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Race COW Gunma 100km Stamina TT 2020

andywood

Maximum Pace
Apr 8, 2008
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The COW Gunma 100km TT today.

This is a popular event to test your winter training. Free to enter and on quiet country roads. Event details here:



A tough 100km course with anything between 2500 and 2900 m of climbing depending on your GPS unit. My strava data here:

Stravaでアクティビティをしました: https://strava.app.link/SlA721yrj4

I describe it as the hardest race yet. I certainly wasn't prepared for it. It will go down as "a ride to make you stronger"!

The usual race report link and cut and paste below.

Cheers, Andy




「COW Gunma 100km TT race report」

the niigata army escaped snow country
for the blue skies of gunma today!

around 60 riders lined up for the 100km TT

16 x 6.3km laps
a climb into a ferocious headwind
a fast descent with the wind in your sails
repeat

riders go off at 30s intervals

5th from last
I have 4 fast guys behind me
and several more in front!

16 climbs is a lot
in the big ring for the first few
then the small ring
finally the granny gear!

the first lap at 29.5kph
but I'm fading quickly

with a lack of specific training
and no rest or taper

4h in the saddle at race pace
half of that climbing
is a shock to the system

after 3 laps I'm suffering

"quit after 8" I tell myself

"quit after 10"

by lap 12 I start to enjoy it!

it's really hard though

bamboo trees are being blown over!

I came here to do 100km

determined to do 100km

I leave my soul on the sun drenched roads of gunma

for this year's 100km+ gravel races
I need to do hard rides like these

long distance
lose some weight
and rediscover those climbing legs

wake up boo!
 
Last edited:
The COW Gunma 100km TT today.

This is a popular event to test your winter training. Free to enter and on quiet country roads. Event details here:
Seems like a pretty awesome event. How did you place in the end? Also, I noticed that you only have estimated power on Strava. Didn't you have a power meter on your bike?
 
Seems like a pretty awesome event. How did you place in the end? Also, I noticed that you only have estimated power on Strava. Didn't you have a power meter on your bike?

Just within the time cut!

Screenshot_20200224-104349.png

I have a stages on the TT bike which is locked onto a trainer should I feel the urge to zwift.

Easy to swap over but I don't really do that kind of riding these days so I have more idea how to pace it with feel and heart rate.

Undergeared as you can see by the cadence.

HRwise, kept it out of the red zone, 174LTHR, for the duration.

FB_IMG_1582464336856.jpg

Aerobars were for decoration only!

Andy
 
so a 2.5km climb of about 120m gain on a 6km loop. and you need at least 25kmh avg over the whole thing to make it under 4h..... sheesh! quite an effort there!
 
36/25

Low cadence is also a result of no specificity in training.

Harder to get a high cadence / high speed output when you're not doing it in training, heavy gears for traction and handling are better for CX.

So it's easy to slip into it.

It was a worthwhile event in terms of training and reaffirming the work that needs to be done.

Time to put some more mileage on the dash this afternoon.

Andy
 
so a 2.5km climb of about 120m gain on a 6km loop. and you need at least 25kmh avg over the whole thing to make it under 4h..... sheesh! quite an effort there!

Last year's top time was 3h 4 but the wind made it much slower. I was thinking realistically 3h 30 but it became apparent very quickly that I wasn't making that schedule, so I locked onto 3h 50. And then lost a bit more😅

Andy
 
Ouch. Did your knees hurt afterwards?
Probably it's better to put an 11-30 or 11-32 in the rear instead to keep you spinning.
Low cadence is also a result of no specificity in training.
I haven't done any TTs, but don't you usually do them at ~100 rpm or so?
Harder to get a high cadence / high speed output when you're not doing it in training, heavy gears for traction and handling are better for CX.
This was one of the things I needed to get accustomed to when switching from my mountain bike to my road bike as my primary weapon of choice: lower cadence can be better for the reasons you mentioned.

By the way, I am thinking of adding some training volume to my weekend indoor training sessions. (I don't have the time to do that during the week, for otherwise I would sacrifice too much sleep.) Is it worthwhile to tack on an endurance session after an interval session? (My goal for this season is to become able to hang with the top group in races.)
 
Ouch. Did your knees hurt afterwards?
Probably it's better to put an 11-30 or 11-32 in the rear instead to keep you spinning.

I haven't done any TTs, but don't you usually do them at ~100 rpm or so?

This was one of the things I needed to get accustomed to when switching from my mountain bike to my road bike as my primary weapon of choice: lower cadence can be better for the reasons you mentioned.

By the way, I am thinking of adding some training volume to my weekend indoor training sessions. (I don't have the time to do that during the week, for otherwise I would sacrifice too much sleep.) Is it worthwhile to tack on an endurance session after an interval session? (My goal for this season is to become able to hang with the top group in races.)

I didn't run out of gears till the last couple of laps really.

Just haven't done any real focus on climbing since Niseko 2016.

Cadence is very specific to the individual my ballpark target is 80 to 85rpm for road, climbing, TT.

If you want to add some volume, rollers are good fun and great for bike skills and efficiency.

Andy
 
It just occurred to me that you race road events in a Vanquish and train in a dayglow yellow helmet. Probably a smart choice...

70+ RPMs isn't really that low for me (my legs are much larger than my aerobic system, so I have a lot of muscle to spare...). It's sub-60 RPMs that shreds the legs the pieces.

This ride probably would have taken me five hours... or I would have quit after the first 30.
 
Both those helmets (and my preferred TT helmet) are Mavics.

The yellow one is great as it glows up in the dark. Having been hit in a tunnel I don't want it to happen again!

The black one is aero road. Few vents make it nice and cosy in winter and early spring. But over 20 to 25 degrees, I reckon a full vent helmet is better.

Here is me and my cadence today:



I used to do FTP tests on this stretch of road. I could always put down more power at 70rpm and certainly the HR is likely to be lower than for the same power or speed at say 90 to 100rpm.

However, churning a big gear in a road race, you pay for it later.

The super fast climbers yesterday were spinning up the climbs. Saving the legs for the last of 16 climbs.

A good strategy I think, especially for a race like the Japan Cup if you decide to do that again.

For the Moniwa TT, the biggest gear you can turn for 10km!

Andy
 
Both those helmets (and my preferred TT helmet) are Mavics.

The yellow one is great as it glows up in the dark. Having been hit in a tunnel I don't want it to happen again!

The black one is aero road. Few vents make it nice and cosy in winter and early spring. But over 20 to 25 degrees, I reckon a full vent helmet is better.

Here is me and my cadence today:



I used to do FTP tests on this stretch of road. I could always put down more power at 70rpm and certainly the HR is likely to be lower than for the same power or speed at say 90 to 100rpm.

However, churning a big gear in a road race, you pay for it later.

The super fast climbers yesterday were spinning up the climbs. Saving the legs for the last of 16 climbs.

A good strategy I think, especially for a race like the Japan Cup if you decide to do that again.

For the Moniwa TT, the biggest gear you can turn for 10km!

Andy


For Moniwa I will have a skin suit and hopefully some faster tubes/tires this time (no money for aero wheels). And I'll be several kilos lighter. Still need to make up just about a minute to win, though!
 
For Moniwa I will have a skin suit and hopefully some faster tubes/tires this time (no money for aero wheels). And I'll be several kilos lighter. Still need to make up just about a minute to win, though!

Yeah I didn't even take my gatorskins off on Sunday. Like turning up for a marathon in your slippers!

Andy
 
Supposedly Gatorskins cost 30 more watts than GP5000s at 27 mph! That's a whole power zone if you're just sitting in the draft or going downhill!
 
Yep I doubt you could find a worse tyre for racing... or a better tyre for training!

Andy
 
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