For those who may be riding in the Banff Gran Fondo, here is a link to my ride on May 31. I was a bit intimidated by the hills but they are thankfully short.
Banff Gran Fondo First Stage: Lake Minnewanka Loop
Thursday, May 31, 2012
Sunday, May 27, 2012
Update Time
Since April 19:
Count: 27 Activities
Distance: 641.93 km
Time: 34:41:45 h:m:s
Elevation Gain: 3,846 m
Avg Speed: 20.6 km/h
Avg HR: 137 bpm
Avg Run Cadence: --
Avg Bike Cadence: 83 rpm
Calories: 19,109 C
Wow, 80KM today... I felt it as we had 40-40k wind gusts for the 40K return leg. It is apparent that I need a couple days off.
Next weekend: Banff to Lake Minnewanka hill training. This is the start of the Banff Granfondo and it is UGLY. Steep unrelenting grades......
Fueling for a long ride will take some trial and error. For the 80K today, I was on the bike for 3.5 hours, averaged 26km going out, 20 coming back. Power going out: 160 normalized and 150 on the return. Low...... I did not have much left after yesterdays ripping ride (bad move on my part) 2000 calories today though!
Count: 27 Activities
Distance: 641.93 km
Time: 34:41:45 h:m:s
Elevation Gain: 3,846 m
Avg Speed: 20.6 km/h
Avg HR: 137 bpm
Avg Run Cadence: --
Avg Bike Cadence: 83 rpm
Calories: 19,109 C
Wow, 80KM today... I felt it as we had 40-40k wind gusts for the 40K return leg. It is apparent that I need a couple days off.
Next weekend: Banff to Lake Minnewanka hill training. This is the start of the Banff Granfondo and it is UGLY. Steep unrelenting grades......
Fueling for a long ride will take some trial and error. For the 80K today, I was on the bike for 3.5 hours, averaged 26km going out, 20 coming back. Power going out: 160 normalized and 150 on the return. Low...... I did not have much left after yesterdays ripping ride (bad move on my part) 2000 calories today though!
Sunday, May 20, 2012
Longest Ride (so far)
Target the Tour: 70K by mphoto at Garmin Connect - Details
One Month Stats - Since Training Started (April 19, 2012)
Count: 21 Activities
Distance: 474.80 km
Time: 24:21:18 h:m:s
Elevation Gain: 3,098 m
Avg Speed: 20.4 km/h
Avg HR: 137 bpm
Avg Run Cadence: --
Avg Bike Cadence: 83 rpm
Calories: 13,874 C
One Month Stats - Since Training Started (April 19, 2012)
Count: 21 Activities
Distance: 474.80 km
Time: 24:21:18 h:m:s
Elevation Gain: 3,098 m
Avg Speed: 20.4 km/h
Avg HR: 137 bpm
Avg Run Cadence: --
Avg Bike Cadence: 83 rpm
Calories: 13,874 C
Friday, May 18, 2012
Energy: Bonk Prevention
I've found a few products that work exceptionally well for me:
For general workouts and for a quick boost before an hour long ride:
Vitargo Gener8: A non-sugar based carb powder. Just carbs.... Quick assimilation and used before and after heavy exercise. Watch it though, the dose is about 300 calories so you really need be working it off.
Ultimate Nutrition Whey Protein Isolate: Great flavors and I've been using this for the past year with good success.
Note, studies have shown that carb + Protein yields a greater energy potential than carbs alone.
For cycling, I have been using:
Hammer Perpetuem: Great for your bottle; rides over a couple hours
Hammer Heed: Great for your bottle, one to two hour rides
Hammer Gel: Great for a quick carb boost
Hammer Recoverite: after a really hard ride, this seems to minimize the muscle soreness and replenishes carbs
Your mileage may vary... There is a lot of good info on the web but I will leave it to you to do your own research. If in doubt, check with your doctor!
For general workouts and for a quick boost before an hour long ride:
Vitargo Gener8: A non-sugar based carb powder. Just carbs.... Quick assimilation and used before and after heavy exercise. Watch it though, the dose is about 300 calories so you really need be working it off.
Ultimate Nutrition Whey Protein Isolate: Great flavors and I've been using this for the past year with good success.
Note, studies have shown that carb + Protein yields a greater energy potential than carbs alone.
For cycling, I have been using:
Hammer Perpetuem: Great for your bottle; rides over a couple hours
Hammer Heed: Great for your bottle, one to two hour rides
Hammer Gel: Great for a quick carb boost
Hammer Recoverite: after a really hard ride, this seems to minimize the muscle soreness and replenishes carbs
Your mileage may vary... There is a lot of good info on the web but I will leave it to you to do your own research. If in doubt, check with your doctor!
Sunday, May 13, 2012
Baseline
Thanks to an understanding spouse, I have finally figured out my baseline fitness level (on a bike). In perspective, I have only been riding since April 19th....
I joined the Edmonton Bicycle and Touring Club (http://www.bikeclub.ca/) and did my first long ride of the year. 45km. It is long for me.... Riding at the right pace, I finished feeling like I could ride a lot more :)
My current ride-all-day pace is 25 kph. My target for the Banff Gran Fondo is 30 kph. I have a ways to go.... I also signed up for the Tour de l'Alberta, a 100 K ride a few weeks before the Banff 140K ride.
The link between power and heart rate is now apparent and the training for the balance of the Summer will be in aid of increasing the power threshold and maybe the heart rate threshold. I am looking at going from 176 watts to 200 watts and increasing my lactic threshold from 161 to 165. The latter may not seem like much but my max heart rate is 180 so there is not much latitude here. I can increase the power threshold a lot more!
So, from April 19th:
Calories: 9527
KM: 262 (more km than all of last year)
Tylenol: lots
Completely worn out days: 3
Enjoyment: priceless!
I joined the Edmonton Bicycle and Touring Club (http://www.bikeclub.ca/) and did my first long ride of the year. 45km. It is long for me.... Riding at the right pace, I finished feeling like I could ride a lot more :)
My current ride-all-day pace is 25 kph. My target for the Banff Gran Fondo is 30 kph. I have a ways to go.... I also signed up for the Tour de l'Alberta, a 100 K ride a few weeks before the Banff 140K ride.
The link between power and heart rate is now apparent and the training for the balance of the Summer will be in aid of increasing the power threshold and maybe the heart rate threshold. I am looking at going from 176 watts to 200 watts and increasing my lactic threshold from 161 to 165. The latter may not seem like much but my max heart rate is 180 so there is not much latitude here. I can increase the power threshold a lot more!
So, from April 19th:
Calories: 9527
KM: 262 (more km than all of last year)
Tylenol: lots
Completely worn out days: 3
Enjoyment: priceless!
Sunday, May 6, 2012
Resources
Training with Power, Joe Friel: http://www.trainingbible.com/pdf/Train_with_Power.pdf
More info on Power Training http://www.competitivecyclist.com/pdf/power_v1.pdf
Functional Threshold Power: http://www.flammerouge.je/content/3_factsheets/constant/functhresh.htm
The 4-Hour Body, Timothy Ferriss
Pedalheads Road Works: http://pedalheadroadworks.com/ (see Guri, very knowledgeable and helpful!)
More info on Power Training http://www.competitivecyclist.com/pdf/power_v1.pdf
Functional Threshold Power: http://www.flammerouge.je/content/3_factsheets/constant/functhresh.htm
The 4-Hour Body, Timothy Ferriss
Pedalheads Road Works: http://pedalheadroadworks.com/ (see Guri, very knowledgeable and helpful!)
Power to the Pedals
For me, it is all or nothing.... In order to determine if my training strategy is yielding results, I needed some good baseline data. Just going for a ride every day will not give me the results I want, my best possible time (riding against myself...) at the Banff Gran Fondo.
I've already learned, through the use of my Heart Rate Monitor (HRM), that I tend to ride in the mid zone 4 area which is right at my threshold a lot of the time. This won't allow me to ride the 140K from a stamina perspective. It is OK for the sprint rides I do when I go out after work but I have effectively trained myself to run out of gas at 30 km. A really important lesson, learned after only one week of testing!!
So.... I bought a power meter! Cycleops Powertap. There are two other main systems, SRM and Quarq. They each have their own pros and cons but my decision was based on price, availability and flexibility for me. The Powertap is built into the rear hub vs the cranks. I can have it built into some exotic carbon wheels in the future or I can simply use this as a training set of wheels. From a weight perspective, the new wheels are 144 grams heavier than my current set-up. My new tires are lighter which helps but considering the powertap is 325 grams alone, this is not a bad trade-off.
The first ride with the power meters was interesting. I added some Continental GP 4000S 25mm tires (vs the 23mm I had been using. Believe it or not, 25mm tires roll better than 23mm tires and they are more comfortable. You can google the tests and see for yourself. No flames though, wider tires have more wind resistance so aside from comfort, I don't know if there is any real world difference for me. It also seems that wheels are being made a couple mm wider these days which is supposed to aid in aerodynamics too. Perhaps if I have more time someday I will post my research. For now, you can read one test here: http://www.biketechreview.com/tires_old/images/AFM_tire_testing_rev9.pdf and another test on the Conti tires here: http://www.conti-online.com/generator/www/de/en/continental/bicycle/general/downloads/download/tourtest_gp4000s_en.pdf.
Anyway, the normalized power for the first ride was 144 watts and a lot of the ride was in HR zone 4. Seems low to me but I need to do a lot more reading. Training Peaks and TKO are made for this type of analysis so I will be loading today's ride in the app and see how things shape up. The 144 watts was measured during a rather windy ride which makes me even more curious. More on the watts story later.
I hit my first long hill with a good grade, 9% since I started training. Bugger! Hit the lowest ring and ended trudging up the hill at 10 kph. This is not good! I will have to hang out with Juventus on the hill climb training the week after next...... I will retrace the ride from yesterday, add 20K to the ride and load the route for discussion later.
I've already learned, through the use of my Heart Rate Monitor (HRM), that I tend to ride in the mid zone 4 area which is right at my threshold a lot of the time. This won't allow me to ride the 140K from a stamina perspective. It is OK for the sprint rides I do when I go out after work but I have effectively trained myself to run out of gas at 30 km. A really important lesson, learned after only one week of testing!!
So.... I bought a power meter! Cycleops Powertap. There are two other main systems, SRM and Quarq. They each have their own pros and cons but my decision was based on price, availability and flexibility for me. The Powertap is built into the rear hub vs the cranks. I can have it built into some exotic carbon wheels in the future or I can simply use this as a training set of wheels. From a weight perspective, the new wheels are 144 grams heavier than my current set-up. My new tires are lighter which helps but considering the powertap is 325 grams alone, this is not a bad trade-off.
The first ride with the power meters was interesting. I added some Continental GP 4000S 25mm tires (vs the 23mm I had been using. Believe it or not, 25mm tires roll better than 23mm tires and they are more comfortable. You can google the tests and see for yourself. No flames though, wider tires have more wind resistance so aside from comfort, I don't know if there is any real world difference for me. It also seems that wheels are being made a couple mm wider these days which is supposed to aid in aerodynamics too. Perhaps if I have more time someday I will post my research. For now, you can read one test here: http://www.biketechreview.com/tires_old/images/AFM_tire_testing_rev9.pdf and another test on the Conti tires here: http://www.conti-online.com/generator/www/de/en/continental/bicycle/general/downloads/download/tourtest_gp4000s_en.pdf.
Anyway, the normalized power for the first ride was 144 watts and a lot of the ride was in HR zone 4. Seems low to me but I need to do a lot more reading. Training Peaks and TKO are made for this type of analysis so I will be loading today's ride in the app and see how things shape up. The 144 watts was measured during a rather windy ride which makes me even more curious. More on the watts story later.
I hit my first long hill with a good grade, 9% since I started training. Bugger! Hit the lowest ring and ended trudging up the hill at 10 kph. This is not good! I will have to hang out with Juventus on the hill climb training the week after next...... I will retrace the ride from yesterday, add 20K to the ride and load the route for discussion later.
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