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Race The Training Thread

Ideally, I would have also waited a bit more with a fit, because l couldn't even get a proper ride in before to get acquainted with the bike. But it was just raining the last few days.

The cleats feel much better. He had me do single leg drills and fit them by eye. That made a huge difference. He started with the saddle height, though, as I believe is recommended.

The tricky thing is that I have long limbs: the setup he proposed works well if I am in the non-aero hoods. Based on that position alone, I should get a shorter stem. The current stem length felt perfect in the aero hoods and hoods before the change in seat height. I could rest my arms in a relaxed fashion and the taller SRAM hoods jive perfectly with my hands.

With the lower seat height the interference between elbows and knees in the aero hoods position is substantial, I'd say 2 cm. It's not arm hairs brushing against leg hairs, but full on contact. And I'm massaging my breakfast with my knees. On the plus side, I could see improvements in my pedaling technique. He put clip-on sensors on my feet and my bum to measure hip rotation and foot rotation.

He told me his plan is to get my position and pedaling technique correct, suggested an osteopath to work on my flexibility and then get me more aero over time. If the position were just a little uncomfortable, I could deal with it for a while and see if I adapt over time or whether the discomfort persists.

The person who gave me the initial bike fit is no slouch either, he is a former world tour pro team mechanic. Yes, he's not a dedicated bike fitter (he has an official Shimano bike fitter come to his shop regularly), but I reckon he has seen enough people on bikes to know when something is critically wrong. Comfort-wise, his (= owner of bike shop) set up felt perfect: in the aero hoods position it fit like a glove, no interference between legs and arms and I was in a relaxed position. I'm confused. Both know their stuff. 🤷‍♂️

That'd be great, although it'll take a few days. I have to wait until my XDR driver is here and I can hop on the trainer. Perhaps it would be better to find a compromise between a position that allows me to get aero more comfortably and a position that allows for better pedaling technique.
I strongly recommend using your old bike as a dedicated trainer bike. You'll save hours of time over the course of a year if you can just leave a bike installed on the trainer.

Not to mention you will save wear and tear on your expensive carbon frame and 12-speed drivetrain. A new AXS chain is like 8000 yen! Don't want to even think about the cost of cassette...
 
I strongly recommend using your old bike as a dedicated trainer bike. You'll save hours of time over the course of a year if you can just leave a bike installed on the trainer.
In principle not a bad idea. If we had the space, it may be worth considering. However, my wife is enforcing a strict N <= 2 policy … 😅
 
In principle not a bad idea. If we had the space, it may be worth considering. However, my wife is enforcing a strict N <= 2 policy … 😅
Trainer bikes don't count! Though it would also make a nice rain bike...

Perhaps you should invest in a ceiling-height bike rack that holds two bikes... Heheh.
 
Trainer bikes don't count! Though it would also make a nice rain bike...
I'll try that on my wife and see how far I get 😁😅
Perhaps you should invest in a ceiling-height bike rack that holds two bikes... Heheh.
The apartment we live in is getting crammed even without the third bike. My wife and I are expecting are second child and we live in a 50 m^2 apartment. Moving is so expensive that we kept on putting it off. And now it seems like it is too late.
 
I got sick last week, whole week was a write off, I'm still not 100%, but I'm going get back to it slowly since I'm preparing to move.
I will restart the whole block again next week, although I've no idea if I will be able to do long/easy/uninterrupted outdoor rides like I was able to do until now.
 
I'll try that on my wife and see how far I get 😁😅

The apartment we live in is getting crammed even without the third bike. My wife and I are expecting are second child and we live in a 50 m^2 apartment. Moving is so expensive that we kept on putting it off. And now it seems like it is too late.
I feel you, and I mean I feel it in my pocket right now, the moving costs, deposits, etc, it's just ridiculous here. The money I had to handover upfront is insane and that's just to get one extra bedroom + extra month so we can have a miniature pet.
 
I feel you, and I mean I feel it in my pocket right now, the moving costs, esways deposits, etc, it's just ridiculous here. The money I had to handover upfront is insane and that's just to get one extra bedroom + extra month so we can have a miniature pet.
In Sendai you usually need 7 months worth of rent. It's nuts. A lot of onerous things are included. E. g. for one of the places you have to pay the earthquake insurance in advance. Two years worth. Every two years.
 
Oof.... Makes me glad I am loving at my wife's family's home, since I have room for pretty much all my toys (except my pet race car) and even a dedicated room for TrainerRoad....
 
I used to do all my winter training on the veranda on rollers with snow hitting me horizontally!

When we moved to a new place all I wanted was a garage! There's no electricity, no lights, but it's my own pain cave for 3 months of the year.

Between me and the boys we have 9 bikes hung up all over the place. Their road bikes are too small now but they won't let me sell them on Yahoo.

Yesterday I took them to the GSC trail.

20210503_145712.jpg

A new free facility with lots of courses ranging from beginner to expert.

20210503_151105.jpg

MTB rental is also free. And there is camping, zip ropes, tennis etc.

Highly recommend!

Andy

 
Took the new bike out for a spin today.

Ride impression and photos here.

The simple Japanese should autotranslate good enough.

Ride on!

Andy

 
I got some riding in over Golden Week. Not as much as I had wanted, as it was raining quite a bit. Still, three longer rides, two around 200 TSS and yesterday's ride was 273 TSS. Yesterday's ride was great. My legs feel zapped today, but in a good way. I managed to do 75–80 km at speed and then ran out of fuel. Plus, I took it easy on the descents as it had rained during the first half of the ride and it got very gusty on my way home. I thought it was my new deep rims, but then I was being shoved around standing next to my bike at a traffic light.

Plus, I did a ramp test. Turns out, fewer horses than expected escaped my quads (306 W FTP), although this is on a new power meters so not directly comparable. Still, it is good to know that they are in the same ballpark. I discovered that I have a pretty severe leg imbalance, though (typically 55/45), and that weirdly enough my left leg is doing more work. Perhaps that is due to surgeries on my right knee. Or perhaps having a left-side-only power meter before was training me to put more force into my left pedal stroke. But this gives me something to work on.

My XDR driver body arrived, too, but I haven't gotten it to work correctly. It seems the cassette isn't mounted as far as it should be. I'll try greasing not just the threads but also the freehub body (that's the official recommendation by SRAM as per one of their videos).
 
I got some riding in over Golden Week. Not as much as I had wanted, as it was raining quite a bit. Still, three longer rides, two around 200 TSS and yesterday's ride was 273 TSS. Yesterday's ride was great. My legs feel zapped today, but in a good way. I managed to do 75–80 km at speed and then ran out of fuel. Plus, I took it easy on the descents as it had rained during the first half of the ride and it got very gusty on my way home. I thought it was my new deep rims, but then I was being shoved around standing next to my bike at a traffic light.

Plus, I did a ramp test. Turns out, fewer horses than expected escaped my quads (306 W FTP), although this is on a new power meters so not directly comparable. Still, it is good to know that they are in the same ballpark. I discovered that I have a pretty severe leg imbalance, though (typically 55/45), and that weirdly enough my left leg is doing more work. Perhaps that is due to surgeries on my right knee. Or perhaps having a left-side-only power meter before was training me to put more force into my left pedal stroke. But this gives me something to work on.

My XDR driver body arrived, too, but I haven't gotten it to work correctly. It seems the cassette isn't mounted as far as it should be. I'll try greasing not just the threads but also the freehub body (that's the official recommendation by SRAM as per one of their videos).
Time for lunges and single leg squats/presses! It's always disappointing to switch power devices and find a lower number. Not as bad as my old faulty trainer, which ran about 25 watts high in ERG mode.
 
I got some riding in over Golden Week. Not as much as I had wanted, as it was raining quite a bit. Still, three longer rides, two around 200 TSS and yesterday's ride was 273 TSS. Yesterday's ride was great. My legs feel zapped today, but in a good way. I managed to do 75–80 km at speed and then ran out of fuel. Plus, I took it easy on the descents as it had rained during the first half of the ride and it got very gusty on my way home. I thought it was my new deep rims, but then I was being shoved around standing next to my bike at a traffic light.

Plus, I did a ramp test. Turns out, fewer horses than expected escaped my quads (306 W FTP), although this is on a new power meters so not directly comparable. Still, it is good to know that they are in the same ballpark. I discovered that I have a pretty severe leg imbalance, though (typically 55/45), and that weirdly enough my left leg is doing more work. Perhaps that is due to surgeries on my right knee. Or perhaps having a left-side-only power meter before was training me to put more force into my left pedal stroke. But this gives me something to work on.

My XDR driver body arrived, too, but I haven't gotten it to work correctly. It seems the cassette isn't mounted as far as it should be. I'll try greasing not just the threads but also the freehub body (that's the official recommendation by SRAM as per one of their videos).

My leg imbalances where the opposite, left leg much weaker than the right.

I corrected like @baribari says with 1 leg squats and lunges. I'd recommend lunges as there is less chance of injury and you can focus on cycling specific movement. Focus on training your weaker leg and just doing the same work with your strong leg. It's a fun project to work on. Good luck!

Andy
 
Last week's training blog here:



And pictures with autotranslate Japanese from yesterday's big gravel ride here:


This month's Rapha gravel event was canceled, and I'm expecting next month's Grinduro too. Like last year I guess it's just a case of keeping fit and enjoying life on two wheels.

Ride on!

Andy
 
My leg imbalances where the opposite, left leg much weaker than the right.

I corrected like @baribari says with 1 leg squats and lunges. I'd recommend lunges as there is less chance of injury and you can focus on cycling specific movement. Focus on training your weaker leg and just doing the same work with your strong leg. It's a fun project to work on. Good luck!
Thanks!
I reckon that just knowing about it and keeping an eye on it while on the trainer will help a bit, too. Although I should really do some strength training and work on my flexibility. Next week I have an appointment with a sports osteopath to work on my flexibility. He had a bike with a power meter in the office, which is a good sign.
 
Another training week done. It was glorious weather wise until today.

In yesterday's blog I said we'd do 130km / 3,000m today. But in heavy rain, like a river that don't know where it's flowing, we just kept going.

20210516_140725.jpg

Rain on the forecast every day next week so it will be time to improvise!

The usual weekly training blog link and cut and paste below.

Cheers, Andy



「yaruki!」

last week's training blog
先週のトレーニングブログです
変な日本語すみません!

rapha, grinduro, Tokyo-Itoigawa
races are getting cancelled left, right and centre
but I stay motivated
riding gravel every day
with a few KOMs for the shape
ラファ、グリンデューロ、東京-糸魚川
レースはどんどんキャンセルされます
でもやる気がある
毎日グラベルへ
フォームのためにKOMアタックもあり

monday: recovery 60km / 200m
tuesday: gravel 60km / 1,000m
wednesday: gravel (KOM) 50km / 1,000m
thursday: gravel (KOM) 60km / 1,200m
friday: gravel 95km / 2,000m
saturday: rest
sunday: gravel duo 130km / 3,000m (plan)

a beautiful day today
but I'm saving my legs for a ride with the captain tomorrow
looks like rain!
今日は最高な天気!
でも明日はキャプテンと一緒に乗るから
今日はフルレスト!
雨のようだね!

here we go!
がんばりましょう!

#teamimezi #imezi #imezi167 #167grv #imezisealant #プロジェクト167 #raphaprestige #grinduro #gfmyoko
 
Been pretty much off the bike for 3 weeks, moving apartments, packing, unpacking, selling, throwing things away. Concluding my job at my old company and getting a new slower paced job.

I did 1 ride from my old place to new one, had to move my bike...

Now I've a month+ of time off and I was planning to restart doing my base training with long rides. But, the weather is dumps, now last year this time I got myself a trainer, it's ok for 1-2hour rides max before my ass kills me and I can't continue. How do you manage to get motivation to ride outside in what I would call fairly shitty weather? Coming from sunny australia, it's either bone dry or a tropical storm.

I'm finding myself with lots of time now, new area to explore and find good roads to train, but no motivation to head out. How does everyone from the wet countries motivate themselves to head out in this weather?

Also another tidbit for allergy sufferers like me, allergy meds, especially more potent and at higher doses might ruin your workouts:
 
How do you manage to get motivation to ride outside in what I would call fairly shitty weather? Coming from sunny australia, it's either bone dry or a tropical storm.
I grew up was raised in the Dandenongs, so maybe I was a little conditioned to this, but I try to ride daily regardless of the conditions. There are two things that get me to do it: 1) I'm old and my joints start to freeze and hurt if I don't move them; and 2) I can't think, I just have to get on the bike and go. The second I start to think, I talk myself out of it. After doing this for a while, it has become habit. There's always something nice to enjoy about any type of weather.
 
I grew up was raised in the Dandenongs, so maybe I was a little conditioned to this, but I try to ride daily regardless of the conditions. There are two things that get me to do it: 1) I'm old and my joints start to freeze and hurt if I don't move them; and 2) I can't think, I just have to get on the bike and go. The second I start to think, I talk myself out of it. After doing this for a while, it has become habit. There's always something nice to enjoy about any type of weather.
Melbourne :) I've lived most of my life in QLD/NSW, the moment I got older I got out of QLD, since humidity doesn't agree with me.

So just go num and do it. Got it, any clothing gear recommendations? Since I've only started riding last year, I only have winter + summer gear. I don't really have any wet weather.

For now I got 1 month zwift subscription and I've noticed my fitness has dropped off a bit over last 3 weeks. I was ok for 1h 45min, but after that I hit a massive wall. Hopefully muscle memory applies to cycling just as much as it does to weight training and I can get my fitness back in ~2 weeks.
 
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