Always a struggle trying to go form 195 range down to 185 and hopefully 175 someday. Maybe it would be better to gain 5 and just commit to Clydesdale racing category? Kind of being funny here, but also j=kind of serious, did anybody ever make the conscious decision to do that? Like maybe it would make racing more fun, and I’m so close to 200 anyway. I just turned 50 and I’m probably in a faster class now because, well, that’s bike racing.
TL; DR - unless losing 20lb would be a good move for health reasons, do what makes you happy.
Long answer: Rather an ‘it depends’ question. Is this purely about racing, or is there a health/more general weight loss aspect to this? Are you already pretty lean or - in the nicest possible way - could you lose 10 pounds without anyone really noticing?
If you’re already in decent shape, then I personally wouldn’t go for the ultra-lean approach; the general feeling of crapness IMO isn’t worth it (and your W/kg may actually suffer). If, on the other hand, there are good health arguments for losing 20lb, that’s a different story and it may be a good idea, though it’s not for me or anyone apart from your doc to tell you to lose weight.
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Losing weight would be good for me and ultimate goal thought it would be interesting to see if anybody just went through race season with the actual goal to stay within weight class.
My weight is way down from my all time high but I’ve utterly found it impossible to lose that last 10-15 pounds (age 54).
The previous winter I did base miles (10-12 hours per week) and counted every single calorie. I lost 6 pounds in 8 weeks but then regained 2 quickly. That was discouraging because it felt like I should have lost a lot of weight during this period. This year with covid and virtual school, I’ve gained those pounds back.
My advice is to eat for health - healthy food, lots of veggies, high quality proteins, etc. And cut out as much junk food, packaged food, prepared food, and sugar as possible.
I have had a little luck with “spot reducing” I read some studies that suggested you exercise the area you want to spot reduce (stomach 
) and then you do aerobic exercise to burn off any free fatty acids released. It actually seems to have worked a bit as I’ve lost a whole pant size in my waist. Overall though I’ve lost zero total weight.
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Yeah I did dry February ate plants and went to 190-189. Had few beers over the course of a week and ate some meat and Indian food and Kaboom back to 196.
Unfortunately, you just have to stay with it forever. 
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No Clydesdale category in most of my races, so I can’t totally agree with the strategy. But i am in the same boat. Nov 2019 I was 198 and that felt awesome. I managed to stay close to 200/202 until a week long visit to my mom’s somehow turned into 208 temporarily and a subsequent giving up made 206.
I’m at 204 now and I see the potential to get to 200 again, but 190 seems impossible.
I do have to cut beer to 1x week, which is fine because I drink Chad beers and one’s usually enough!
It’s all the processed crap that is so accessible when you have kids in the house that makes it hard.
I’d bet there are 100-200 calories a day that you could find and cull just in 1/4-1/8 smaller portions for meals, one less serving of chips per day, swapping out brown rice for a potato, etc. all the little things that don’t mean much today, but add up over time. That is where I am at.
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That sucks. But i can relate.
Last winter (2019), I topped out at around 191 lbs at 6’1". My normal weight was the low 180s, so take that for context. I wanted to get down to 175, same as you. Pandemic hit, made some changes, and was at 166lb by May. I’m 41, so there’s that, but if you are struggling to lose weight, the key is you have to make some changes. For me, we were walking 3 times per day and I switched to primarily a plants based diet. I think both were critical. I’m no longer on a plants based diet, but also am sitting now at about 174lb, so there’s that. The weight loss was pretty transformational for me though as I went from about 3.2 to almost 4.1 w/kg. I think fears that you will lose watts if you lose weight are a bit overblown. I think those comparisons highlight differences between different individuals more than differences between the same person. If you want to lose it, I say lose it.
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So true…before I turned 50 I could get sub 160 lbs at 5-11" with relative ease…I’m 53 now and breaking 170 is a huge challenge…I have to starve myself to lose 2 lbs.
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I’ve heard people talk about walking before - do you mean walking more in addition to the normal exercise/training you do?
yes. At the time, my son’s daycare was closed, so we walked 3x daily. In the morning, afternoon and evening and probably averaged about 12k steps. I do think it took a little sharpness off of my legs, but the overall benefit was greater.
I really don’t worry about it. I’m 91.5kg (~200lb) at 6’3". My diets pretty tidey at the moment but I don’t make any effort to count macros or calories. I’ve been slowly ticking down, if I get to 90kg by mid-May the weight will start to come off pretty quickly. I’m aim for 87kg for race weight but just rely on longer rides in the summer to bring it down. That is lean for me, I seem to come apart as I near 85kg.
I’ve given up any hope of ever being light, it’s not possible, I’m just heavy. I’m 191cm, 100kg and reasonably lean (no six-pack yet, but it’s within reach). I’ve greatly reduced the amount of weight training I do, but as I’ve gotten older it’s become easier and easier to put on and retain muscle, so it hasn’t made much difference. My race weight is usually around 98kg, my goal is to get down to 95kg. Since I can’t be light I’m just aiming for more power (aren’t we all), the goal is an FTP of 380w at 95kg for 4w/kg.
Forget hilly races, flat and windy is where it’s at. If you are going to be heavy make sure you work on your sprint, lots of bunch finishes in flat races…
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