Archimedeez-Nuts
Cruising
- Nov 8, 2021
- 3
- 2
Hi,
This is my first post here, so I apologise if what I am asking is against the general ethos of this forum. Mods -- please remove my post if you think it is inappropriate.
I'm making this post because I would really like some Japan-specific advice about progressing as a competitive cyclist. Before getting into things I should say: I am very much a noob when it comes to cycling culture, and I would like to learn more. I'm apologise in advance if my way of explaining things comes across as ignorant, please correct me if you think I am wrong about anything. Moreover, I understand that the sort of questions I am asking are probably the kind of thing that you should ask a cycling coach, however I am too poor to get an expensive coach, and I expect that any coach I would find would not have specific knowledge about the Japanese racing scene.
Ok, so here's the story: I bought a road bike during lockdown in April 2020 as a way of keeping fit whilst my kickboxing gym was closed. I fell in love with cycling, bought myself a mid-range bike with a power meter, and by the end of 2020 I clocked around 5000km just riding around casually. A few group rides here and there, but mostly solo. On New Year's Eve I decided to apply myself to structured cycling training. Although I did not test at the time, I would guess that on the 1st of Jan. 2021, my FTP was somewhere around 260W. Checking back, I can see that my best powers for 2020 were:
Anyway, fast forward. Mostly doing the Strava 1-month training plans (in hindsight, cringe), I worked my ass off and managed to do 11 months of ok training. Because of this, my power has increased to:
To give some background, I am 28 years old, and I started cycling almost entirely untrained -- in the past 10 years I haven't done any cardio training except that used for karate/kickboxing. It is worth saying that whilst I was in high school I used to run middle distance at the competitive level (i.e. regional and occasionally national), and this might explain my rapid initial growth.
I am now starting to hit the "pro" ranks on the Coggan power scale (i.e. on Strava Sauce), and its making me start to wonder if I have a shot of seriously getting on a team. I have several questions about this, and I would really appreciate it if someone could help me out with some advice. Here goes:
Thanks,
Archimedeez-Nuts
EDIT: Sorry I forgot to mention, I live in Okinawa. This is quite a big problem: there are basically zero races on the island, except a few low level amateur races on the US military bases. According to my estimates, it will cost me at least ¥50k to attend races in mainland (flights, accommodation, race entry, food, etc.). Given my relatively-low salary, I can probably afford about 4 or 5 trips to mainland in 2022. As such, I think that I have to carefully select my race calendar.
This is my first post here, so I apologise if what I am asking is against the general ethos of this forum. Mods -- please remove my post if you think it is inappropriate.
I'm making this post because I would really like some Japan-specific advice about progressing as a competitive cyclist. Before getting into things I should say: I am very much a noob when it comes to cycling culture, and I would like to learn more. I'm apologise in advance if my way of explaining things comes across as ignorant, please correct me if you think I am wrong about anything. Moreover, I understand that the sort of questions I am asking are probably the kind of thing that you should ask a cycling coach, however I am too poor to get an expensive coach, and I expect that any coach I would find would not have specific knowledge about the Japanese racing scene.
Ok, so here's the story: I bought a road bike during lockdown in April 2020 as a way of keeping fit whilst my kickboxing gym was closed. I fell in love with cycling, bought myself a mid-range bike with a power meter, and by the end of 2020 I clocked around 5000km just riding around casually. A few group rides here and there, but mostly solo. On New Year's Eve I decided to apply myself to structured cycling training. Although I did not test at the time, I would guess that on the 1st of Jan. 2021, my FTP was somewhere around 260W. Checking back, I can see that my best powers for 2020 were:
- 760W for 30 seconds,
- 550W for 1 minutes,
- 350W for 5 minutes,
- 315W for 10 minutes, and
- 275W for 20 minutes.
Anyway, fast forward. Mostly doing the Strava 1-month training plans (in hindsight, cringe), I worked my ass off and managed to do 11 months of ok training. Because of this, my power has increased to:
- 1000W for 30 seconds,
- 720W for 1 minute,
- 475W for 5 minutes,
- 415W for 10 minutes, and
- 380W for 20 minutes.
To give some background, I am 28 years old, and I started cycling almost entirely untrained -- in the past 10 years I haven't done any cardio training except that used for karate/kickboxing. It is worth saying that whilst I was in high school I used to run middle distance at the competitive level (i.e. regional and occasionally national), and this might explain my rapid initial growth.
I am now starting to hit the "pro" ranks on the Coggan power scale (i.e. on Strava Sauce), and its making me start to wonder if I have a shot of seriously getting on a team. I have several questions about this, and I would really appreciate it if someone could help me out with some advice. Here goes:
- What are the pathways into pro cycling in Japan? I am a gaijin, and my Japanese language skills are poor. From my research, most of the conti pro teams are comprised of only Japanese riders, but there are some with some foreigners as well. I understand that my best bet is to enter some of the serious amateur races (e.g. Tour of Okinawa, Niseko classic) and to place highly, but these races keep getting cancelled due to COVID and I don't know what else I can do at the moment except train alone.
- Am I being delusional in thinking that I have a shot at making it to pro? I understand that racing bikes is more than just fitness, but still, I am quite shocked by my development over the past year.
- Do you know where I can find a coach that will be knowledgeable about the Japanese pro scene? Preferably one that doesn't cost me everything I have!
Thanks,
Archimedeez-Nuts
EDIT: Sorry I forgot to mention, I live in Okinawa. This is quite a big problem: there are basically zero races on the island, except a few low level amateur races on the US military bases. According to my estimates, it will cost me at least ¥50k to attend races in mainland (flights, accommodation, race entry, food, etc.). Given my relatively-low salary, I can probably afford about 4 or 5 trips to mainland in 2022. As such, I think that I have to carefully select my race calendar.
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