How many people train but don't race (or do 'timed' events)

I too have no intention of racing. I want to get fit so I can keep up with our Club’s A riders and be able to negotiate sustained climbs ( I am horrible at climbing) and go faster o my century gran fondos.

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I’m in OKC and may include the Tulsa Double challenge as well.

Another non racer here. I train primarily to better myself every year and to try and thrash everyone I ride with up the hills! :smiley: I like to ride some hilly sportives in my home country every year (UK) and I also go away each year for some riding in the French Alps and find these things enough to keep me motivated to train hard over the winter.

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I’m 64 and still train as hard as I can. I use both Trainerroad and Sufferfest and I just completed stage 4 of the Tour of Sufferlandria. I ride with a group of triathletes and Cat 4-5 riders who are much younger than me. My goal/emphasis in training is to structure it so that I can hold my own with the group. We typically do an organized day ride of ~150 miles in late spring which really taxes me and not so much the others in the group…

I’m also a competitive age group runner (qualified for Boston) so I need to balance riding with my run training. I find that the TR sweet spot training coupled with the Sufferfest stuff (based on my 4DP results) does the trick for me.

As someone else said, I love the training just as much as the “races” :>)

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To the OP, this is me to a T, not sure how it happened really, I broke a collar bone in 2016, raced no more than a few times in 2017 and just once last year. TBH I’ve reconciled myself that cycling is my cardio, it’s the sport I’ve done for 25 years and I just enjoy the training to keep myself fit. Whenever I get asked if I’m racing this year my answer is always “maybe”. I really ought to as I’m certainly fit enough.

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Used to build my entire year around racing, but have kind of lost the love for the big events and just do occasional local races now with no real goals. What I have not the love for however is the training process and that’s where TR fits in for me.

I did SSB 1&2 and am about to start a build plan to keep it going. Progressing through the plans really motivates me even without a big goal at the end.

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I don’t race but I love to train. SSBHVI and II and then outside to week long camps, un-timed fondos and club group rides. The club group rides are my form of racing because our club gets enthusiastic once out on the road. I just like to stay in shape and challenge myself and club-mates.

I also like to take my bike on vacation and ride in iconic locales. You need to be in shape if you decide you are going to go to Europe and ride up some mountains. It is so much easier to rent nice bikes at cycling hot-spots now.

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Train…dont race. Sweet spot and general build plans most times. The only competitor I have is myself. Soon to be 59 and only started to ride a few years ago after a couple of very major surgeries. Riding is has really helped me recover from many many years of ill health due to Crohns Disease. Still have the body breakdown as recovery definitely takes longer.

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I don’t race very often, I’m 65 this month and continue to train each year hoping to have another Haute Route or a Transalps in me before I hit 70. It’s too hard to start from scratch when training for anything competitive. So by staying in some kind of decent shape all the time it won’t kill me to train for a stage race now and then. Lets hear it for all this over 60 working up a sweat a few times a week or more.

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There are so many cool places to do epic rides. Being well conditioned from TR workouts has allowed me to bring my bike and ride comfortable no matter where I go. There will always be someone who is faster, but I don’t need to worry not being able to handle the ride.

Another major reason to train is to stay fit and healthy. I see people everyday suffering because of weight gain, poor health, and all its negative consequences. While unfortunately some health issues cannot be avoided, cycling has shown to have major overall health benefit.

And while not a racer, all this involvement in the TR community has resulted in me being registered for Leadville this year…

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Decided to quit racing after one too many crashes. At 61, I’ve decided it’s not worth the risk for me. Raced for 28 years, did my first structured power-based training last year with TrainerRoad when I finally bought a smart trainer. Started the program late, so I was only doing SSB when the season started. Even though I’m not racing this year, I still have the race training mentality. Did SSB and now in sustained power build and am in much better shape (at least in terms of FTP and ability to ride for sustained periods near FTP) now than I was at this time last year.

I’ll probably do some racing on Zwift, though I find that to be quite a bit different than real life racing. Will also do some organized rides and still do training rides with my team, but no racing.

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Ive “trained” for a number of years with no races in mind. The main goal has been to stay trim as i get older and to keep fit.
The last 18 months or so i took up TT’s.
This had added even more motivation to keep fit.
I reslly like the competitive buzz being around other like minded mdnand women.
I race 2 or 3 times a month in tge warmer months.
Ive never even come in the top ten in the bigger events but that doesn’t matter.
Its great to train even with no races, but i encourage any one to at least do a handful of TT’s. You might get the bug just like me.

I forgot to mention that one of the major benefits of training is Dopamine. I don’t drink or do drugs. Training is my fix.

Okay, I’m going to ask…because the only reason I train is to race, so this side of the coin is foreign to me.

What’s the mindset of a non-racer in regards to i) how you view indoor training and ii) more intense workouts?

I’ll keep it simple and general for now. Thanks! :smiley:

In all sincerity I want to say “bravo” to all of you willing to subject yourself to the punishment of a TR plan for the sake of self betterment alone. I honestly do not think I’m the type of person who could endure training without a competition on the horizon. I realize that there are other goals that may be sought through training, but I just can’t seem to get motivated without a race. I’m sure the day will come when competing no longer appeals to me, but it is not this day.
The only thing that gets me on the trainer @ 04:00 is the fact that I know my competition isn’t.

I train to compete, not race. Sometimes that competition is against myself, other times it is against friends. After being involved in a number of crashes in races caused by other careless riders (not high level racing, just local stuff) I have no desire to continue to put my health at risk.

I enjoyed the buzz of racing but I find ways to gain the same level of satisfaction through other means. In fact, I really enjoy Zwift racing because there is no risk of injury (other than the time I came off the rollers during a sprint).

I think my motivation is the same as a racer’s, I just don’t want to enter the boxing ring.

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Well, to make sense of this question, we need to distinguish racing and [for want of a better term] competition.
I do not race. That is: I do not enter events with nominated 1st, 2nd, 3rd, … . I do group rides, gran fondos and road bike touring. I need to keep up with the group, not be last up the hills, be ft enough to last a three week bike tour. That is, I am in a sense competing – to be “good enough” in the first instance; but the macho stuff aways intrudes.
However, before a series of serious injuries to my knees, I was a competitive “athlete”, playing squash mainly. So the urge to compare myself to others is certainly there and that’s why I found the frequency distributions of w/kg by age [that Nate posted] so interesting. I want to be above the middle!
So, to your questions:
[i] indoor training is the means to these ends. It is time-efficient and it can be done in all weather. I’m trying to get faster, after all. It’s just that my goals are different to yours.
[ii] intervals and intensity are an essential part of those means. I have to raise my sustained power [FTP, say] to get to the end with the group. I have to raise my shorter-term power to not get dropped by the group on the punchier hills or when they all decide to race to the cafe. Furthermore, I do not like my short-term w/kg to be so much lower than the average amateur.
So, there is competition, doughnutman, but it ain’t racing.

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I had ambitions of the 2019 Park City Point 2 Point when I joined TR in Fall 2018, but gave up on that and am now just training so that I can be a stronger/faster cyclist when I get the chance to go do big rides with friends.

I think the cost of races, and how early you have to sign up to them, just turns me off them. For the cost of some of the bigger events (Leadville etc), I can pay for my share of a VRBO/AirB&B with my friends in a place like Tahoe for a ‘‘training camp’’. I did a ton of ‘‘events’’ (i.e. not sanctioned CAT races) in my 20’s, and it was really fun, so will likely return to events, but not now.

And the funny thing is, that three months of TR without the goal of a race, has actually resulted in bigger gains than I ever had when I was training for races.

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I don’t race. I train for fitness, ride my bike for enjoyment and riding with friends on the weekend. I use TR to stay fit because I am now 66 and being able to stay active, do 100km plus rides socially is important to me.
I do however think as I am doing some of these workouts like Palisade, it is a bit overkill.

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I started this thread and I am surprised and pleased by the numbers who have responded.
I think most agree that they train to keep fit, stay healthy and be ‘competitive’ both with themselves and their group of friends in whatever endeavour they chose to take on.

Personally I have never considered not doing the harder workouts (Mary Austin might be a good example) as I think we have to push ourselves to improve or even stay at the same level. Following a plan (whether it is TR or anything else) gives a sense of purpose and if we were selective about which parts of the plan we chose to do that would not be a plan would it.

Hope that makes sense.

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