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Time To Get Fit - 2024

Tally Whacker said:
Well, my bike race season just took a hit.

Last night, winding up for the final sprint of the final race of the night at the velodrome, another rider and I went for the same gap and collided, sending both of us (and the guy right behind) to the ground. I broke my left wrist in the impact, meaning no riding for me for another couple of months.
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That really sucks...but, you've got dedicated off bike training time now I suppose. You got x-rays, etc?

two wheel tramp said:
Did a track weekend at T-Hill west. It rained all day Saturday so it was open track and I just... I rode and I rode and then I rode some more until I did 111 laps. Granted, not at breakneck pace but I had so much fun.

Sunday it warmed up and dried out. We did an AB/BC format after lunch. I was the slow one in the AB group and I was still boogeying. My body held up well. I only scraped a peg once and that's because I was much better at moving around on the bike. It's a lot easier with less fat. Who knew? :laughing

Overall, yes, I was tired at the end but I held up well and ended on a great note.
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Great news from great fitness R! Probably unlike any riding you've done in some time, right? You gonna go do any more track events this season?
 
Holeshot said:
That really sucks...but, you've got dedicated off bike training time now I suppose. You got x-rays, etc?



Great news from great fitness R! Probably unlike any riding you've done in some time, right? You gonna go do any more track events this season?
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I will as my budget allows. I would love to move from B to A but that will take dedication and a big tire budget. I will definitely sign up for the PTT season closer. I'd hope to do a Sonoma day on the SMR once I get the little oil leak buttoned up. Its source has already been pinpointed and is a fairly easy fix.

It was definitely more physical than my usual riding. I don't shift around that much on the street and noticed most of the soreness was my arms/chest. I probably looked pretty damn funny on the 790. :laughing
 
Tally Whacker said:
Well, my bike race season just took a hit.

Last night, winding up for the final sprint of the final race of the night at the velodrome, another rider and I went for the same gap and collided, sending both of us (and the guy right behind) to the ground. I broke my left wrist in the impact, meaning no riding for me for another couple of months.
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Also, I didn't realize you raced at the velodrome. I'll remember to say hi next time we are both there.
 
Tally Whacker said:
Bad enough I’ll have to get surgery.
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:( That really sucks. Injuries are so frustrating.

Robert Your interval rides are really impressive. I'm curious how you can be so disciplined with them when your out in the wild. Do you pick flat and level terrain for them? Does that matter? Is traffic an issue? What are you using to monitor your 30 second intervals? Your head unit? Any tips are much appreciated.
 
Mike95060 said:
Robert Your interval rides are really impressive. I'm curious how you can be so disciplined with them when your out in the wild. Do you pick flat and level terrain for them? Does that matter? Is traffic an issue? What are you using to monitor your 30 second intervals? Your head unit? Any tips are much appreciated.
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Planning, lots of planning.

My Tues intervals were on a local climb(s) on stretches without lights. The interval was 4min. Finding a 4min climb with no lights and no descents isn't that hard. What takes more planning is the appropriate rest time. The "mountain" I use has 5 roads you can climb to get to the top. I go up the 1st road, down the 2nd part-way, up the 2nd, down the 3rd part-way, up the 3rd, down the 2nd, and up the 2nd. Then down the 1st and back home. With good planning on start spots, I can consistently get 8-10min of rest. The 4th road rolls a little too much and the 5th road is too steep for intervals (16%).

My Thurs intervals were 30sec on, 30sec off x10 for 3 sets. These kinda require a flat road without intersections. Thankfully SD has Fiesta Island, a recreation spot that has a 4mile one-way rim road with no stops. The only thing that can go wrong is a car passing right when you need to start an interval, then needing to pass them. I think I have almost 150 laps around there already.

My longer sweet spot intervals, 3x30min for example, take even more planning. I drive east to a rural area where the longer climbs are. I found one road with only one section of small descent and only one light that takes me 30min to climb. I soft pedal the top and the descent to get 20min rest. My laps are increasing on that one too.

I build my interval workouts inside Garmin Connect, either on web or mobile. They end up looking like this. Doing everything as % of FTP and giving the interval a ~20% range works well. Then when you use this workout on the head unit, it tells you when to start/stop, what power range to do, and it does all the lapping for you. It makes recording intervals really easy. The only thing Garmin is missing from their Workout functionality is a damn 'share' button.

IC3TYwE.jpeg
 
Tally Whacker said:
Well, my bike race season just took a hit.

Last night, winding up for the final sprint of the final race of the night at the velodrome, another rider and I went for the same gap and collided, sending both of us (and the guy right behind) to the ground. I broke my left wrist in the impact, meaning no riding for me for another couple of months.
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yowza. sorry i am just now commenting. that sucks! i hope you have a full and fast recovery. i didn’t know you raced velodrome. that’s neat. except that part where you crashed. i don’t like that for you at all.
 
Re: the wife's no-longer-stolen bicycle.

The carbon repair guy charged $500 and did a pretty damn good job on the repair. The carbon work is faultless. The paint is an 8/10. The paint was a difficult task anyway as blending flat colors is a huge pain. It only took him 3 days, so the bike is already back in the garage.

ENVE really came through with the warranty of the rear wheel. After some back and forth about which wheel she had, they elected to just send her a brand new complete wheel and charged $50. Shipping took 2 days from Utah. Her wheel was purchased new in 2022 and they have since come out with a new hub. So she got a hub upgrade too. The new freehub sounds mean. And we now have a spare hub and spokes. This is why we spend more to buy from reputable US companies with great warranties.

I've purchased all the other things to make the bike complete again - cages, spares and tool kit, bar tape, tire - and will re-cable the bike too. I'll probably have it all done by tomorrow. Happy days!!
 
:thumbup

I might have to find some tutorials on how to craft workouts in Garmin. I have had a hunch something like that is gonna be key to getting me to the next level but hearing that you use it is affirming. Not having the ability to measure power on the bike might have to change. Do you think trying to do structured interval workouts with heart rate is a waste of time?

I do use the preloaded Garmin suggested workouts when I run and I have found them helpful. The interval timing is huge and there is a track here that's usually empty enough to use. Gonna have to hunt down something similar for the bike.
 
Mike95060 said:
:thumbup

I might have to find some tutorials on how to craft workouts in Garmin. I have had a hunch something like that is gonna be key to getting me to the next level but hearing that you use it is affirming. Not having the ability to measure power on the bike might have to change. Do you think trying to do structured interval workouts with heart rate is a waste of time?

I do use the preloaded Garmin suggested workouts when I run and I have found them helpful. The interval timing is huge and there is a track here that's usually empty enough to use. Gonna have to hunt down something similar for the bike.
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Ya HR is a waste of time IMO. It's too variable each day and goes up throughout the sets. You'd be better off learning and using your RPE (rate of perceived exertion).

You can do VO2Max intervals without power because they are RPE 10. My coach does not give me a power target for those. The plan for the 30sec ones literally said "all out, no pacing". I just added the power target to give myself a lower limit to stay above and to give friends an idea of how hard they should try. I went over the upper limit a lot. The plan for the 4min ones is "go as hard as you can, just don't nuke the first one to make sure you finish everything". The goal of VO2Max intervals is to be breathing as hard as you can for ~15min total time with an appropriate amount of rest in between.

You could do a set of VO2Max intervals tomorrow. Id recommend starting with 3x4min with 10min reset between each. Don't bother with adding the workout to your head unit. Just make sure you have "lap time" in your data fields. Then hit the lap button to start and end.

My longer 30min intervals do come with power targets, usually some % of my FTP. Those ones are pacing practice as much as they are a workout. Doing 20w (8-10%) too low can make it far too easy. Doing 20w too high can make it impossible to finish the set. Maybe after doing a bunch I could do these without power - solely on RPE - maybe not.
 
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Thanks Robert! That's really helpful. UCSC bike path comes to mind as a good place for a 4 minute all out effort. It's a protected loop to climb. Roll down and repeat. :rip
 
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two wheel tramp said:
I will as my budget allows. I would love to move from B to A but that will take dedication and a big tire budget. I will definitely sign up for the PTT season closer. I'd hope to do a Sonoma day on the SMR once I get the little oil leak buttoned up. Its source has already been pinpointed and is a fairly easy fix.

It was definitely more physical than my usual riding. I don't shift around that much on the street and noticed most of the soreness was my arms/chest. I probably looked pretty damn funny on the 790. :laughing
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what size and brand tires are you on? Likely I can find you Pirelli stuff used (free) or new (on a "special" discount).

stangmx13 said:
Also, I didn't realize you raced at the velodrome. I'll remember to say hi next time we are both there.
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When and where on the Velodrome? That's the only kind of pedal racing I'd like to try...but first, I'd love to come watch you and Tally out there.

stangmx13 said:
The carbon repair guy charged $500 and did a pretty damn good job on the repair. The carbon work is faultless.
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Is he down in SD? Looking for a good CF guy to do some repair on a front splitter for me.
 
I’ve never ridden the velodrome, only watched. It’s a fun weekday evening - chilling with friends, watching racing, eating food truck, enjoying a beer.

Theres a series of classes to take to be allowed to ride on the track. I’ve heard they are fun. But I really don’t need another form of riding to worry about and I don’t need another bike (yet).

The carbon repair guy is in Poway, an outlying town of SD. He used to work on race cars before getting into bicycles.
 
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Hey, Robert, are you planning on doing the Arch Ride? I'm thinking I'll be skipping it this year, and have an available ticket...
 
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