough as it is... The low-volume plans are usually 2x1 hour weekly sessions with 2+ hours on the weekend. If I were to do that I'd struggling commuting (which I try to do 4+ days a week) which kinda defeats the idea of training - I'm training to be a better cyclist, commute 100% of the time and enjoy riding, not to race!
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If you're just doing one or two turbo sessions a week I'd probably do something simple like one session of sweet-spot work and another of vo2max intervals personally.

Calpol said:
No way am I outputting that sort of power! My initial FTP test came up with that sort of figure but I had the resistance set too low. A couple more turns of the turbo handle soon sorted that and I ended up doing a manual adjustment to 245W which I think is about right. I know its all relative when using "virtual power" but I like to have some credibility in what I do. At c74kg 350W would have me in CAT 1!!!
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Indeed. My first FTP test was similar - got something like 379w :p Then re-did it properly and it was down to 315. As you say, virtual power doesn't mean when comparing powers. I'm also somewhat heavier than you at ~81kg.

tedmaul said:
Tbh, i don't think there's any credible way to compare FTP in TR. Too many variables.

No offence FrenchTart, but having seen your rides on strava compared to what Berger does, you're not even in the same ball park - he's racing a fair bit throughout the year and you pretty much just commute and do some leisure riding on weekends. That's night and day in terms of abilities. I'd consider myself ok as leisure riders go, but even the 4th cat guys kick my a$$ on bunch rides most of the time.

The only way to really find out where you are is to get out with some fast bunch rides, with guys that race regular. It was a real eye opener for me as to quite how far off i was compared to where i thought i was. And i think TR definitely lets you kid yourself you're comparable to others when the reality is often very different.

Don't get me wrong, I find TR a great tool for tracking my own progress. I've followed the two sweetspot base phases and just finished them this week and seen a good level of progress for me. But i only judge where i am compared to others i ride with when i'm riding with them and they're really going for it. Sadly, that generally doesn't end well. :D :(

EDIT: ps Am i the only one that thinks all this multi quoting is the work of the devil? Thread just becomes a total mess of 3 ft long posts.
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*whiny rant removed*
 
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FrenchTart said:
At no point did I say that I could take on Berger or the like. Even if the my virtual power were comparable I have none of the race skills, tactics or handling skills to do well in any kind of race.

My riding of late has mostly been blah commuting yeah. I was regularly doing 250-300 miles per week throughout a lot of last year though and though I've not exactly gone for it on any of that the combination of that, weight loss and turbo work seem to have helped a lot with my ability to output power relative to weight.

I know everyone gets precious about this kind of thing so that's why I generally try not avoid the subject of FTP so I can avoid exactly this kind of discussion. I'm under no illusion that my virtual power or w/kg is directly comparable to someone else's (virtual power or real) and though I'm quite confident in my ability to go fast enough to not embarrass myself I'm also quite aware of my bike handling skills (or lack thereof) and race inexperience.
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That wasn't really my point. I was purely talking about trainer road virtual power and any comparison to others. Not really about your abilities, bike handling, race skills etc. And tbh, the comment although triggered by something you'd said, it was meant to be more general.

It was really just that the idea that you can take the TR virtual power and compare to others in any way, or chart progress relative to e.g. the Coggan power/race category chart is something i see quite a bit. Not just in here but in the TR thread over on bike radar and other places. And i see it as being quite misleading for anyone that does it.

That was all. I sense i've touched a nerve, and that wasn't the intention so apologies for that. I was trying to aim it as much at my own inabilities to transfer what i do on TR to the real world as much as anything else. But i guess i didn't put it across very well.

Edit: As far as a meet up goes. We should be inclusive. So i suggest Australia to ensure Berger is part of this as well.
 
tedmaul said:
That wasn't really my point. I was purely talking about trainer road virtual power and any comparison to others. Not really about your abilities, bike handling, race skills etc. And tbh, the comment although triggered by something you'd said, it was meant to be more general.

It was really just that the idea that you can take the TR virtual power and compare to others in any way, or chart progress relative to e.g. the Coggan power/race category chart is something i see quite a bit. Not just in here but in the TR thread over on bike radar and other places. And i see it as being quite misleading for anyone that does it.

That was all. I sense i've touched a nerve, and that wasn't the intention so apologies for that. I was trying to aim it as much at my own inabilities to transfer what i do on TR to the real world as much as anything else. But i guess i didn't put it across very well.

Edit: As far as a meet up goes. We should be inclusive. So i suggest Australia to ensure Berger is part of this as well.
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To be honest only a month ago I had the reverse argument with some awesome people in the Manchester Wheelers forum. Getting utterly railed for asking about how fast I'd need to be to join them on club rides and eventually having to talk about FTP, w/kg/etc and then getting railed some more because "I should be racing with those stats". So yeah, you did touch a nerve a bit - apologies for my overreaction.

Generally speaking I only use TR virtual power to measure my own progress but I also like to set targets based on the figures of other people - something to aim for. Getting 4w/kg is another target which is just based off it being a nice round number. I know 4w/kg on TR doesn't translate to you suddenly winning cat4s.

edit: I'm also feeling really ill so I'm being an arse. Apologies again.
 
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Dunks said:
Just ordered this http://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/CBPXLDNRIV/planet-x-london-road-sram-rival-22-road-bike through the cycle to work scheme :cool:
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I keep looking at the London Road when I'm thinking about a CX ride, it's an amazing setup for the money so you won't be disappointed!

Calpol said:
Nope. I am totally with you. I like our friendly little community here - much better than BR but keeping track of the conversation is a nightmare. If ever there was a case for a Cycling sub forum! I notice that there was a bit of discussion with a Mod earlier in this new thread. 4-5 separate threads would probably even do just to make it manageable
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I love the community feeling we have here more than a lot of other forums, at least here we have another common interest - computers! I always feel like I have more in common here than the cycling forums so will always ask questions here first as I know I'll get an honest answer I'll understand! Probably leads to me multi-quoting (I'm one of the worst for it as I'll multi-quote over the forum limit by editing posts! :p) rather than creating lots of mini-replies... With multiple forum threads obviously that wouldn't happen, but then again we might miss some of the 'community' feel as not everyone would be reading everything? Tough one...

Shamrock said:
Speaking of community, when are we going to arrange a big OcUK ride? :D
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I'm up for that but we'd have such a wide range of riding ability it would be difficult for anything too serious, a meet up at some nice central sportive or something would probably work better?

Vonhelmet said:
Some of you will recall I've entered a cycling event with work in May.
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I'll sponsor you mate, not for cycling the miles but for the encouragement and a good cause, even if it's just money for you getting waxed! ;)

FrenchTart said:
If you're just doing one or two turbo sessions a week I'd probably do something simple like one session of sweet-spot work and another of vo2max intervals personally.
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Thanks for the tip, my sweet-spot always needs work - that's one thing commuting isn't great for, prolonged sweet-spot! :)

FrenchTart said:
Fakestelli yeah. They're my cheap chinese commuting bibs. I have more expensive DHB stuff for my weekend riding :p
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Fakestelli bib-tights here too, pad was rubbish but for some 'overbibs' they're ok. Wouldn't get shorts as I'd be wary of the pad quality. Same as me DHB 'middle-range' for good, DHB cheaper/sale (Active range) for commuting/day-to-day. Part of my problem is the affordability of DHB along with the great quality! I'm wary of 'spending more and getting less'! :o

Vonhelmet said:
Nah, wait until he's back on home turf, and then he's less than 10 miles away from me!
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Can we make sure he's jet lagged too?
 
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To be honest I wish the fakestelli didn't have the logos on it. At the time they were the cheapest option and I was in a cheap mood though. Once I move over to shorts I'll probably be binning them and get some new non-fake-branded ones for next winter.
 
Asprilla said:
Also remember that Sir Bradders shaving is making a saving of 5% of his FTP by wearing a pointy hat whereas most mortals will be saving double that as a percentage. Aero savings as a % are greater at lower power.
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Think you've got that the wrong way round. The faster you're going the more aerodynamics is going to matter, so savings will be lower for us slow plebs. If you don't want to go full aero then there are a lot more options of late with semi-aero helmets, but really, why would you not get the Giro Synthe?
 
PermaBanned said:
Think you've got that the wrong way round. The faster you're going the more aerodynamics is going to matter, so savings will be lower for us slow plebs.
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This is correct.
But also, the fast you go, the smaller difference a change in speed makes.

If we assume that a pro TTers will average 30mph and take SDKs example of saving 60seconds over a 25 mile tt.
To save those 60 seconds, you need to increase your speed to 30.7mph

If a normal amateur can average 23mph over a 25TT and they can increase their speed by 0.7mph, they will save 2minutes.

For both riders to save 60 seconds, the pro needs to increase speed from 30 to 30.7 (102.3% increase) but the amateur only needs to increase from 23 to 23.4 (101.7% increase).
Ie. The slower you go, the larger the time difference will be for any increase in speed.
 
I'm sold! Now I need to choose one.

Lazer Wasp, Giro Selector or Kask Bambino pique my interest. I want a visor instead of glasses that could move about and it can be any colour as long as it's black.
 
SDK^ said:
My power meter has arrived \o/
Perfect timing for my ride tomorrow :)




You would probably crash out DNF anyway :p
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me ? crash? never...! ;)

ha :D wonder if the olympic race track is book-able.. my brother managed to have a short race in some even a few months back!
 
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