We were out of bananas, but I took two gels, and that made aLOT of difference. I did 34 miles, and was strangely stronger the last 5 than I was 20-25 (I had the gels at 22 miles.) So that's probably it, I need to bring more fuel.
Is there a trick to going faster? A good long Saturday morning ride for me is 30 or so miles at about 15.5 MPH. Last Saturday I rode with a guy I found on Meetup. He's training for a triathlon and his plan was to go 24 miles at 17-20 MPH. At a half hour I was averaging 16.8, so almost a 10% increase in my speed. (Altho to be honest, when I'm doing my typical Saturday ride, I go at about 15.8 for the first hour and then slow down somewhat for the rest.) Anyway, at 40 to 45 minutes, the increased speed caught up with me. Pushing my speed had meant not letting (I guess) the lactic acid completely flush out. I typically ride and make it almost wholly an aerobic activity, but at that higher speed it was partly anaerobic, and my muscles kind of gave out. My guess is that the trick to upping my average speed is Nike oriented...Just Do It. Ride faster and longer and get stronger. But is there some other trick? PS...I had a dream last night that involved me riding my bike all over the place. I think that's a first for me.
Re: Is there a trick to going faster? Unless you were riding side by side with him, don't discount the extra speed you will get from riding in a 'group.' Increasing even 1 MPH average over what you are used to is a significant increase with all other conditions (course profile) being the same.
Re: Is there a trick to going faster? Interval training. Try doing shorter rides where you alternate between high pace (20mph) over certain durations followed by low pace (10-13mph). Start with a work-to-rest ratio of 1 to 3 and then move to 1:2 or 2:3 over time. You could try this once a week, and it should improve your body's ability to recover after giving a harder effort - while still riding at a moderate pace.
Re: Is there a trick to going faster? How long does this need to be to be effective? I'd need 5 minutes or so to warmup before doing this, and right now, I grab about 20-25 minutes in the morning about 3 days a week. Can doing this for 15 minutes have an effect?
Re: Is there a trick to going faster? I suppose it doesn't really matter, but you'd want to push your "work" stage to a level that is going to near-exhaust you. Then, you take a predetermined amount of "rest" time on the bike to let your muscles recoup energy. Then, you go hard again. Ideally, you'd want to go longer than 15 minutes, but if your intervals are: * 1min WORK, 2-3m REST. You could get 4 hard intervals in. For the type of cycling you talked about doing with your partner, you'd want longer intervals that don't quite max you out. However, you may not have time for that. The idea is that is should take less and less rest time to be able to run another hard interval after a while. It basically trains your muscles to have more strength endurance - which is what you seem to be lacking after going 100%. You just can't recover fast enough or at all.
Re: Is there a trick to going faster? I have known for quite some time that this is what I need to take my cycling to the next level, but just haven't been able to get on a regular enough ride schedule to do anything beyond my usual 20-40 mile ride... If I am doing the rides 2-3 times a week, do you think making one of those an interval training ride following the ratios you outlined will help me with my weaknesses (mostly climbing - and the lactic acid buildup of that) Thanks!
Re: Is there a trick to going faster? Intervals help anything, in general. If you really want to concentrate on improving climbing, hill repeats are the way to go. Essentially intervals with a small, uncomfortable (2-3 minutes) hill.
Re: Is there a trick to going faster? I agree with clean. I've used high intensity interval training (HIIT) for just about everything but cycling. I know the method works, but I can't speak to too much experience using it as a cyclist over a long period of time. But, I know it works for just about everything else.
Re: Is there a trick to going faster? Now I've got to find a place where I can do this, a good stretch of road. I'll try to do this every Wed. Morning; my workout schedule is to do legs on Sundays after my Saturday ride, and then again on Wednesday evenings.
Re: Is there a trick to going faster? http://www.cycle-faster.com/everything-you-wanted-to-know-about-interval & http://www.training4cyclists.com/better-results-with-interval-training/
Re: Is there a trick to going faster? One more thing - interval training on a bike sucks. Whenever I do it, I feel like I am wasting a day for riding. Of course I'll bitch and complain when I can't keep up on the Tuesday night ride.
Re: Is there a trick to going faster? Another thing: You should probably be weight training the day before you ride - not after. This way, the weight training is with fresh muscles which will give you maximum effects. Plus, the next day, you can ride through muscle stiffness/soreness associated with lifting to build a tolerance to pain/stress in the legs. If you ride first, the next day your muscles are elongated and weakened. Then, you can injure yourself or just not get as much out of your weight training as you possibly could.
The Good: I had my physical, and my heart rate is 46 bpm. The Bad: I've been wondering if it's possible to ride slower and stay in the fat burning range. I tried this on Wednesday after my annual physical. About 6 miles from home, I bonked like nobody has ever bonked before. It was ride a mile, rest 5 minutes. Ride a mile, rest. It was ugly. Maybe it works if I can find some completely flat terrain to go 12 mph on or something, but you can't get up hills in the fatburning range. Lesson learned. Even a slower rate is burning carbs, so if you're shooting for over 15 miles, bring some fuel.
Amazing what riding does to your RHR. First time I went for a physical after I started riding (actually Spinning) seriously my rate was at 41. Doc called me 'Lance', not knowing that I was cycling. I guess my suggestion would be lower the gear so each revolution doesn't take as much out of you. That said, even if you are anaerobic, you are still burning the fat, just not as efficiently and burning from other sources. With the distances you are doing, it really isn't all that bad as you can likely fully bounce back within 12 hours.
Are snakes dangerous? Wait, let me clarify. I was riding last Sunday and a stick in the road up ahead started wiggling in an attempt to get off the road. It was about 4 feet long. I didn't want to "dodge" it but I didn't want to run over it and risk falling. At that size, if I run over it am I likely to fall? Is it safer to run over it or swerve to dodge it?
hmmm, I would try and dodge it. Would a snake that size move...and not nicely, whereas it could get into your spokes? And harsh language won't get it to move either. Damn!
This. If nothing else, at least lift your front tire clear so that your back tire just rolls over it. It shouldn't hurt your bike any if you do that much. I'd try to go around it, but if the choice is between swerving so hard that you fall off your bike or running over a snake, I'd go with the latter.
I just upgraded. I got a Scattante CFR 2010 model for $1099. All carbon. Rides very different from the Schwinn; still getting used to it.
Hitting your local Performance bike store, huh? Congrats for the new ride. Now get out and wear it into submission. Quick google shows some nice components. Did it come with the Mavic wheels?