Should I do openers if I didn't taper?

Training
1

The likelihood that I see any answers before my ride tomorrow is pretty slim, but I am going to ask anyway.

I’ve never done openers before, I think largely because most of what I do is long and slow. In any case, I am doing Highland +2 on Saturday which is 5 hours long at .67 IF. The likelihood that my dogs don’t force me to get off the trainer at some point during that period is basically zero, but nonetheless it is likely to be a fairly brutal experience. Let’s ignore the question of whether it’s a good idea for me to be doing this. I’m doing Zwift’s PRL Full and having workout numbers to hit will not only help my progression levels, but will also help me stay focused. Now, if the PRL takes me longer than 5 hours, not sure where my head is going to be at.

In any case, I think openers might be a good thing. If this was a normal training week, I wouldn’t do it. I haven’t tapered officially for the PRL, but last week I was a bit burned out and turned my workouts down. I think this was more work related than anything else, but hard to say. In any case, I was out of town over the weekend and off the bike. I did a pretty easy hike. I mean, it was 3 hours and 15 minutes with 900m of elevation. Maybe “easy” is selling it a bit short, but aside from the climb to get onto the ridge it was Z1. In any case, as far as the bike muscles were concerned, not a big deal. I intentionally took things easy on the descents to not blow out the quads.

Then, I come back to a rest week. So, it kinda feels like a taper, even though it wasn’t intentional.

So, I think if I was just doing Highland +2 I would not do the openers, but I hinted to a friend I was going to try to do it in 5 hours and he was like “you can’t do that”. So, I’m gonna do it, if it’s not too crazy, lol. My A event is in mid way and I’m doing low volume up until I move in mid-April. I have been keeping a dog for a friend and give the dog back at the move. I’m actually moving back to a property I still own and lived in not so many years ago and is not so far away. The point is as far as moves go, it’s not a particularly stressful one. So, I’m doing low volume+ and then will do medium volume once the stress is gone. That’s the plan, though not the point of the post.

In any case, openers tomorrow morning or just my usual Friday yoga routine?

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Good call doing it as a long workout as it will keep you focused and prevent you from burning matches.

But I hate to tell you that I think Highland +2 is going to leave you well short of finishing PRL Full. When I did it, my average power was higher than just the 20 min tempo efforts in the workout and I finished in 5:23.

I wouldn’t worry about the openers one way or the other….it is just a long ride, not a race.

3

Overthinking. Not a real concern of any kind, at all, nada. Just ride. And if the dogs do bug you…again…not going to matter at.all.

4

I’d just ride tbh. Even racing, I’m not convinced openers work for me (n=1). I generally swap to an endurance ride that has a couple of sprints (pettit +1), after trying a few “openers”. And if it fits with dad cabs I’d often just do an easy spin while my children do their football training just to turn the legs. But I do find I’m better turning over the legs.

5

You don’t need openers for an endurance ride especially if your goal is just finishing.

Focus on what you are going to watch on netflix, and using good goal setting, stuff like : I’ll switch to this other thing I want to watch when I reach the the next hour mark, ill have a sip of coffee when I reach X time mark.

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6

yeah, I had assumed I’d probably have to crank out some harder intervals, but if I’m going to have to get off the bike to deal with the barking dogs, then that might be enough rest to make that happen. Shooting for 5 hours of bike time, not 5 hours of actual time because yeah, that is not happening. The dogs will bark. My wife will probably ask me to do something that could have easily waited but I’ve already stopped peddling so I might as well just do it.

7

usually Zwift keeps me pretty engaged but if I’m riding a TT bike, which apparently is the fast thing to do solo, then I won’t need to pay attention to sticking behind someone. I should probably eat into those Agents of Shield seasons. :thinking:

EDIT: Also, I don’t usually ride Zwift for 5(+?) hours.

8

I would suggest a road bike, honestly…on a TT bike there is no draft. For the PRL Full, there is a fair amount of time coming through London where there are a lot of riders. Even riding your own pace, you can slingshot around them and get the draft benefit. And the TT bike won’t be any faster on the climbs, so…

9

Eric (Zwift Insider) said TT bike was faster but that comment was twoish years ago. Draft dynamics and numbers have changed. The Box Hill climb is only 4.3% (or 4.4% depending on where you look) though it looks super step all smashed up on the route page: “The PRL Full” Route Details (London) | Zwift Insider

In any case, the direct quote is “If you’re doing it solo, a TT bike would be the fastest.” but, like what TT bike and what does “solo” mean? I only have the Zwift TT, and I don’t have the drops to change that (or maybe I do, but I don’t have the drops to buy the TT bike that would make sense for my level).

Maybe I’ll ride the first half with the TT and the second half with an aero bike and see what happens.

I had never moved the workout to the correct day in TR. London doesn’t open up until Sunday, so that’s when I’ll be doing the ride, in case anyone wants to join for some (or all!).

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10

Interesting…I guess it may depend on the number of riders in London.

Thought just occurred to me…if you are doing it on a specific day when a bunch of people are doing it, but the world is not open to all users for general riding, then yes, absolutely use the TT bike. Everything would break up on Box Hill anyway and there won’t be many people to slingshot around on the flats.

11

It absolutely MUST depend on that. The word “solo” is doing a lot of work in his comment, but you know, it was a comment in the comment section, not something actually written in the article so I think we can forgive him for not backing it up with test runs of 75kg riders at 300W. :slight_smile: Then again, since all of his testing is done truly solo, maybe he meant truly solo, which makes the comment basically meaningless because who is doing that?

In any case, yeah, I’m just doing an open world ride.

But, I’m not doing it on Sunday. Already a 12+ hour workday and no end in sight. Not only for me, but also my wife. I can’t spend 5 hours on Sunday. Will have to wait for London to come down on a weekend again.

So, I’m going to do the Half if anybody wants to come out on the course. It’s actually less than half, but whatever. No one asked me.

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