Anyone Interested in Bike training program?

[RNair]

2500kms in Italy and Greece, racing and touring, the Italian Alps to the mesmerizing blue coast of Greece, many high moments - conquering Ventoux (France), Blockhaus, Alps, racing and chasing in a peloton at 50km/hr, lost in the back roads of the Peloponnese, SATISFIED! Time to get back home. few more days left, will try and make each one worthwhile! Thanks and Apologies to everyone for putting up with my cycle-centric messages!

Humbly I feel I have over done myself. I never thought in Jan 2009, I would be riding at speeds of 40-50km/hr in the thick of a peloton, hard work has paid with dividends. Very proud to have gone from a 30km/hr rider to sustaining speeds of 40km-50km/hr. I will now reap in the fruits for another month before hanging the boots for a month of recovery. I want to return to Europe next year even more stronger and I believe I have it inside me.

[uhk]

Kudos mate. Your improvement has been just amazing. It has been an incredible journey for all of us who started the training program. Woo hoo.

[prabuddhadg]

Rajesh's improvement has been amazing. But then his dedication to the programme too has been exemplary. Me, for instance, while I do like to ride fast, I just don't want to take as much pain as Rajesh must have, to perform that much better. I'd rather have it on a platter.

But still, whatever intervals and cadence drills that I have done, have contributed to making me a better rider. It has been specifically the cadence drill that was the biggest contributor to my desire to give up smoking. Had I not got into this programme, I would most probably have remained a smoker till this day. Its 7 months and 3 days since my last puff.

The intervals from Rajesh's programme have given me ideas for some intervals of my own, that start off from the faster cadence that I am now capable of maintaining. That is on ongoing routine, and I'm loving it.

My next project is to get my wife to learn cycling. I have set up Thor for her, with saddle height and stem length set up for her. Now to get her to get on the bike. Is there a programme for that?

[kk27]

I too have followed the cadence drills rigorously, Though I was never a cadence rider but now, 120rpm comes seamlessly. Infact both of us have started on our Interval training by increasing cadence and we are loving it.

As for getting a wife or even mother riding regularly, the only thing required is perseverance

[prabuddhadg]

Yesterday, we had a pretty nice ride. In fact, it turned out to be quite a surprise in terms of performance. The night before, we had agreed upon a long and easy ride to Nariman Point and back, which would be about 85-90 km. In the morning, however, Kaushik said he needed some work to do to meet an office deadline and would have to return by 9:30. It was raining, so, in my mind, Ghodbunder Road with its concrete road climbs was not on the favourites list. Finally, we decided to ride to Bandra. This would be just 50 km, but then I thought if I rode on a high ratio, that would mean some hard work. Anyway, I had started off from home on the 52 12, just for the heck of it. In fact, I realise that if you do not push this ratio, its pretty nice for a different warm up.

We set off over the wet roads, with no drizzle yet but overcast skies. I moved from 52 12 to 52 14 and soon to 52 15. Soon, I was moving reasonably smoothly at about 30 kmph, and it did not feel like I was grinding. Kaushik too was on the large ring. Looking at him pedal I kept noticing how slowly he seemed to be pedalling, which in fact was the same cadence as I was maintaining. That made me realise how the high cadence method had got ingrained into my thoughts.

We reached the WE Highway after crossing one flyover, still on the larger ring and me on the 15 cog. The moment we join the highway, the wide smooth stretch of Goregaon leading to the Aarey flyover is an immediate invitation to accelerate. I resisted the temptation to increase the cadence all of a sudden, and accelerated smoothly. The southward climb to the top of the Aarey flyover is short and we got to the top easily. My speedo had stopped working, and was showing a 0 as my speed. I would have to stop a fiddle with the sensor on the fork to make it start working again, but the speed and cadence felt pretty nice, so I just kept going. Soon, it began to drizzle and it felt nice. I have by not got into the habit of giving the bike a nice hose down as soon as I get home, so rains and puddles and muddy water do not bother me even a bit. I just kept going. In fact, the rains keep the body temperature down and I hardly sip any water these days. By the time I reached Bandra, I realised I had not had any water. So, just like that, I drank some water.

Kaushik's Garmin was recording all the data that I was having to guess. Both of us were pleasantly surprised that we had already completed 25 km on the 52 and were not feeling any strain. The base building was yielding results. I remembered the times just a couple of months back when I would get off the bike at Bandra after a fast ride with my legs feeling quite tired. Today things were quite different. We had come to Bandra after a month or maybe more, and this was a nice surprise.

We loitered in the small pedestrian tunnel under the road towards the Sea Link appreciating the graffiti, and after a while, as the rain faltered a bit, set off again.

I was by now feeling quite accustomed to the load of the 52 17. Every once in a while, I would shift up to the 15, and on the flyovers, shift down to the 17. I had done the fiddling with the speedo at the halt in Bandra, and I was pleasantly surprised every once in a while as I looked at it, that I was most of the time on speeds of 32 or even 34. And the legs still felt quite fresh.

There is a stretch just after the Jogeshwari flyover, as one approaches the Hub mall, where the road widens to something like 10 lanes, and there is ample space to work one's legs up. Both Kaushik and I let fly and as I glanced at the speedo, I saw the numbers 49, 50, 51 fly past. 52 came a little more slowly and then 53. I was feeling out of breath. At that point I remembered the TT timings of the Tour, and realised that those madmen ride at this as their average speed. I may have maintained the speed for about 15 pedal cycles. Doing an hour at 50 is not even a distant dream. Anyway, it was fun while it lasted.

As we left the highway and moved into the busier and slower Link road, I noticed that it was a lot easier to maintain 30+ on these ratios than on the 42 17 and 42 15 that I had been riding on most of the time. This route to Bandra may be a boring ride in terms of views around, but for training it has its merits. I think I shall do Bandra more frequently and practise the high ratio rides here. I got to 52 14 briefly this time. I am looking forward to the time when I can sustain 52 12 for some time without looking like I am in slow motion.

We ended our ride with some strong coffee at CCD. Our legs still felt fresh. Kaushik said his average speed seemed pretty high, around 27 or 28, though we had never really pushed ourselves except during the brief 50kmph stint.

Later, he called to give me the news that for the entire ride, we averaged 28.5 kmph. So much for some easy pedalling. In fact, the effort felt more like an average of 23 or max 24. So, now I am pretty certain that if I focus on it, my desire to do a Bandra ride with a doorstep to doorstep average of 30 kmph is within my reach.

So, guys, I think the programme is really working. Really.

[kk27]

It was an amazing ride, here are the details - http://connect.garmin.com/activity/11732443

Lap 1 - from our start point to the Highway - all though the road is good but a lot of signals & it's more like a warm up.

Lap 2 - Highway till Bandra

The base building & a persistance of high cadence riding has definately proved worth while, add to that the strength training. Only recently did I get my FD to work & shift to 52 chainring, so I've very less experience riding on it. Hence i was just a bit skecptical about burning out, so was just trying to stay within 10-15secs away from Prabu & not being dropped, while I always tried closing the gap on the flyover climbs, by a getting out of the saddle. Even then the avg is 29kmph, surprisingly I too did'nt have a sip of water.

Over our halt all we were discussing was about this kind of high ratio riding instead of the regular high cadence & how different it felt.

Lap - 3 Return from Bandra to Highway junction

Reaching Bandra seemed a breze & I decided to just push a bit on the way back. Now this a fast one but this too had a lot of distractions which actually breaks the speed, a couple of signals & then a toppled truck slowed us a bit. Still to both our surprise the avg was 32kmph. The Goregaon-Hub stretch is liked by both, & I was the first to break starting just at the flyover descent continuing ahead & after I maxed out at 51kmph, after a while, Prabu passed me like a bullet.
The highway exit point ends after a long flyover which is again a nice last strech for peping & teasing each other.

Lap - 4 to CCD from Highway

Again still riding at the high ratio but increasing traffic made it difficult, & a breif heavy rain cooled us down.

In the end a nice cup of coffee to finish off a great ride. Looking at the stats is quite pleasing for us weekend warriors. Anyway I think the golden figure of 30kmph of door to door avg is definitely attainable is pushed a bit harder. anyway we avgeraged 31kmph on the 32kms of highway, it's only the ride through the link road & bylanes which kills the overall avg speed.

We had dumped the Bandra ride soon after the Sea Link was opened, but this has added another dimension to it & it's definitely back on our cards.

[deepakvrao]

Nice but you guys should give up this idea of 'door to door'. Just does not make any sense - too many variable. The 30kmph over 32km is great and that should be your benchmark. Keep the crappy roads for warm up and cooling off [and chatting on the return].

Our standard rides have between 7-10km return thru trafficky roads [depending on route], and that's the 'social' part of our rides.

[prabuddhadg]

Nice but you guys should give up this idea of 'door to door'.

Agreed, but if we can raise our average on the highway to over 33-34, then our door to door average will be 30. I don't mean to ride through red lights and cut across traffic and other such risky stuff in the off-highway sections.

[kk27]

Well though our final aim is the better avg on the highway, but then it's just another way of putting it across. But then this 32km wasn't ridden at a stretch, it was with a break of 10mins, so we'll have to make this a one shot effort & then see how we fare.

But there's one very important thing which is missing in our training..... climbing. There are a very few climbs here & they are quite small climbs, And these aren't enough to train us on climbing at the high base ratios that both our bikes have 42-25 / 42-23.

At this level of climb training, doing even a 5km climb at 42-25 seems an intimidating & daunting task. even climbing the Godhbunder after a hard ride really takes quite an effort, I can't even begin to imagine doing something like a 25km Ooty or Pune climb!!!!

[RNair]

Last ride in Italy for 2009.

This post is always about the Gravina climb that I have mentioned so many times in this thread. The Gravina in itself is a 2.09km winding climb at 6% surrounded by pine trees and has 2 switchbacks that break the rhythm. A 2.09 km climb in itself is not a big deal but what makes this climb difficult is what precedes it. To get to the Gravina, the ride is a 7 km gradual climb passing thru historic 4 century old Olive groves and slowly goes from 1% to 6%. Usually it is this appetizer that kills the knees and by the time you get to the bottom of the Gravina, you have spent most of yourself. It takes skill and patience to get on top of this one with a decent time. So the local legend says if after the initial part, you can ride the Gravina under 7 mins, you are ready for a race ( saying it again just to refresh memories). This summer twice I managed to get under 7, once 6'54" and last week 6'59". And as the legend predicted I was race ready!

Yesterday the group set individual goals and we all wanted to set our new PR. I gave it my all for my last ride in Italy for 2009, with an average HR of 172 bpm, on a 53 x 23, I climbed the 6% Gravina setting a new PR of 6'21" at an average speed of 20km/hr shelving more than 30" off my previous best! Thrilled, Ecstatic! What a summer! Going back to the US tomorrow satisfied.

[prabuddhadg]

From 6' 54" to 6' 21" is major! Your satisfaction is understandable. Your riding updates have been quite impressive.

[RNair]

Thanks!

33" was surely not in sight when I got on that climb. I was a little shocked and surprised myself when I saw it at the end of it. I have been racing and finishing well but apart from 2 races I usually found myself in the group of peloton chasers instead of the peloton in spite of consistently riding over 40km/hr! The races in Italy are extremely competitive and most of the folks who win are ex pro-riders. They are usually surprised to see a brown skinned fellow racing with them! As far as the Gravina is concerned, the saying further is that if you can get that time below 6'00", you start to get competitive. It makes sense because if you can climb 6% grades at 21-22km/hr you are surely good to be competitive. There are 2 riders with us who have a time of 5'55" and 5' 59 and both win very frequently! So how difficult is it to get that 21" off my personal best? I would have to work twice as hard coming december compared to this season! More hills and more intervals. The training part does not scare me but there is just one word I see written in bold and that is PAIN! Taking 21" seconds off will depend on how much pain I can take from here on!

[kk27]

No wonder they say "No PAIN No GAIN"

[prabuddhadg]

Pain, yes. That is a given. I find pain motivating, almost as much as the speedo. Which in terms of training, are not necessarily supplementary to one another. If my cyclo comp had a cadence and HRM instead of the speedo, my training would have probably gone better.
Which brings me to the question, how to keep my motivational levels up? Speed is so addictive that I tend to forget about intervals and recovery and instead just keep spinning for speed.

[kk27]

Hey your comp does have a cadence right!!!

I agree with you, with only a Speedo, doesn't yeild any good cause the moment you see that you're on 23kmph makes you want to go faster.
Why don't you get a Garmin, how about a 705??? you have been contemplating on it for sometime now, havent' you, even a 305 is very much more than enough.

The biggest thing is that your training will be more focused. I've benifitted a lot from it, that's why I'm able to keep up with you on the rides . Although a lot is on instinct of how much you can push or how well you;ve done, but its always better to have some confirmation with data, which the Edge gives enough.

[raknair]

when was the last time I posted anything on this thread ? I have been following all the development here and yes the debate on what to buy and what not buy still goes on.

I do not know whether I have a place in this edition of TFN09 but in anycase I am restarting my bro's training program again. The past 2 months or so have been rather quiet for me on the saddle... been riding an average 100 kms only a week due to monsoon weather. To compensate the time lost on the saddle, I hit the swimmin pool instead. The positives to come out of the past one month is that I can now swim. I had a beginner class and I feel good that I have learned to swim at the age of 31. It is never too late if you have the urge to learn something.

I plan to go back to the basics. I plan to ride on 42/21-19 during the initial stage of my training program. I hope to be in shape by the time TFN comes and hope Ravi gives me a spot Is there anyone following the training program now. I see that it is almost dead now.

[kk27]

Dead!!!! Man this training program has been the foundation on which I've drastically improved...even after not following it completely. But I followed the basics of it.

Have just returned for our rediscovered Bandra Ride - http://connect.garmin.com/activity/12593312

We again posted a better avg than last time & missed the target 30kmph by just a whisker 0.6kmph, it was again the Traffic on the last Lap.

Anyway this time I forgot to add a lap while returning so the Lap 2 is the highway ride to Bandra & return, last time the avg for this part was 30.5 this time its 31.3. This whole week was no exercise & I was afraid the lethargy would slow me down, but to be honest I was at my limits on the highway riding to Bandra & when I finished there I was feeling drowsy; like I was on alcohol. Prabu was feeling the same we both were pushing it to the edge.

This kinda riding is really motivating, but we havent forgotten our Cadence rides, we'll be keeping those for Sundays .

But I'm glad we both are improving little by little, the 30kmph door to door is within the clutches, & now the goal is to aim for another level.... a 35kmph on that higway.

[kunalkins11]

Is there anyone following the training program now. I see that it is almost dead now.

i would like to do it (am actually trying to improve cadence these days......) but dont have the prog??!! can anyone please send it to me??

[RNair]

I see that it is almost dead now.

I have finished the training for 2009 and reaping the rewards for the rest of the season. As far as this season is concerned, I think we can close this program. Just by doing this program forever is not going to yield results. This was a 3 month program and has its validity!

It is time to just ride, enjoy the results of the hard work and then take a break so the body can recover and recuperate! And START all over again from ZERO with base training to see improved results in 2010.

[prabuddhadg]

While I could not follow the program rigorously, and only rode week ends, the basic concepts that the program threw up did a lot to improve my riding.

[raknair]

I had an interesting ride yesterday. I went on a long 84 kms plus ride to celebrate the success I had on Saturday in an exam. The idea was to crank 1 km for every one percent marks I scored. I managed to get 77.75 percent marks when exactly I week ago I failed by one percent. So I was obviously very happy and cranked to celebrate. However, as I crossed 77.75 kms I was tempted to add some extra kms to compensate for the questions I left unanswered.

I left home around 8:30 am intentionally so that I can manage my way home when the sun is in full swing. I rode the entire stretch on 42/21-19 and by the time I reached home I had a small cramp in my left inner thigh. The idea here was basically to do some conditioning in humidity. I wanted to ride in extreme kerala heat and humidity. I have done numerous 80 plus ride but this one was hard coz of the humdity and heat.

[kk27]

Rakesh, that's a very interesting thing to do!!!!

Rajesh, I hope you're taking tips from here to train your son equally well in academics too ;P

[jace48]

HI all,

I am not sure if training program is helping me. I am still struggling with base building and I don't see any difference. It's almost now 3 weeks complete on same route it's still taking equal or extra effort for complete the session.

Basics, trying high cadence on 36/24. I still get tired midway and have difficulties to achieve the same cadence while returning home. The road on which I am doing in not flat though. It's an bridge over a lake with typical inverted U bend (Not steep though) with total distance of 4.5+4.5 Km.

The other thing I noticed is that my heart rate stays at 160 on avg and if I take a break it comes to 130 and stays their for 4/5 mins. While returning back even if I do slow pedaling on30 36/26 I rate immediately shoots to 160 again and stays their.

[prabuddhadg]

You need to be riding good distances of 25-30 km each time. 9 km at a time will not really benefit you much given that you have only been riding for three weeks.

When I got into this programme, I was riding a minimum of 50 km. 36 24 is a very low ratio. I would suggest choosing a higher ratio, something like 36 18. Its a slow process, particularly at the start. Mileage is important. Also, it is better to ride 50 km one day than to ride 10 km over 5 days.

[jace48]

9 km at a time will not really benefit you much given that you have only been riding for three weeks.

When I got into this programme, I was riding a minimum of 50 km. 36 24 is a very low ratio. I would suggest choosing a higher ratio, something like 36 18. Its a slow process, particularly at the start. Mileage is important. Also, it is better to ride 50 km one day than to ride 10 km over 5 days.

I am unable to continue pedaling after at same pace say after 3 KMs hence was not keen on long distance the other thing is that with higher gear I feel strain on my on thigh muscle hence chose to keep lower gear and trying to achieve higher cadence, but I will restart the program and will post details later.