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Race The Training Thread

Not sure how old you are , but I'm nearing 69 and yes, knee issues are a great concern to me. In my experience knees issues come and go as long as ,well,... this is why I call myself " turtle speed cyclist ' on the forum. Knees issues are for real once you get up there in age, but a friend of mine is up in age and cycles fast to where I just tell him, this is how I go. Does he wait up for me. NO So I guess everyone is different . This may sound a bit off the wall, but can vinegar help with this? https://www.thehealthsite.com/home-...ar-for-knee-pain-try-it-to-believe-it-775024/
Switching to my mountain bike shoes and pedals seemed to fix the issues I was having on the indoor bike, so I think it's largely an equipment problem.
On the road, my (left) knee only starts acting up after about three hours on the move. Might just be a cleat position issue, though. Switching from blue back to yellow seemed to help.
 
I'm back from my trip to Europe. The trip was fabulous, I met all of my closest friends, my sister and her French boyfriend (whom I have met only virtually), ate lots of good food. My wife gained 3 kg. I gained only 1 kg, but lost some muscle. Because of circumstances, I knew I couldn't take one of my bikes with me (two suitcases, lots of bags, two backpacks and a stroller were a lot, adding a big bike case would probably have led to a divorce ;)). Predictably, I have lost lots of fitness, but am eager to get it back. I was only to get in one gym session since we mostly stayed at Airbnbs and hotels without gyms. The last hotel in Amsterdam we stayed in was quite fancy, and it had a super nice gym. They had two treadmills, one was a type where you regulated resistance and you determined the speed. They also had a Peloton-style bike with a proper power meter (while I don't know whether to trust the power numbers in absolute terms, everything seemed to jive). The weights were also great.

During the trip, my wife and I both said we were yearning for physical exercise. (I'm so glad my wife became a gym rat after our first one, she has a lot more sympathy for my obsession with sports now.)
 
Switching to my mountain bike shoes and pedals seemed to fix the issues I was having on the indoor bike, so I think it's largely an equipment problem.
On the road, my (left) knee only starts acting up after about three hours on the move. Might just be a cleat position issue, though. Switching from blue back to yellow seemed to help.
Sounds like your knees have the same preferences as mine. If you like float, try Crankbrothers pedals, they really eased any knee problems I have had. I had a pair of SPD-compatible pedals for a while again and when I switched back, I could tell I was "back home again".

Their Eggbeaters are also competitive with road bike pedals when it comes to weight, so you could even run those on your regular road bike. Some people will have questions about power transfer and platform size, but honestly, I think this is mostly a function of the stiffness of your shoes.
 
Switching to my mountain bike shoes and pedals seemed to fix the issues I was having on the indoor bike, so I think it's largely an equipment problem.
On the road, my (left) knee only starts acting up after about three hours on the move. Might just be a cleat position issue, though. Switching from blue back to yellow seemed to help.

Personally I don't like the blue. Much too limited free movement for your knees. I have a pair of them new if anyone wants them!?!?

Andy
 
I'm back from my trip to Europe. The trip was fabulous, I met all of my closest friends, my sister and her French boyfriend (whom I have met only virtually), ate lots of good food. My wife gained 3 kg. I gained only 1 kg, but lost some muscle. Because of circumstances, I knew I couldn't take one of my bikes with me (two suitcases, lots of bags, two backpacks and a stroller were a lot, adding a big bike case would probably have led to a divorce ;)). Predictably, I have lost lots of fitness, but am eager to get it back. I was only to get in one gym session since we mostly stayed at Airbnbs and hotels without gyms. The last hotel in Amsterdam we stayed in was quite fancy, and it had a super nice gym. They had two treadmills, one was a type where you regulated resistance and you determined the speed. They also had a Peloton-style bike with a proper power meter (while I don't know whether to trust the power numbers in absolute terms, everything seemed to jive). The weights were also great.

During the trip, my wife and I both said we were yearning for physical exercise. (I'm so glad my wife became a gym rat after our first one, she has a lot more sympathy for my obsession with sports now.)

When I fly, I only take my bike if it is for a serious race.

Otherwise, I try to borrow one if it's home or rent one if elsewhere. It's always fun to try different bikes!

I some times do races on borrowed bikes though.

I got a good result in this TT.

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I was serious enough to put on aerobars. But not serious enough to take the mudguards off!

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Rockin the brother in law's winter commuter!

Andy
 
Sounds like your knees have the same preferences as mine. If you like float, try Crankbrothers pedals, they really eased any knee problems I have had. I had a pair of SPD-compatible pedals for a while again and when I switched back, I could tell I was "back home again".

Their Eggbeaters are also competitive with road bike pedals when it comes to weight, so you could even run those on your regular road bike. Some people will have questions about power transfer and platform size, but honestly, I think this is mostly a function of the stiffness of your shoes.

Talking of stiffness of shoes, after years of using Sidis with carbon soles, I decided to try some Sidi MTB shoes with a plastic sole. They are a revelation! So comfortable. I doubt there is much power transfer loss. For the 300km Tokyo Itoigawa, I always suffered hotspots in the last 50km or so but I reckon these would be great.

20220505_141153.jpg

However it seems most decent road shoes (in terms of the upper shoe quality) have carbon soles these days?

Andy
 
When I fly, I only take my bike if it is for a serious race. Otherwise, I try to borrow one if it's home or rent one if elsewhere. It's always fun to try different bikes!
That was my plan, I did rent a bike for the two weeks that I spent in the Netherlands. My friend who lives there (who is not into bikes) tried very hard to find something sporty. I did end up on a late 1990s trekking bike with a superhigh Dutch-style stem, worn out rim brakes and suboptimal gearing. And I paid 22 €/day. It seems that no one wants to rent out "serious" bikes, just commuters.

When I saw the bikes, I decided to keep my priorities straight, and family and friends come before bikes! :)
Talking of stiffness of shoes, after years of using Sidis with carbon soles, I decided to try some Sidi MTB shoes with a plastic sole. They are a revelation! So comfortable. I doubt there is much power transfer loss. For the 300km Tokyo Itoigawa, I always suffered hotspots in the last 50km or so but I reckon these would be great.
You should try better shoes with a composite sole where part is carbon and part is made from a more flexy material. I had the predecessors of your Sidis, and my new shoes (Velokicks Lactics) have a stiffer sole yet are tons more comfortable — they give me support where I need to (i. e. the stiff part distributes the force from the pedal stroke evenly across a larger area) and comfort in the right places. Too comfortable, I kept forgetting to take them off in the office. And now they are quite worn. That's what happens when you wear them 5 days a week, 8+ hours a day, for a year straight.

PS Bummer to hear about the blue cleats you didn't need. I ordered a pair to try them out. They aren't on my shoes yet. I reckon I'll prefer yellow in the end, but I just want to try them to be sure.
 
I'm really happy with Sidi shoes, Superfeet insoles and Shimano pedals, it's all I've ever used, and never had any injury, so I am happy to keep the set up.

For sole stiffness, there is always the thought:

"Why do I need a stiff insole, if I have a carbon sole?"

But I'm beginning to think:

"If I have a stiff insole, I don't need a stiff carbon sole."

Moreover, what I'm thinking, for riding gravel a softer sole will help dissipate the shock and vibration. But with a stiff insole, I can still put the power down when climbing etc.

Just my feeling on the matter. Really enjoying riding these plastic soles.

Andy
 
"Why do I need a stiff insole, if I have a carbon sole?"


But I'm beginning to think:

"If I have a stiff insole, I don't need a stiff carbon sole."

Moreover, what I'm thinking, for riding gravel a softer sole will help dissipate the shock and vibration. But with a stiff insole, I can still put the power down when climbing etc.
In my experience, at least for my feet a hybrid sole is the goldilocks solution, worlds better than the Sidis. The upper shoe Sidis were weirdly inflexible and superhot on my feet. Plus, the Velokicks were much cheaper than the Sidis (although I had to order the more expensive wide model), the Lactics currently on sale for 16,200 ¥.

I know you have been happy with Sidis in the past, but given the price, I'd recommend that you give other shoes a try, especially at that price.
 
In my experience, at least for my feet a hybrid sole is the goldilocks solution, worlds better than the Sidis. The upper shoe Sidis were weirdly inflexible and superhot on my feet. Plus, the Velokicks were much cheaper than the Sidis (although I had to order the more expensive wide model), the Lactics currently on sale for 16,200 ¥.

I know you have been happy with Sidis in the past, but given the price, I'd recommend that you give other shoes a try, especially at that price.

How much is shipping on those? The Sidis came in at 20,000 including shipping so probably a bit more expensive. But I know the product and more importantly know the sizing, so it's an easy choice really.

Andy
 
Nope, shipping was cheap, I think less than 20,000 ¥ including shipping. I'll dig up my invoice after dinner. I recommend you send Nick, the owner, an outline of your feet with measurements, he'll recommend a size. He is a podiatrist and his recommendation was spot on in my case.
 
I just checked, I paid 17,447 ¥, 15,500 ¥ for the shoes and about 2,000 ¥ for shipping. Boa dials cost 1,800 ¥ for a pair plus shipping. Although I think Nick simply paid for the postage of the boa dials.

So assuming shipping costs haven't changed much, you'd stay below 20,000 ¥.
 
My mountain bike pedals are Eggbeaters. Only problem I have with them is that they're a bit hard to get into (probably a cleat position thing).
I haven't been doing enough indoor riding to worry about indoor bike fit issues.
After adjusting the cleat position a bit, I haven't had any problems outdoors.
I did my first century in a few years the other day with no problems, other than the soles of my feet starting to hurt near the end.

Finally got my new wheels installed. 58s aren't as bad as I expected on fairly windy days. Still got to pay attention, though...
 
It just occurred to me that I did almost five times more TSS during Golden Week than the previous week.
No wonder I have been feeling so flat...
 
Been busy organizing this summer's gravel event, so it's 6 weeks since I wrote a training blog!

Now is good timing as the gravel racing season starts!

The usual blog link and cut and paste below.

Cheers, Andy



「deep into gravel」

the first training blog since april 3rd's 「gravel mission abort」
since then I've done 6 weeks of solid gravel riding!
4月3日の「グラベルミッションアアボート」以来の最初のトレーニングブログ
それ以来、6週間のしっかりとしたグラベルライディングをしました!

☆week 1: 700km, 7,000m
☆week 2: 450km, 5,500m
☆week 3: 600km, 9,000m
☆week 4: 400km, 4,500m
☆week 5: 750km, 13,500m
☆week 6: 500km, 7,500m

The next 3 weeks are racing
I'm feeling strong
It's time to bring out the form!
次の3週間はレースウイークです
強く感じています
フォームを出す時が来ました!

☆may 22: Akagi 4h offroad enduro
☆may 28: Rapha Prestige Sanjo
☆june 6: Hakuba Gravel Fest

here we go!
頑張りましょう!
 
So after a month in Europe, I'm finally back to training. I'm really surprised and confused: my power bar is almost unchanged (-7 W, 334 W —> 327 W), but my life bar has gotten super short. Just for fun, I tried hitting it on some of the climbs last weekend (without overdoing it), and I get pretty close to my PRs — just after the last climb, I limped home on 150–190 W. This weekend, I was able to hang with the gang, just one guy was faster than me. (I could have tried harder, but I know the toll it takes and the disruption it causes to my training.)

I'll now do a 6-week polarized block to focus on my physical and mental stamina.
 
When I go on group trail rides, we have two guys with Bluetooth speakers playing music at the front and the back. Hehe.

Radio is good for hiking. But I always feel blasting the tunes out is a shame when out in nature. Maybe just too much time riding the ski lifts listening to crap rock music!?

With a whistle you can pretend you are an angry bird of sorts.

Andy
 
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