Road Cycling

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BennyC said:
Requirement is going to vary based on which zones you're riding in. If you can avoid staying at the upper end of your HR spectrum then you should be able to ride for longer without needing to eat/consume less overall. This might mean your ride is slower than you would like...

I can quite easily push my HR on the flat in to zones I would see on climbs, for the sake of a few mph it's worth letting off and saving it for the climbs, properly recovering and not really having much effect on average speed. That is of course unless you're trying to do threshold work.

It's taken me a while to realise I don't need to be gunning it on the flats as well as the climbs to have a respectably quick ride (today's for example).

There's a good article I'll post when I'm home about the effects of LCHF diets on glycogen usage at different w/kg outputs. After 8-12 week there can be notable change however some people are gentetically predisposed to use carbs/fat more than the other. Even in the athletes that were carb dependant there was still inprovements.

Then again this will require a fairly good handle on managing calorie intake and macros. Which isn't always the most sociable thing...
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True - if I'm not riding with newer riders I tend to keep my HR fairly high most of the time. Definitely interested in reading the article. I doubt I'll have the discipline to follow up on the conclusions but you never know :p
 
http://cyclingtips.com/2013/08/high-fat-low-carb-diets-good-for-you-and-your-cycling/

Its a two part article and it's not a very demanding read. The results will probably interest you.

Whether or not you want to try and adhere to a LCHF diet is another matter. If you've a natural predisposition to carbs as a food source and don't eat many things like nuts/but butters, eggs, oily fish, cheese, avocado, olive oil etc then it'll probably be a big under taking. Guess it depends how much it matters to you.
 
BennyC said:
http://cyclingtips.com/2013/08/high-fat-low-carb-diets-good-for-you-and-your-cycling/

Its a two part article and it's not a very demanding read. The results will probably interest you.

Whether or not you want to try and adhere to a LCHF diet is another matter. If you've a natural predisposition to carbs as a food source and don't eat many things like nuts/but butters, eggs, oily fish, cheese, avocado, olive oil etc then it'll probably be a big under taking. Guess it depends how much it matters to you.
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Cheers, I'll have a read.

I do eat a fair bit of all of those but also a substantial amount of carbs to go along with them. Foodie fo' lyfe bro.

The main issue really is my love of food..and beer. I struggle with anything that means I have to restrict what I eat. Which is part of why I cycle so much. Takes a lot to burn off everything :)
 
FrenchTart said:
Cheers, I'll have a read.

I do eat a fair bit of all of those but also a substantial amount of carbs to go along with them. Foodie fo' lyfe bro.

The main issue really is my love of food..and beer. I struggle with anything that means I have to restrict what I eat. Which is part of why I cycle so much. Takes a lot to burn off everything :)
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Yeah feeling restricted isn't great but if it were a high enough priority then I'm sure it's become bearable.

I had a year where I was reasonably strict with my fat & carb macros and to that effect my composition reaped the rewards. But now I just want to eat whatever I want so providing calories, protein & fiber hit acceptable levels (150g/40g respectively) I just 'YOLO' my fat/carb macros and anything goes.

Performance on the bike doesn't suffer, though I am mindful in the days leading up to a large ride and in the few that follow (to aide recovery) and it keeps me happy/sane :)

I'd just keep cadence in the 100rpm range between climbs, to do so sustainably I'm pretty certain you won't be burning through carbs. This'll probably keep your HR/average speed down a bit but it means less muscle damage/repair required overall and that you can just kill yourself on the climbs instead :D I'd be surprised if you don't see a reduction in bonking from doing this. Very easy for me to power along on the flat at 85-90rpm but staying around 100rpm plus doesn't actually make me that much slower and keeps me feeling fresh for much longer on the ride.
 
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I might play with that approach on some rides. To be honest though, with my current planned rides (330 miler in two weeks, 100 miles + 10,000ft next week) I'm not sure I want to play with my diet too much anyhow. Maybe I can do so between the 330 ride and the 24 hour 300 ride in August though.
 
After making a big deal of it in my head it turned out that 100 (well... 99.1) miles isn't that big of a deal after all. https://www.strava.com/activities/599643344

Pretty tired now though :o

It was a good experience doing it with a few people from work but I won't be rushing to do an open road sportive again. Drivers are almost forced into dodgy overtakes because it is impossible for them to clear a huge queue of cyclists as there simply isn't a stretch of road long enough to get the visibility so they have to just go for it when there is a clear road but at some point they will have to cut in between a couple of bikes. Dodgy stuff.

On the slightly wider roads the tables are turned and the traffic overtakes even if there is something coming the other way as the road is wide enough but if you catch a slower cyclist you are then stuck until there is a gap in the cars and you have to blast past them which 85 miles in makes you look a bit of a willy waving ****.

Those negatives and the fact that a summer jersey and shorts was seriously underdressed for the chilly North Sea winds today aside it was a nice day out and we made a few quid for charity in the process.
 
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lordrobs said:
After making a big deal of it in my head it turned out that 100 (well... 99.1) miles isn't that big of a deal after all. https://www.strava.com/activities/599643344

Pretty tired now though :o

It was a good experience doing it with a few people from work but I won't be rushing to do an open road sportive again. Drivers are almost forced into dodgy overtakes because it is impossible for them to clear a huge queue of cyclists as there simply isn't a stretch of road long enough to get the visibility so they have to just go for it when there is a clear road but at some point they will have to cut in between a couple of bikes. Dodgy stuff.
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Awesome work. Driver situation sounds annoying but any large rides with randoms often have those kinds of issues though sadly :/

I had the same thing as you on my first imperial. 99.8 miles instead of 100, so annoying :p
 
FrenchTart said:
Awesome work. Driver situation sounds annoying but any large rides with randoms often have those kinds of issues though sadly :/

I had the same thing as you on my first imperial. 99.8 miles instead of 100, so annoying :p
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One of the guys left Strava running all the time and got 100.9 miles :p That did include our re-start though. We got a grand total of 0.2 miles in when one of our group had a blowout. We had a look and there was a slit clean through the tyre about 3/4" long so we headed back to the start where the mobile bike repair guy patched it up as he didn't have a 23C tyre and nothing else would clear the frame. So 30 minutes after we first started... we started again :p
 
Watched some of the London Nocturne races yesterday. Pretty good, but not really that many spectators. Spotted Alex Dowsett on the other side taking photos... I guess for his new Cyclismo thing as he seemed very focused on those riders.

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Dusted off my hybrid this afternoon so I could at least make use of the weather while it's nice (54 miles in the end). Have to say it was funny having the odd drafting road cyclist struggling to keep up and I did kinda enjoy the off road sections I did...
 
FrenchTart said:
I might play with that approach on some rides. To be honest though, with my current planned rides (330 miler in two weeks, 100 miles + 10,000ft next week) I'm not sure I want to play with my diet too much anyhow. Maybe I can do so between the 330 ride and the 24 hour 300 ride in August though.
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Yeah I wouldn't change too much with what you have coming up to be honest. Chances are it wouldn't actually affect you but you might get some dodgy 'placebo' effect where you think you should be performing more poorly and so do.

You can at least try taking your foot off the gas on flats, just coasting for a bit. Particularly down hill once up to a respectable speed ;)

Offft, this was the road race that passed me today. This chap has quite a few of the KOM's round here. ('Central Regional Divisional Champs')

http://www.strava.com/activities/599640992
 
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I've just been out for 30 miles to finish the week off - takes me to 155 miles for the week, not bad.

I've gotten back into using my cadence sensor on my main bike. It's useful after riding single speed all week. I definitely climb better and recover better if I'm mindful of my cadence.
 
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BennyC said:
For high cadence work the resistance is absolutely fine so for the appropriate TR workouts they'll be fine and I'd favour them over a turbo for such a normally 'monotonous' workout.

But if you're going to be doing any HIIT/Sprint work I would use a turbo because you will end up all over the place and probably fall off.

In my brief use so far (and a friend who uses them regularly) rollers = high cadence/pedalling efficiency work/recovery&warmup:down. Turbo = a 'proper workout'/high power/sprint work or when you just want to sit and plod along.

(I've used TR a fair bit in the past so am familiar with it and the workouts)
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Cool thanks, might pick one up for that price and give it a go!
 
Jon33 said:
Cool thanks, might pick one up for that price and give it a go!
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Having no forward momentum does make the bike feel very twitchy and hence I guess you get used to making very minor corrections.

Part of my plan when using them as well as all the usual drills is to work on moving from left/center/right and back again on them.

I found starting leaning against something with your upper arm/elbow in contact and both hands on the hoods. Pedal away for a little bit looking a few meters in front, not forgetting to breathe and then you can just push yourself upright with your elbow and hold yourself there and then eventually tuck your elbow in so you're completely free. I think the most important thing is not to panic if you start to come away from your prop and overcorrect. It's probably a good idea to pedal for 5 seconds or so and then fall(lean) against your prop and just keep repeating this to build your confidence

Didn't take me long (10 mins) to get to grips with them and become 'comfortable' enough to release my sphincter slightly :eek::p

I tried a 'look at me no hands' today a few times for 5-10 seconds on this afternoons ride. Using the rollers earlier in the day did help somewhat and my progress felt more significant that it has to date but I expect this is a confidence boost effect rather than skills :)
 
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Lethal` said:
Watched some of the London Nocturne races yesterday. Pretty good, but not really that many spectators. Spotted Alex Dowsett on the other side taking photos... I guess for his new Cyclismo thing as he seemed very focused on those riders.

Psc0idd.jpg.png



Dusted off my hybrid this afternoon so I could at least make use of the weather while it's nice (54 miles in the end). Have to say it was funny having the odd drafting road cyclist struggling to keep up and I did kinda enjoy the off road sections I did...
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You may have seen me then, I was racing in the support race, which was a bit of a joke really but there we go. Good fun to race on closed roads in front of a crowd still.
 
topgun06 said:
The weather yesterday was glorious! My tan lines have been given a boost!
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Today seems nice too. Shame I'll be on a damn train. I bet the weather this weekend is going to be awful again :(

In other news managed to get a spot at the Assos 40th anniversary event at the Design Museum in London. Should be interesting.
 
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