@Drew_Friestedt I’m not surprised at the responses you’ve received. TD’s description of Erg mode wasn’t accurate so expect the indoor smart training folk to cry foul.
I have however listened to the podcast and he’s making a valid point about the usefulness of training to work at various cadence levels and power ranges to manage your energy during racing. Just watch all the upshifting and slow, square pedaling during an acceleration or a short steep hill in a lower cat race for an example of what not to do. Long climbs, forget about it…
He actually gives a lot of good advice in general. Unfortunately it can get lost in the jargon he’s created and there’s quite a bit of questionable claims made in regards to nutrition and physiology on his pod. He’s obviously a wealth of experience, and should skip the science talk.
Erg mode is unrealistic, but fixing your bike to a trainer is? I think all of us have seen that you can ride for months in your garage but then hop out on the roads in the spring and still remember how to turn. It might take a few rides before it feels second nature again, but that kind of stuff comes back quickly. Modulating gearing and cadence to make power is no different imo.
This sort of training is all year long. It’s simulated on different terrain, different situations, different everything. But all the training tries to simulate some real world situation…
wind changes direction, guys drill it, need to rotate and hang on
simulate drilling a competitor on a climb
simulate rolling terrain and gaining momentum for free
Watch a world tour racer go up a hard climb at the end of a race. They go high cadence standing, low cadence standing, and low cadence seated and high cadence seated. And they transition back and forth between all these. They do this for a number of reasons, but it requires a lot of practice. It is a skill. It requires practice and training.
For me, I try to simulate the real world as much as possible. I cannot ride outside in the winter, so I ride inside without ERG in order to practice power control and transition control. They are skills.
Sounds like a local climb of mine, has a wall in the middle of it… you think that once you’re 3/4 of the way through you are going to have a good strava time, but you can see that the guys with the top times are accelerating to 20mph in the last 1/4 or so while I’m plodding along at like 12 mph (and noticing my power dropping by not changing gears).
BTW, one thing erg vs non erg… you can’t always pick your cadence on the road, depending on your cassette. So I don’t have a choice but to work a varied cadence range. CAn make things a bit of a mental challenge at times, but I feel those are aces in my sleeve come time to actually get out there for real.
I dispute this. Anyone who has been riding for a while knows how to stand up and sit down. Riding in erg mode doesn’t make one forget how to do this any more than it makes one forget how to tie ones shoes.
I’d bet most world tour pros think TD’s “patented” grift buzzwords are laughable.
I can stand and work a low cadence, or sit and spin, or anything in between while working in ERG mode. For me, ERG mode isn’t the most unrealistic part of training indoors - the way that the bike is locked upright is much more off putting (and the way that you don’t get penalised for sitting up).
For me, the major purpose of riding indoors is to boost my physiological capabilities. Sure, as I get closer to my events, I want to specialise a little, but due to the above factors, I want to do that outside anyway.
You sound ridiculous. If you prefer riding without ERG just say so, stop pretending everyone who uses it looks like Mr. Bean trying to ride a bike come springtime.
Agreed. He’s just bought into what Danielson is selling. Most structured training plans will help you get faster if you are dedicated and stick with it. ERG mode is just a tool and if it was really bad for you, I’m sure there would be more widespread opposition to its use. Danielson is just trying to come up with the special terms and his own spin on a structured plan as way to sell his service. Quite frankly I don’t why anyone would go to him given his checkered past in the sport of cycling.
I though that for a 4 Nate had some impressive power, was able to race four hard races in two days and responded well to race conditions. He didn’t take a few corners as well as possible but most 4’s don’t hit every right or left with absolute precision.
Once his cornering improves he will be marked in every race he enters, if he isn’t already.
Being the camera was on your bike… Just referring to lots of folks up shifting and pedaling squares with the accelerations rather than spinning up smoothly in the lower cat races.
