Clifton CC Discussion Board

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by Jon G Wed Jan 23, 2008 3:12 pm
Having recently joined the club are there any fellow club members taking part in this and if so or if you have done it in the past could you give us any advice on training for the event. I have done other fairly tough sportives such as the Etape du Dales and have also previously ridden in the Alps and Pyrenees before on cycling trips. Some general tips and what to expect from the event would be good. i have already read the reports on the website about previous members experiences which were good.

by Arthur Wed Jan 23, 2008 3:35 pm
My top tips:

1) Don't over do the milage. You'll have to do some big rides in preparation but I think most people are better served doing more shorter rides. Doing 100 miles in the hills on Sunday can take a fair while to recover from so you'll get fitter keeping the miles down rather than battering yourself all the time.

2) Get some hard speed work in. You'll be climbing the hills at a decent effort level so you need to get used to riding hard for 1 hr+. Do some TTs (e.g. our Spocos) or road races (e.g. TLI series) for some hard efforts at an intensity greater than you'll be climbing at.

3) Don't go mad yet. It's only January!

This is very personal, and not everyone will agree but it works for me. When I did the Etape du Dales last year my longest ride of the year was 4 1/2 hours and that was only the once. All my other "long" rides were 3 - 3 1/2 hours.

by Jon G Wed Jan 23, 2008 3:48 pm
Thanks for those tips Arthur Do agree that alot of very long hard rides can be counter productive better to work on specific areas like hard efforts on the hills and sustaining that effort for long periods. I am considering entering some TT becuase I've never really done any before. Will look into this. Cheers for that.

by Rob Wed Jan 23, 2008 5:37 pm
Jon, do you plan to ride for a "time" or medal, or just plan on getting round in the time limit and enjoying the atmos? How much time have you got invest in the training? Where are you starting from - what's your current fitness like and what was your standard last summer?
R

by Jon G Thu Jan 24, 2008 11:27 am
Hi Rob

Well, I don't confess to be Lance Armstrong and wouldnt say I was aiming for a particular time I would be happy to complete it within the time limit. My fitness is pretty good interms of endurance there are aspects I would like to improve however such as core strength and aiming to lose some excess weight without losing the power. Currently i really only ride for fitness and pleasure and have being doing so regualrly for about 10 years. To give you an idea of form I completed last years etape du dales in 8hr 52mins. Not brilliant but I was quite happy having never ridden over that many steep hills in one go. I will be looking to improve on that time this year and try and get it under 8hrs. The same goes for the white rose classic. Regarding time for training thats probably the difficult thing. Generally weekends are best but obviously once the spring arrives evning are possble as well. Being self emplyed makes it difficult to get away from work at times and commit to things without some forward planning. Any advice would be great.

by Rob Thu Jan 24, 2008 12:45 pm
Hi Jon,

Thanks for sharing all that - I reckon you'll be typical of any number of members at the moment and they'll be keen to contribute or just watch this discussion!! The only thing I forgot to ask was whether you assume EdT to be your #1 aim for the year - I assume it is given the expense and time commitment in taking part...

Anyway, my thoughts, based on experience, common sense, but no qualification....

Abilities you need to develop/improve/maximise:

1. Ride for 10 hours with no major stop.
Arthur rightly councils you not to get too hung up on this, but the fact remains you need to do some long rides at some point if you don't want the last three hours to be an ordeal. I'd be looking to do 2-3 x 8 hour rides during May/June. If these are not to be too painful then you need to be doing 2-3 x 6 hour rides during March/April. You can guess what I'd say about Jan/Feb..... I'd do these at an intensity which means you're pretty stuffed at the end. I know you are riding in for the Sat cafe run and that sounds like a long ride to me! However, remember that this is more like 2x3 hours with a cafe break in the middle. The cafe makes it much easier! That aside, I'd recommend sticking with these rides as much as possible for the endurance, fat burning, but also you will feed on the enthusiasm of the others. Also teach you to ride efficiently while knocking elbows with other cyclists! Also look at some early season Audaxes like or own 3 Brideges.

2. Ride up hill for an hour at a time.
You've seen what the climbs are like. Its hard to simulate this in the UK unless you fancy going up to the Scottish W Coast for the Bealach na Ba. But what you can do is simulate 1 hour's worth of intense riding. To me this would be a series of 90 min training rides (incl 15 warm up and 15 min warm down). If you can do this every week that would be great. Climbing is all about strength : weight ratio and I'm tempted to quote Robert Millar's mantra of "ride more, eat less"! Sounds best in a scottish accent. Further to get some more intense riding done - how about doing a Sat training ride instead of the cafe run every other week?

3. Tolerate 30oC heat.
Don't think there's, realistically, that much you can do other than have a really good hydration strategy on the day.

Fitting all the riding in. This is the challenge! I'd avoid back to back hard days so if you riding on Sat, then I'd invest Sunday on catching up with the rest of your life! I'd then be looking on getting two sessions in during the week. How about one 90 min ride plus something else. At this stage of the year it doesn't even have to be riding. Swimming? I'm told there's a good spin class at Abbey Leisure. But certainly when the clocks change you should be trying to get out on the road twice during the week. Your long ride is at the weekend, so go for quality in the week. 90 mins for one ride and some long intervals with the other - several efforts of 10-15 minutes with 5 mins recovery. You won't get much climbing done around Selby, but those railway bridges can be deceptive :wink: You can use the club events for a good work out and a bit of fun when they start in May.

Hope the above helps - its not exactly radical is it?

Good luck.

R

by Jon G Thu Jan 24, 2008 1:15 pm
Thanks for that Rob. It just gives me an idea of what someone else would do and gives me something to form a training structure around. Along with Arthurs comments it ensures your heading in the right direction with training. There is nothing worse than doing something and it not changing anything or you feel your not getting anywhere with the training. i do intend continuing at the moment with the cafe runs on Sat ( if i can make it, flooding and work commitments aside) and probably take you up on the training ride idea every other week once the weather settles down. A shorter none stop ride at a faster pace (not too fast I hope) would be beneficial and more productive.

To answer the question about the Etape being the main aim probably yes but i do intend doing other sportives. I'm off on a CTC tour in September to the Pyrenees i only wish that this would have been towards the back end of June to prepare me for whats to come.

Thanks Again

Jon

by Arthur Thu Jan 24, 2008 1:45 pm
3. Tolerate 30oC heat.
Don't think there's, realistically, that much you can do other than have a really good hydration strategy on the day.


I think you can help yourself a bit here. To exagarate slightly, I've always found that those people wearing shorts in Janruary don't do well in the heat :) It's perfectly possible to condition the body to cold, or heat, but I've never been able to mange both in the same year, so wrap up well in winter.

Rob's suggestions of 90 min rides with 60 min hard is an excellent one. You could also try a slight varient on this to mix it up a bit, warm up, 20 mins at TT pace, 3 min rest, 20 min TT pace, warm down. Also for a two hour ride, try riding the middle 90 mins at 'tempo': hard and fast but not all out.

by Jon G Thu Jan 24, 2008 1:55 pm
I agree with you on the people wearing shorts in Winter. I see some people out wearing shorts and you think crikey its not that warm. Keeping your knees warm is paramount.

What do you consider hard? 85% Max HR and above.

Jonathan

by Rob Thu Jan 24, 2008 2:05 pm
Yep, about that. The point where its awkward to hold a conversation. About the effort you'll be climbing at in the Etap and the Pyrenees later on.

R

by PhilBixby Thu Jan 24, 2008 7:33 pm
If you've got a turbo, you can deal with the hills and the heat at the same time. I reckon sessions on the turbo at about 10-15bpm below your lactate threshold are a pretty good simulation of riding up a long French hill. 15mins warm-up, then 30-90mins at that pace, then warm down. You'll be as hot as hell, and if you really work at keeping a steady pace you'll be putting in a similar effort to lugging your carcass up a col.

It would also allow you to get training in during winter/spring evenings when it's dark. Good for focus too - I know in theory there's all that lovely scenery over there but in my experience you tend to end up staring at the bit of road in front of you....

by Rob Fri Jan 25, 2008 8:52 am
PhilBixby wrote:in my experience you tend to end up staring at the bit of road in front of you....

Phil mate, you have no soul... :roll:

by PhilBixby Fri Jan 25, 2008 11:45 am
au contraire, mon ami... ...but the problem with Big Scenery is that it can look almost unchanging for a very long period when you're zig-zagging up the side of a French mountain, and getting used to the unchanging nature of the view from the turbo can be good preparation :wink:

by Jon G Fri Jan 25, 2008 1:15 pm
Definitely see where your coming from there Phil :D You may be on to something. When your on the turbo it feels like you may as well be in a fan assisted oven. And the view of staring at a brick wall for an hour is akin to the road surface up an alp.

Where possible i think i'll be avoiding the turbo for training unless absoultely necessary.

by PhilBixby Sat Jan 26, 2008 8:45 am
Turbo sessions *can* be slightly more humane, subject to having either TV or a computer around. I set mine up in front of my computer and either stick on a DVD or log on to cycling.tv. Watching someone else suffer on a bike makes it much more tolerable.

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