So the focus on volume this past year feels like it’s really bearing fruit. Overall, I feel the strongest I have in quite a few years and my FTP this early in the season is close to the highest it’s been since in the six years I’ve been training with power (I hit the FTP high last summer). Feeling pretty good with way more durability than I expect to have, and it sometimes feels like my brain needs to catch up to my body in terms of what it’s capable of. Which is kind of cool.
Went for an endurance ride this morning, hit a fun section of windy, rolling road by a lake, and figured I’d turn it into a short threshold session. And voila!
I present my very tiny victory: I beat a former WT pro and Unbound winner on a local route that he’s not even aware of, while he was probably messing with his phone. Boswell and Ted King are on a bunch of the segments around here (they both live like 35-40 minutes away, I’m right in the middle), and I plan to snag a few more, especially one where they’re both in the top 10 right around each other. The KOMs may not come, but this I can handle!
Anyone else have some small, insignificant victories to share for early season motivation?
I am absolutely with you on volume and consistency being my biggest revelation of the past year. Like you, I feel better, stronger, and am close to my all time highest power numbers…and that’s also after losing 25+ lbs and now being closer to 60 than to 50!
It really is kind of amazing how much difference the focus on volume makes. The time on the bike alone has huge benefits, but I think it’s also been super helpful in terms of learning better what threshold feels like, then learning to manage effort and intensity from there, then that folds into overall fatigue management. I’m 52 and am feeling stronger than I did for most of my 30’s.
Fueling has also been the big revelation of the past two years for me. I use @Dr_Alex_Harrison 's Saturday app for anything over 90 minutes. It helps during the ride, obviously, but it also makes me a lot less likely to eat anything in the house that isn’t nailed down.
Just such a nice way to start the season. (Knocking wood, throwing salt over my shoulder, etc.)
the list goes on and on, turns out I beat Sepp Kuss, Filippo Gana, Egan Bernal, etc. etc.
Sometimes you get lucky LOL - decent wind and S-Works Pathfinders at 50+ psi and 48mm measured width were rolling fast over crappy tarmac. Felt like I was floating.
The best part - on my decidedly non-aero gravel bike with 48mm measured width tires:
That was near end of Coach Tim Cusick’s JoinBaseCamp group base training (highly recommended, message me for details), where my personal focus was on optimizing lower aerobic endurance riding.
We all get so fixated on training and numbers, it’s a nice reminder that we’re all just a bunch of humans spinning around on a pair of wheels, and these folks aren’t actually pedaling around furiously at 750 watts all the time. Plus a nice little dopamine hit when you see their names underneath yours on Strava!
Oh, we really do. My five year old reminds me in great detail how ridiculous I look when she sees me coming back from an early morning ride, while my wife tells me I’m dressed like a 19th Century strongman wannabe. Which, honestly, is pretty fair.
I always think about this and giggle, because for a non-cyclist we must look rather funny! haha