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New bike, duh.
Reading that back, do you not think you’re being a bit harsh on yourself?
To pick this out - this is how I am across pretty much everything I do. If I can do something, anything, then the next time I should be able to do it better, the time after that better again. Standing still is failure and you never, ever retreat. Forwards all the time, think, learn, apply, focus. It's the cool thing about bikes - so many subtle variations across the disciplines all using the same principles and always something to improve at. But the same applies to work, driving, skiing, DIY, picking my nose, wiping my arse, reading a book. Push*, learn, advance all the time. Never relax. That's when you lose concentration and bad things happen. BE harsh with yourself - no one else will be in this day and age, and the only person who knows what's actually going on your head is you. It's called honesty.
To do all that and be less than excellent would mean I had wasted my life
To put that in context - when I lived in London, I was spending £300+ a month on fuel alone driving to ride. What could I have achieved if that money had been repurposed elsewhere? I could have been mortgage free, by now as an example.
BWD makes a fair point, and I'm aware that it is the top end that goes as you age - hence all the gnarled old roadies you see out plodding along for hours and hours at a time very slowly. I've kind of always dressed the road riding up as "not training" because I'm not training for anything, but in many ways it's ALL training. Maybe I do need to be more scientific about it (but anything involving dicking around with apps on phones can **** right off as I just don't have the patience for that).
Largely I'm all about making life simple. Make stuff black and white. Take away possibilities for excuses. Just do. (Can't remember the Yoda quote at the mo)
*Pushing whilst wiping my arse can have unexpected results...
Blimey. Just reading your view on life makes me feel tired 😃
Funny how we’re all different.
Obviously telling you chill out a bit and smell the flowers isn’t going to work so all I can think is that you need to find a professional coach to give you some proper technical feedback and areas to work on.
Or have a pie and a pint and admit you’re in your forties!
@geex yeah I know it sounds a silly one that, not wanting to lift a 22-24kg bike over a wall fence gate rather than 13kg, I was out Wednesday night in ridiculous winds we all pretty much struggled getting 11-14kg bikes over a gatepost, it’s not like in a gym lifting that weight straight up and down.
i think we’ve had these same conversations on this forums months back, so no point going down that line again..
But hopefully a quick question you can answer truthfully
Do you still ride regular bikes geex, or is it always the go to ebike, I think that’s my main concern..
Have you tried riding with a road club or some faster road riders? I find I only really push myself when I go out with others. It's a real wake up call
I have 10 bikes (BMX, DJ, 4X, Slope, Enduro, DHx2, Roadx2, commuter). Shit! that's 11. anyway I have no intention of stopping riding any of them... This week the weather was shitty but I still rode 3 different regular bikes (didn't actually ride the Ebike at all).
I still prefer regular bikes... but... Shhhhhhhh!
You aint seen me right? 😉 😉
[edit] See the lifting them thing? You honestly just get used to it really quickly. I'm fairly upperbody strong anyway though. I watched some EMBN video of a guy showing you how to use the motor's walk assist to get the bike onto the rear wheel to get through an offset gate and thought to myself WTF? how can you be so weak you can't raise an Ebike onto the rear wheel the same way as a slightly lighter bike (seeing as all the extra weight is centre)
It takes longer getting used to the extra pre-load and hip push required to get the front to balance point in a manual. and when you're re-learning/calibrating that getting it wrong (not doing it hard enough) will give you more back pain than lifting them over 20 gates
Have you tried riding with a road club or some faster road riders?
No. I'm way faster on the Ebike without breaking sweat than all the local Cat1s.
oh... sorry. maybe you meant Jon 😉
FFS @geex I was hoping You’d say u only ride the ebike now and that’d put me off for a few more years..
had planned to test one at ardrock but timing didn’t work, that climb up to the demo loop is a right bitch , a couple went past on Levo’s at full speed and they went up faster than cars.
will try again next year
Do you still ride regular bikes geex, or is it always the go to ebike, I think that’s my main concern..
It’s a good question.
The ebike is great fun and I suppose could be addictive. Since getting mine though I’ve ridden more of everything, my Capra, my DH bike and the ebike. Haven’t been out on my enduro bike (moto enduro) though.
Can’t remember the Yoda quote at the mo
"Train yourself to let go of everything you fear to lose.” ..
“To pick this out – this is how I am across pretty much everything I do. If I can do something, anything, then the next time I should be able to do it better, the time after that better again. Standing still is failure and you never, ever retreat. Forwards all the time, think, learn, apply, focus. It’s the cool thing about bikes – so many subtle variations across the disciplines all using the same principles and always something to improve at. But the same applies to work, driving, skiing, DIY, picking my nose, wiping my arse, reading a book. Push*, learn, advance all the time. Never relax. That’s when you lose concentration and bad things happen. BE harsh with yourself”
This is just awful, sad and totally wrong. From everything you’ve said I presume you don’t have children because bringing them up like this would be a recipe for mental health problems. Learn to love yourself, then all these issues will go away.
“@geex yeah I know it sounds a silly one that, not wanting to lift a 22-24kg bike over a wall fence gate rather than 13kg, I was out Wednesday night in ridiculous winds we all pretty much struggled getting 11-14kg bikes over a gatepost, it’s not like in a gym lifting that weight straight up and down.”
Well I’d hope that a grown adult with no physical problems would be able to lift far more than 22-24kg straight up and down. An empty barbell with no plates on it weighs 20kg!
FFS @geex I was hoping You’d say u only ride the ebike now and that’d put me off for a few more years..
Pump tracks/BMX tracks/skateparks and proper dirtjumps are all shit on an Ebike. There's no getting round this. They don't accelerate as fast and are a lot more work to pump on the flat (well... bowls n rollers but hopefully you get what I mean)
I love riding the road. and I love riding pure DH so it wouldn't ever replace those bikes
It "could" replace my Capra. But it makes the Capra feel like it's filled with helium. Throwing it around while riding enduro tracks is absolutely amazing now. On some steeper Enduro tracks the Capra is actually very slightly slower than the Ebike against the clock (due mainly to less grip and not holding momentum as well)... even with the Ebike switched off. That's how good the Ebike actually is. (same travel, almost same geometry)
I'm a smoother rider on the Ebike than the Capra (twhich might come as a surprise to some)
Perhaps stating the obvious but cold dry air is denser than warm humid air. So you will have increased wind resistance, by quite a big margin.
Physics innit bro.
Go to Majorca, nice and warm, and near lots of water.
Hmm… nice to know. as that’s a slower average speed than I generally ride at off road in soft conditions and wind round here E’d up.
That’s nothing, I can do 45 on a moped.
That’s nothing, I can do 45 on a moped.
Now that I would like to see you lift over 11 gates.
Ps. regular push bikes can go way faster than 45
Standing still is failure and you never, ever retreat. Forwards all the time, think, learn, apply, focus. It’s the cool thing about bikes – so many subtle variations across the disciplines all using the same principles and always something to improve at.
With this attitude you should start trials riding (not motorized). The bonus of trials riding is, being fast or slow across long distances couldn't be more irrelevant.
jam bo
Nothing **** you as hard as old age…
It will always beat you.
Concentrate on enjoying the ride.
“To pick this out – this is how I am across pretty much everything I do. If I can do something, anything, then the next time I should be able to do it better, the time after that better again. Standing still is failure and you never, ever retreat. Forwards all the time, think, learn, apply, focus. It’s the cool thing about bikes – so many subtle variations across the disciplines all using the same principles and always something to improve at. But the same applies to work, driving, skiing, DIY, picking my nose, wiping my arse, reading a book. Push*, learn, advance all the time. Never relax. That’s when you lose concentration and bad things happen. BE harsh with yourself”
This is just awful, sad and totally wrong. From everything you’ve said I presume you don’t have children because bringing them up like this would be a recipe for mental health problems. Learn to love yourself, then all these issues will go away.
All joking aside, I agree. It sounds like you actually have some serious mental health issues buried under the excuse of "that's just how I am". Get some professional help, please.
Even professional sports people have an off season to relax, both physically and mentally. It's not a sign of strength to be constantly pushing and being hard on yourself, it's a sign of a potential mental health problem. You can't be at your peak constantly, our bodies don't work like that. Pro athletes have very specific training plans which enables them to hit their peak at specific points in the season. Football managers infamously rotate their squad to rest their key players so they're fresher later in the season. What makes you think an amateur cyclist is any different?
Seeing 2 hours messing about at Leeds Urban Bike Park as a waste of time isn't a good sign. If you just want to get fitter then stay on a turbo trainer, but hitting jumps, berms and flowy trails is meant to be fun and rewarding, not just a work out.
Go easier on yourself. It sounds like you're a decent athlete and in good shape, so focus on that. I'd also suggest a training plan of some kind. This doesn't have to mean pushing at 100% every time, I'm sure good training plans also focus on lower intensity days and ones where you can focus on skills rather than just fitness. But it might help give some focus and give you an excuse to have days where you're not setting PBs.
Also, if you've ridden the 2 previous days for a reasonable amount of time then you won't be at your peak strength on the third day. You'll naturally feel a bit more tired and won't have as much power. It's why sportsmen train harder in the pre season compared to during the season. The constant hard training helps build fitness, but you won't be anywhere near your peak for a one off ride if you don't rest beforehand.
I always wondered what raging against the dying of the light felt like.
I felt a bit crap today after two weeks manual labour without a day off. I finished the big job yesterday night and was having a do nothing day. Then at 3:30 I spotted my spreadsheet on the desktop. It's "you never don't feel better after a bike ride.xlsx.
So I got the bike out and had an hour over a muddy Cannock Chase. Even though I burped a tyre and had to change light batteries halfway because they weren't properly charged I enjoyed it and went farther than I initially thought I would.
I didn't clean or maintain the bike after - that will keep until I do it in the spring. I feel really good now and will do it again tomorrow when I ride to pick up my grandson from school and we ride back together.
I hear what many are saying about smiles not miles, sounds great but that is never going to fit the OPs personality.
What this sound's like to me is something more deeply rooted than riding a bike.
I'd suggest shaking things up a bit, Christmas is coming, a time that brings both joy and misery. Go volunteer at the local shelter for a few sessions over the break, get a look at life from a different perspective for a bit. I'm not saying go see how lucky you are by having a look at some people suffering, sure there'll be suffering but also hope, positivity and a wealth of just getting on with it.
When focusing on something, whether life changing or fairly unimportant it becomes huge... riding your bike is important, your performance is important... but just how important?
Relish the challenge of aging but remember you are pretty unlikely to beat it, acceptance can bring a little peace of mind.
Good luck from a 51 year old stubborn bastard that is riding pretty damn close to as good as ever... but not better. Still loving every ride.
Now I don't mean to be scaremongering, and I'm not at all saying that this is the case...but...
Be careful about passing things off as 'just getting older'. It does get harder to maintain fitness, but until you get properly old there's no reason you'll slow down massively drastically while still 'training'. I'm saying this as my dad went into his late forties getting slower and slower on a bike, and generally getting less physically capable, which he passed off as just getting older. It turned out he had lung cancer which had been reducing his lung capacity steadily over the past several years, and ended up kicking it at 52.
Like I said, not meaning to alarm, but for anyone who reads this, getting out of breath doing easy things is not a normal part of getting older.
...this is how I am across pretty much everything I do. If I can do something, anything, then the next time I should be able to do it better, the time after that better again. Standing still is failure and you never, ever retreat. Forwards all the time, think, learn, apply, focus.. .
...Maybe I do need to be more scientific about it (but anything involving dicking around with apps on phones can **** right off as I just don’t have the patience for that)...
Both quotes from the same post, TBH this just seems like contradictory bollox to me, either you have a "growth mindset" and can actually learn to apply some new understanding to your own physiology and train in order to improve, or you're just another modern day narcissist, driven by ego and self image and the need to "be the best" without the patience to learn anything, assuming that applying lots of pressure will achive the desired results...
Sometimes, perhaps inexplicably you have an off day. Surely you must have noticed this before.
Having initially misunderstood the post becuase I didn’t read it properly, then failing to get my point across which actually wouldn’t have made sense because of that...
OP, I’m hard into my winter training as a competitive cyclist. However today I’m working from home, and at lunchtime will take my gravel bike on an unplanned yet gentle lunch excursion down the local tow paths to a cafe. where I will sit with Tea and a roll for 20 mins before cycling equally gently back home to work again.
I’m doing it because I enjoy riding my bike. It won’t make me any faster or slower.
Standing still is failure and you never, ever retreat. Forwards all the time, think, learn, apply, focus.
Meant to be taken in the right way, but as has been said above - how do you think you have this approach yet (I'm guessing - haven't read all of this thread) haven't learned that the basics of getting faster on a bike does not consist of riding fast all the time? eg
Below 16 never happened, but would have been “go out and do the ride again – properly this time
You only get fitter and faster during the recovery phase and you need a base to build on. Slow down to speed up, etc. Getting fast is a long game, could be 6 months from where you may be now and you'll be slower in some ways before you get faster. Good time of year to start. HRM, Z2 limit, 5-6hr rides, then build the top-end from mid Feb onwards. You just need to decide you want to work towards it i/o short-term stress over day to day performance.
Man you need to take a chill pill. Seriously at some point in the next few years, an attitude like yours is going to **** you up! 😉
The OP is copping a bit of flak, so let me reassure him he's not doing anything wrong other than running around in circles trying to beat that which cannot be beaten.
Don't believe the books about being able to go faster, that only applies to a few, the reality is you are now driving a body where the engine is on the way out. If you're fit that starts somewhere around your mid 40s.
It's now time to start looking after yourself. You can keep fit but if you drive yourself hard to equal past performances you are likely to run into problems/injuries. Be kind to your body so you can enjoy the next 30+ years of riding.
The important thing is not to give up as many do, simply adjust your perspective. (It took me a few years to accept that 🙂 ).
It's pointless competing against a younger you.
Find yourself some bike challenges where speed is not the measure.
Although I do look at it that way and don't worry about it I am not sure I couldn't be faster at 50 than I was when younger. I have never done any training and just go out and ride my bike as fast as I can manage. Not surprisingly I have never got any faster and with age have noticed a gradual decline.
So in my position, if I was to actually start a structured training program there is no doubt in my mind I could get faster than I have ever been. Am I going to do that? No, because I am happy riding as I am.
Turning 46 in a couple of months, and at my fastest and fitest both on the mtb and road bike in very long time.
One of the main things that helped this is ebikes, I have one, I ride it up trails* and its like doing intervals, but technical and fun. I also had chainsaws and digging tools on my back which made it interesting.
And embrace age, enjoy your surroundings, road biking I love for this, my avg speeds are all over the place, but I don't care...
If you're not there in your head, you wont be in body
*Don't worry ebike haters these are trails we have opened and dont see any other traffic...
I'm faster at 47 than i've ever been, on strava and on Zwift... but i'm a hell of a lot less obsesssed about it than i used to be. I found the obsessive side of it very easy to get sucked into and very hard to get out of.... but once you get out of it, you wonder why the hell you turned into such an arsehole 🙂
you wonder why the hell you turned into such an arsehole
I managed to do that without any link to cycling
For over 20 years now. my entire life has been focussed on bikes. Holidays have rarely been anything other then biking holidays. Cars have been bought to be bike carriers (I used to drive 20k+miles a year to go riding). Houses have been chosen on their bike friendliness. I stepped off the career ladder to go and live somewhere I could ride from my doorstep. To do all that and be less than excellent would mean I had wasted my life
It means you've spent your life following what you love to do, there's nothing bad about that. Even if you made it to be a pro, so what? what difference would it make to your life? Not one bit. There is no point to any of it, but to enjoy life, try and do as much as you love with the people you love before you die. There is no shame in just riding for enjoyment, there is no mythical status at which someone will reward your efforts with a +++GAME COMPLETED+++ certificate.
I might be talking out of sorts but from previous threads I know you suffer from depression/anxiety and maybe focussing on the stats gives you a purpose that you feel you need to get out of your bike but you need to give yourself permission just to get out to enjoy it and to admit that as you get older you will slow down but that's okay.
comparison is the thief of joy
If you're going to train with the aim of getting faster, train with measures you can control - HR or Power. There are so many variables with speed (weather, road surface, traffic, junctions, climbing) that you can't measure 1 ride against another accurately. You can use HR or power on the road, reasonably repeatably, or you can get super focussed on ride indoors to take all other variables away.
There are so many tricks to increase your average speed on Strava, that you can't compare against anyone else - even if they did the same ride on the same day.
46 - fitter and faster than in any previous year due to following a structured plan for the first time...
Well this has run on a bit...
Far too much there to respond to coherently.
I WANT to ride for smiles. But being GOOD (at anything) is what makes me happy. Just riding a bike got pretty boring about 6 weeks after I learnt to ride. Clearing a hard tech climb, floating effortlessly through the rocks, railing a corner as hard as you dare (road or mtb). spinning effortlessly up a climb. Being in the moment - that's the good shit. But being in the moment requires the skills and fitness to get there, and the better you are, the more time you can spend there, and like all drugs the more time you NEED to spend there, so the more skills & fitness you need to keep the hit going. Riding well is medicine. But not riding well is poison.
I don't really want to add numbers - to take an example, Kryton wittering on about Watts this and FTP that on other threads leaves me wanting to reply along the lines of "just ride your bloody bike". Which is exactly what roughly 50% of you are telling me to do, and which I'm not doing, which just makes me a hypocrite. Average speed is just a simple way of letting me know whether I'm on it or not on any particular day, and basically stems from the old skool bike computer days when that was about all the info available. I use a garmin now, but am utterly uninterested in the stats it generates. Just too much data and I have at best 'borderline' tolerance for IT and getting things to sync and upload and download and software updates etc drives me potty. I ride bikes to get away from all that junk (As an aside I'm on 100% failure rate - for various reasons - to try and follow a route using a GPS).
Turbo. Tried that. I'd agree it has the potential to make me a fitter rider, but the only time I've been able to stick doing it is when I broke my wrist and it was the only riding I could do. I'd rather watch paint dry than sit indoors on a bike. It's nothing to do with riding at all.
Leeds Bike Park? Meant to reply to this on another thread. As a "youth"/training facility, I can see the point of it, and if I was local and could ride through it as part of a bigger loop, I'd no doubt use it. But the red trail is pretty piss poor. It's at best a blue with a bunch of jumps scattered around it, and the uniform surfacing, uniform width, lack of roots and rocks etc just makes it feel completely fake. It's playpen riding for golfers. Did 3 complete laps and a couple of extra runs down the jumpy bit, but was bored by it so went and sat in traffic in the car instead.
If this is all coming through as a contradictory, confused mess - well, yes... I'm as aware of that as you are. The answer is usually to go and ride more. But that brings us straight back to where we started again...
It doesn't matter what you do, you need to choose either not to care about your speed, or to work out (I get your point about training being "for an event") to get faster.
Also, winter is always slower, and wind definitely makes a round trip slower. I can be 10 mins quicker for the round trip to work in summer (partly aided by taking the summer bike out, I admit!).
Your age doesn't mean you're past it, but it does realistically mean you need to be working harder/smarter to get the same results, particularly if the person you're competing against is your past self.
I don't think I'm at the age where I'm losing performance necessarily yet, but I am less fit in some ways than I was a couple of years ago despite doing more big rides over summer, simply because I haven't done as much high intensity riding.
I don’t really want to add numbers – to take an example, Kryton wittering on about Watts this and FTP that on other threads leaves me wanting to reply along the lines of “just ride your bloody bike”.
A bit hypocritical TBH.
Turbo. Tried that. I’d agree it has the potential to make me a fitter rider, but the only time I’ve been able to stick doing it is when I broke my wrist and it was the only riding I could do. I’d rather watch paint dry than sit indoors on a bike. It’s nothing to do with riding at all.
Your not doing it properly. As other have told you - numbers aside - you either aren't riding hard enough, or you're not resting hard enough. Its not all 3 hours boredom in a shed.
The answer is usually to go and ride more.
It really isn't, as people are telling you - see above.
You're basically stuck in a massive contradiction. Either ride for smiles or train in a organised manner if you want your numbers to improve. You can't just ride and expect your numbers to improve - that only happens when you're a beginner at a sport, whatever the sport is. What do you really want?
You’re basically stuck in a massive contradiction. Either ride for smiles or train in a organised manner if you want your numbers to improve. You can’t just ride and expect your numbers to improve – that only happens when you’re a beginner at a sport, whatever the sport is. What do you really want?
This^^
I train by simply riding regularly as it enables me to enjoy riding without struggling behind mates and to get the most smiles at the weekend. If i wanted to be a cat A rider, then just regular rides wouldn't cut it and i'd undertake a proper training programme. But life's far to short for all that bllx.
What do you really want?
To
just ride and expect your numbers to improve
Or at the very least not go backwards. Why shouldn't it be possible? I'm not trying to be world champion, I'm not trying to win anything or compete. I just want to be a decent all round rider able to ride anything and everything in reasonable style. That shouldn't be some kind of massive challenge. Isn't that what ALL of us are trying to do???
In a way, yes - but my overall aim with biking is to have fun and enjoy it. I'd rather be rubbish and have fun than be skilled but hate it.
When you see people that are slow and unskilled, but are arsing about and having a laugh, do you envy them?
Because you have already got the gains from doing that since you started. And now your getting older. So either improve your approach to training or accept the bodies natural decline.