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Race The Training Thread

Put in another 70km ride today. I didn't go quite as hard as yesterday, but I did mix up the seated and standing on the climbs and I was a little faster on a segment I was interested in. I've got another week or so before work starts again, so I'm doing my best to get out as much as possible. Very happy to see my times falling (and my shirts feeling a little looser😆).

It's my birthday in a couple of months and I think I'm going to get a bike computer and a HRM (poor man's power meter) to go with it. At the moment, I'm leaning towards the Lezyne Super GPS.
 
Put in another 70km ride today. I didn't go quite as hard as yesterday, but I did mix up the seated and standing on the climbs and I was a little faster on a segment I was interested in. I've got another week or so before work starts again, so I'm doing my best to get out as much as possible. Very happy to see my times falling (and my shirts feeling a little looser😆).

It's my birthday in a couple of months and I think I'm going to get a bike computer and a HRM (poor man's power meter) to go with it. At the moment, I'm leaning towards the Lezyne Super GPS.

Hey Stu, nice ride today! Glad the shirts are getting looser, hoping to achieve this myself but seem to gain all the weight back (beeeeeerrrr!). Have you trained with a PM or smart trainer before? I got both, after seriously considering @xDOMx sale of the Quarq Dzero classified. Highly recommend that one if you are doing most of your training outdoors. I ended up with a hand me down from my brother in law, as well as an indoor trainer (not going to ride in 35 C+ weather/monsoon seasons to be honest). What I've found is knowing your functional threshold power (FTP) is really useful.

You might want to check out the PM section of www.intheknowcycling.com, and see some of the deals going on right now particularly on competitive cyclist. I was browsing their semi-annual sale today, and saw a PM for 50% off.

From what I saw, my FTP right now...frankly is pretty low. I'm at maybe 175? Being generous there. Out of the saddle on Zwift on a climb, particularly a 5% or greater, it shoots waaaaayyyy up. 350+. Its distracting and weird and fun and very informative.

In advance of your birthday, happy birthday! And I highly recommend getting a PM and/or an indoor trainer with the winter and 2nd rainy season coming up. If you're going with the bike computer and HRM, check out www.intheknowcycling.com anyways, since they review and have discount links for various sites for them.
 
Put in another 70km ride today. I didn't go quite as hard as yesterday, but I did mix up the seated and standing on the climbs and I was a little faster on a segment I was interested in.

You are gaining some serious meterage on your climbs. It's pretty impressive and inspiring (until I have to take action and drag my fat arse up the inclines).
 
Measured it and was 74 mm from center to center. According to https://www.mantel.com/blog/en/derailleur-capacity-maximum-techcenter/, that is medium. Also according to the video "Ask a Mechanic: Understanding Rear Derailleur Cage Length" from Art's Cyclery on YouTube, that is medium as well and medium will accommodate up to 32 teeth on the big cog.

Yeah, a medium cage will handle a 32 with enough capacity. My derailleur is a short cage that's good for up to a 30 (you can theoretically use a hanger extension to get a 32) but it doesn't have quite enough capacity for an 11-30, although you can supposedly use it if you avoid cross-chaining (I can't).

I think fairly few road bikes come with a true long cage (basically an MTB derailleur).

I suspect that the shorter the cage, the better the shifting, though.
 
@MattRyuu
Thanks for the links. A power meter would be good but I don't see myself buying one for the foreseeable future. I do think the HR monitor will be enough for monitoring effort when climbing - less so on the flats, maybe.

@Kangaeroo
Cheers mate! It's sort of like bike camp at the moment (in between days I need to look after my daughter). The goal this week is to keep doing more of the same until the end of the month and see where that takes me💪
 
I've officially lost 3.3 kg of body fat in just under a month. Just 11 kilograms more until I hit my 80 kg racing weight... Ok, maybe I'll aim at 85 instead.

I am also only a few hundred grams away from breaking under 200 pounds for the first time in a long time.
 
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No. It is nice to make it past a major milestone, though... I was *just* barely under 200 pounds this morning, even when fully hydrated.
 
No. It is nice to make it past a major milestone, though... I was *just* barely under 200 pounds this morning, even when fully hydrated.
Do you keep track of your weight? I used to use the iOS Health app manually, but have recently upgraded my scale to a wife-enabled one. One motivation was to get one with more reliable body fat measurements (my old one "got stuck" at 19 % no matter what my weight did).
 
Do you keep track of your weight? I used to use the iOS Health app manually, but have recently upgraded my scale to a wife-enabled one. One motivation was to get one with more reliable body fat measurements (my old one "got stuck" at 19 % no matter what my weight did).

I measure BF with a hospital-grade Tanita scale once a week or so that provides a printout that includes old data going back a while.

I have a cheap Tanita scale at home, but it's *wildly* inconsistent. I have been obsessively weighing myself lately, though, since I am so close to two different milestones (200 pounds and 90 kg).
 
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I measure BF with a hospital-grade Tanita scale that provides a printout that includes old data going back a while.
That's great. For me regular measurements really did the trick, before that I could not lose any weight.

I have a cheap Tanita scale at home, but it's *wildly* inconsistent. I have been obsessively weighing myself lately, though, since I am so close to two different milestones (200 pounds and 90 kg).
Same here. BF% was useless and wildly different when compared to the very expensive scale in the gym. So I decided to get a Withings Body+ scale that is actually quite smart. You can even weigh your baby automatically (if you first weigh yourself and within a few minutes also weigh yourself with the baby, the scale will figure this out automatically). The BF% is much more realistic (currently hovering consistently at around 14 %). I'm less concerned with the absolute value, but more about consistency.

While it is not cheap, I can recommend the scale. The app works very well and integrates with iOS's Health app. You can also use other fitness devices as input.
 
Back in Japan for a week now. After the initial jet lag wore off it became an eventful one.

The usual weekly training blog below.

Cheers, Andy

 
The Niigata 1 mile TT at Yahiko Keirin Stadium today.

Stage 2 is a race up Mt. Yahiko tomorrow morning.

Yahiko, with the three skyline climbs and the seaside line too is a cycling gem if you get chance.

Happy to win on the track today.

The usual race reoort below.

Cheers, Andy

 
Here's the text:

「niigata one mile TT race report」

today was the niigata 1 mile TT

4 laps of the 400m track at the yahiko keirin stadium

・the target

last year I won with a time of 2:06

last week I did 2:02

today's plan was to break 2 minutes...

・ the plan

last week I did a super fast first two laps

but exploded on the last two laps

today I aimed for a more even pace

with no computers allowed
it has to be done on feel

・the race

starting at midday
hot and windy
but it's the same for everyone

>3,2,1 GO!

up to speed quickly

a gear lighter than last week

a fast first lap

a good second lap

and still had legs for the last two laps

squeezed it all out by the line

GOAL!

・2:03 (33, 29, 30, 32) and ...

1st place!

I didn't break 2 minutes

but the result is what's important

with more practice time on the track

I'm sure I can go faster

here we go!
 
Here's the text:

「niigata one mile TT race report」

today was the niigata 1 mile TT

4 laps of the 400m track at the yahiko keirin stadium

・the target

last year I won with a time of 2:06

last week I did 2:02

today's plan was to break 2 minutes...

・ the plan

last week I did a super fast first two laps

but exploded on the last two laps

today I aimed for a more even pace

with no computers allowed
it has to be done on feel

・the race

starting at midday
hot and windy
but it's the same for everyone

>3,2,1 GO!

up to speed quickly

a gear lighter than last week

a fast first lap

a good second lap

and still had legs for the last two laps

squeezed it all out by the line

GOAL!

・2:03 (33, 29, 30, 32) and ...

1st place!

I didn't break 2 minutes

but the result is what's important

with more practice time on the track

I'm sure I can go faster

here we go!

Cheers for the text version. I hate Facebook and never go on there so it's good to be able to read your reports again 👍🏻
 
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