Reminder 110 days
I have ridden outside 2 times in 3 months. So frustrating
2 Likes
Are you doing the work inside? If so you should be okay…
We’ve had unusually crappy winter riding weather this year in central TX. Still decent compared to many regions, it’s just forced a lot of indoor riding. I can get quality work done indoors, it’s just hard to get the long rides in. I’ve been splitting those days up into morning and evening sessions so I’m not having to do 3+ hours on the trainer straight too often. Seems to be working well from a fitness perspective and finding suitable Zwift group rides for the steady stuff helps pass the time. Last week was super nice, but it was a rest week for me so no long weekday rides. Last block of build this month and really hoping to push the volume. Got out for a long ride on Saturday and ended up suffering pretty bad for the last hour as temps hit almost 90F (I wasn’t ready for heat training just yet). Prior Saturday, it was 25F when I started my ride. Texas winters…
1 Like
Sad to say but the last time I rode my bike (inside or out) was October 19th. Just haven’t been motivated to rider the trainer nor ride outside in the cold. But, I have been doing a lot of running, so that has helped me maintain my aerobic base (and lose some winter weight). Hoping it will transition to some bike fitness and I can start riding soon
Same here, not getting outside anytime soon except maybe a quick trip south where I’ll bring a bike in March.
I think these 4 hour trainer rides are among the most beneficial for these long events. There’s something about tiring yourself out on intervals all week then just grinding it out for 4 hours without a pause. Good for endurance, fatigue resistance, but definitely builds some mental strength too…
VO2 Block done for me, doing a couple test workouts this week then threshold work and building CTL starts.
(Typing from trainer… Again.)
3 Likes
In years past, I believe the strongest I have felt on the bike is when I spent the winter months doing 60-90 minute sweet spot and VO2 work on the indoor trainer and then longer rides outside once the weather warmed up. Indoor rides are just so good to help with discipline
i am trying, but i level out at like 500 tss inside
1 Like
The trainer is unforgiving. If you can do 4 hours of z2 on the trainer 4 hours outside with coasting breaks is easy in comparison.
i struggle to ride trainer over 2 hours, outside 2 hours is so easy.
I can do 2hr30min on trainer and then im mentally done
2 Likes
We take so many micro brakes on the road that never really register. That’s why it feels easier. Those little 30 second or less brakes go a long way to relieving fatigue during the ride.
As @BCM said trainer rides are unforgiving. No brakes, and depending on your set up. Swampy bibs don’t help either.
2 Likes
The trick for me is that I have great cooling, a trainer desk right in front of me, and always have movies, netflix, youtube, podcasts, etc. all ready to go. If you can’t zone out, it sucks. For 4 hours I’m usually trying to find 2 mindless action movies that just keep my attention.
I actually go the other way on the long indoor rides and they go by pretty quickly. Instead of trying to zone out, I focus and break it down into very very small bits. Every 30 seconds I switch hand positions, every five minutes I take a swig of drink and a tiny snack, I play numbers games with the tss or the calories and calculate what I think they will be at the end of the interval. All those types of things make a 40 minute block go by much faster than you think it will. I did 3.5 hours yesterday on the trainer and it was fine. I also have music going and I watch gravel or mtb races on the tv. All of that together makes the time fly by.
1 Like
I wish I could do 4 hours on the trainer, but my butt just can’t handle that nearly like it can 4 hours outside. I am working on my clip on aero bar fitment and if I can get that sorted, it will help a lot on the trainer.
My unbound training is going well. Last year, I did a few 60-65 mile gravel races which were my longest races to date. I also did an 82 and 105 mile charity type ride and while the average speeds were fast (19-20ish) on pavement, there were also the typical 10-15 minute stops a few times. Those two were my longest rides so far.
This year I’m signed up for 4 100+ mile gravel races and the double or triple bypass in Colorado in July (currently signed up for double, but may switch to triple).
I did my first solo century on Saturday on pavement. I averaged 19 mph and only had 5 minutes off the bike for a couple pee breaks, bottle swap, and stop light. The 5+ hours were harder than I expected compared to my normal weekend 100k rides that take around 3:15-3:30.
Being new to the distance, I just want to finish each race strong with good solid pacing and knowing I had 100% effort when I cross the finish line. Both my prior 82 & 105 mile long rides I bonked pretty hard the last 90 minutes. This weekend I averaged around 170 watts consistently throughout the ride. It was meant to be an easy ride and that’s in my lower endurance range, but the sheer duration made it a challenge for me. All that tells me is that I need to keep upping my long weekend rides!
I’m also hoping that in the races the drafting will play a big part, assuming I get with a suitable group. I have a tendency to get in a group further forward than I should lol.
3 Likes
Road tires are off my gravel bike and I mounted up the 47’s for my first gravel ride of the year today. ~100 miles total, but only about 15 miles of actual gravel, another ~5 miles tame singletrack, and a bunch of really crappy country roads that were often worse than the gravel. Man, it felt good to push a little power on some chunky roads, totally in my element today. Constant drizzle and temps around 50f all day. There’s something about those kind of conditions that get me fired up and it felt like it should have been a race day. I’ll probably do my first race of the year next weekend, definitely itching to mix it up and see where the legs are at.
Training is going well, CTL sitting 20+ points higher than this time last year (last year disrupted by injury in Jan). Only bummer is that the weather has been mostly crap and I haven’t had enough time riding outdoors. Morning temps will be in the teens again this week (really cold for TX), so I’ll likely have another week of training in the garage. AIFTP gave me a decent FTP bump and I took it despite it being the same as my peak FTP last year (might be a bit optimistic, we’ll see). Hopefully still have room to grow, feeling good about training right now. Only 105 days until race day, but still lots of work to do.
2 Likes
Where in Texas are you? Wire Donkey, between Houston and Austin is next weekend. I’m planning to be there. Looking to be cold!
Near Austin in Volente, TX. And that’s the race I’m considering. I’ve done it before, good course from what I remember.
And that’s the only reason I haven’t signed up yet. At least the rain forecast has gone down. I actually don’t mind racing in the cold, I just don’t like the part where you have to start in the cold. I hate shedding cloths in a race, so typically just freeze my ass off for a while if it’s going to warm up. Looking like right around freezing at start time, I’ll wear arm warmers and maybe knee warmers also. Shouldn’t be much above low 40s by the end of the race, so not too much risk of cooking. It’s all better than racing when it’s 100F out, so I need to just suck it up and sign up.
You all are so lucky. Us northerners have been trapped inside
4 Likes
Windchill is 27 @ 9 and 36 @ noon. Actual temps a bit warmer like you mentioned.
I’ve never raced below 45 before. During one race at 45 deg start, ending at 55, I basically wore all my normal hot weather clothes except an insulated long sleeve jersey and wind proof thin vest that I stripped halfway through and felt perfect.
The following weekend I did a long/easy ride where it was like 36 start and 45 finish and my hands and feet froze for the first 90 minutes.
I’m completely torn on what route to go for the race. My wife/kids will drive over with me and may park somewhere around the halfway point to watch that I could always strip off some gear if needed, but I’m not one to really stop, so maybe just a thin jacket/heavier gloves?
At least when your weather gets nice, it also stays light out til 9 pm. When it gets unbearably hot here, I wish the sun would go down at 5!
1 Like
Come talk to me in Summer when it’s 80f and humid when I hit the road at 6am and mid 90’s by the time I’m off the bike. Heat training to some extent is helpful, but doing productive interval training in the heat is kind of a non-starter. Luckily, it usually doesn’t get that hot prior to Unbound, it’s my later events where the training suffers a bit. Not saying cold doesn’t suck, just that heat can suck as well.
1 Like