You’d be mad to sell it with the WW bits and wheelset.

Then I took a look at my heart rate during the race and it’s scared me a bit, I turn 45 next week, is this kind of heart profile normal for a short course racer? Is this similar to any other racers on here?

It’s a bit toward the rapid end but I doubt it’s an issue if you’re in good health and have a structured training programme.

I’m 53 and would generally be about 172bpm average and 185bpm max in a 90minute race. My max hr is about 192bpm.

Anyone got any suggestions to keep a winter exercise regime interesting and varied?

4.50am alarm – different tune each day
5am – start on turbo or rollers which box set
6.15am – swap to turbo or rollers
7.45am – stretch now or this evening

6.30pm – turbo or rollers which box set
7.45pm – hi dear how was your day trough, trough, trough zzzzzzz

4.50am alarm
5am – oh goody today’s Z3 so music instead of tv etc

The berkradar test seemed flawed given he was manually timing and claiming a few tenths of seconds differences.

Next helmet will be more aero, not convinced of skinsuit over tight jersey esp with full pockets

It’s not possible in the time frame

It’s not probable in any time frame

I really hope that doesn’t stop you trying.

A large proportion of the first gains you record are likely to be due to better pacing on your FTP testing.

Like I said 3 years proper coached and sustainable training = 4.8W/kg at best. Then again I’m 20years older than you so maybe it is possible.

29er, tough and fast 2.25 or more, only when bone dry and good luck.

Time to roll out the ‘fish photo

Ridgeway double by

Also there may be nothing technical but there are some fast very rutted sections which need care when tired. Pick a rut stick in it and prepare to slow/stop when it inevitably proves to be the wrong one.

You’ll need to move from miles to hours.

Week in week out is the issue. I’ve averaged 8hrs 20minutes a week for the last 2 years. That takes account of low load weeks (every 4th week) some injury, a house move and quite a lot of illness the majority of which has, I think, been caused by my training/fitness.

In 3 years I’ve moved from 3.7W/kg to 4.57W/kg. I don’t believe the actual figure but it’s the same Stages on the same course and I do believe the improvement. I’m coached.

I’ll never get to a true 5W/kg. I could concievably do 5W/kg over 20minutes next year if all goes very well (and it isn’t, I’m ill again) but to then multiply by 0.95 – no chance.

I entered this but couldn’t make it due to illness. Just hope this time it doesn’t take a month to get over it like last year.

^ were these G4s?

Works for me

King Ti
Mt Zoom side entry

Not worked for me

Bontrager side entry carbon – fell out repeatedly

I use Camelbac Podium bottles.

Lovely bikes but where do you find gravel suited to CX?

I regularly train on the Ridgeway south of Wallingford. Around this time of year I move from HT to FS as dry trails at speed gets completely debilitating even on 2.25s and front suspension with a HT.

Given a CX bike is geared and positioned for greater speed I am presuming people are riding on smoother surfaces – where?

I’d avoid the Ridgeway – not a pub on it.

The southern foothills of the Chilterns are however a pub rich and associated bridleway/lane environment.

I might put together a loop. How gastro are you?

King William at Hayley – amazing views
Black Horse Checkendon – best pub in the universe – rolls and chocolate bars
Rising Sun – Witheridge Hill – nice location
Cherry Tree – Stoke Row – owned by Carol Decker of TPau
Crooked Billet – Stoke Row – probably the place to eat if you can afford it – very good.

Total loop about 10-12miles?

Did Wantage and really ‘enjoyed’ it. Great course and some very fast riding. Most of the trails avoided walkers and not a single horse.

Burped my front tyre, lost my group, caught back up (ouch)and had to get off and walk for a couple of minutes with killer cramp. 3hrs 1O minutes – more work to do as I think the fast group came in at 2hrs 45minutes?

‘Fish was brilliant.

There’s marathon and there’s racing XC loops over longer periods.

Former eg National Marathon Champs – IOM on Manx 100k course. Longest climb 345M, total ascent 3,250m over 100k or 4,968m over 100miles.

Latter eg Torq in your sleep – 100miles (12 laps) and a paltry 1,200m climbing

My experience was that I absolutely needed every ring of my 3×10 on the Manx 100 because the distance and climbing involved meant you couldn’t ‘go into the red’ to overcome gearing deficiencies because the red might last 15minutes and happen again and again and again and… Gearing right down would compromise the road/fireroad sections

TIYS – A 2 minute hike into the red not so much of an issue and if it is it’s no big deal walking up a short sharp ramp – I did from the get go – might have lost 10 seconds per lap max.

Real distance and real hills – 2x, racing 24:12, TIYS etc 1×11.

What advantage do you hope to gain by making this ‘consolidation’? Is an Orbea noticeably lighter, stiffer, plusher, racier than your current 2 bikes. What will you do when the weathers shit and it’s a mudfest.

Well for speed a very light single speed with rigid forks and well matched gearing work very well provided the gearing is spot on ie high enough to be hard work but low enough you don’t descend into stupid level grinding.

Ignoring speed the same bike is great – you won’t get KOMs grinding away at 20rpm and nearly dying but you will become stronger as well as have (retrospective) fun.

Good thread. I don’t know the geo requirements but I can say what I like/don’t like

A front end that doesn’t require stupid amounts of leaning forward to prevent the front wheel lifting. Having to do that is a pain because a) it means the rear wheel becomes unweighted and spins and b) when I’m racing I’m so shattered I can very rarely stand on the pedals.

It’s probably a complicated interplay between length, bar/saddle drop, seat angle and chainstay length coupled with stem length and seatpost set back.

Pray they don’t frequent STW and arent setting you up!

Grade 2 quad strain and a chest infection at the same time, could be six-ten weeks out of all cycling.

There you go, no more moaning for ten weeks. Bye.

With care and luck it could be 3 weeks which would be annoying but not the end of the world. I had the whole of June off last year and had to reset but raced well in August.

Stick with 1×11 and smaller front ring

This has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that I am planning an imminent assault on your #1 STW forumite Swinley lap :wink: :lol:

Only reason I say is as a mere mortal I can get just sub 10kg on a race fs with pedals and decent tyres etc. XX1 11sp not 12. Also no tubs?

Hope that weight is with a bottle or something – not especially light?

Here’s a question for you all – food.

In the last month I have become obsessed about food to the extent I think about it all the time. I try and eat 3 square meals a day and if I do snack it’s only fruit (apples, oranges, kiwi fruit not bananas).

Breakfast – bagel, porridge too if training
Lunch – large salad or carb rich if I’m training
Afternoon – bagel and marmite if training later
Supper – large meal, granola and yoghurt

Energy expenditure for training is about 6,000-10,000 calories a week.

I can’t remember being this obsessed about food before. 6 foot and 75kgs. Not trying to lose weight just keep about the same.

Why is it the last?.Entries down or we’ve just grown out of it or?

Thanks – online from a shop in Brighton. A few places imported them

There are a few things that make me smile when I’m really pissed off/down in the dumps

1. My dog saying hello to me

2. Taking my SS Superfly for a ride.

I think it’s because when I ride it I forget all about zones, power, HR etc all I can do is ride it hard and think about nothing apart from whether I can spin faster or grind more powerfully.

Superfly SS

Zones really are a minefield. My Z2 is based on my actual lactate threshold by virtue of testing (ie blood test while on turbo). As I do a lot of Z2 training it’s a higher percentage of my FTP.

Swinley red trouble-brewing

RBBH or Frimley A&E?

^ not in my case nor in Torq’s zones

Z2 is not recovery it’s 70-80% of FTP and is pretty tiring if it’s done right ie with no recovery, pedalling against brakes on downhills etc.
Depending on how base fit you are it’s surprisingly fast. I’m at 3hrs working towards 5hrs.

Z2 endurance is a good way of continuing training when you have muscular issues.

Scott is a red herring IMHO – fun, good training etc but the Wantage round is on a busy Ridgeway on a weekend where you are likely to meet innumerable horses/families with toddlers/dogs etc. Courteous and safe riding trump everything edit

Most of the red is now shut. Managed 2nd forumite on the two long segments of blue and red.
Pushing hard up the hill before Labyrinth wrecks my performance in the segment thereafter.

Seeing as (I think) I bought this frame from you I’ll take the opportunity to use it to illustrate where colour oh so nearly matches and actually doesn’t quite. It would look better with a plain black saddle.

Simple by [/url], on Flickr

What you did you do before Sunday? If you have power but it fades it would suggest either you went out to hard and/or you were only superficially fresh.

What did you have to eat during the day?

If you’re having to stop at the bottom and top of every hill on the SDW to screw around with chains you are in for a long miserable experience. The key is to keep on pressing on. Just stopping for every other tap and having a pee every now and again will add over an hour each way

Doesn’t look like a Stages crank………

You should definitely do a low load week every 4th week or so. Doesn’t have to be complete rest just lower load ie a 15 mile ride, no intervals and stretching instead of exercises.

If you don’t give your body time to recover you won’t make the gains your training deserves.

If you give up coffee expect to feel really shit for a couple of weeks – headaches etc.

Some drivers will try to kill you whatever you do.

Having spent 2 months doing very high intensity but short intervals I have my first Z4 sweetspot this afternoon and I’m dreading it. New FTP has it not far from where I was at threshold at the start of winter and I just know it’s going to hurt badly.

I have punctured on the Ridgeway and more than once. Likewise my tyres get micro-nics so I tend to use Conti Protection and avoid the ruts with the more obvious flint surface.

My reading was that volume in training gives a base that assists interval training later on. If you’ve had to sacrifice volume for time constraints it might have an effect. The other thing is the level of intensity. I’m finding it hard to recover but it’s because I’m doing Z6 intervals and despite being not a very hard session from the point of view of TSS it’s very hard on the muscles.

Also be careful about ‘messing around’ I had hoped to do my Z6 intervals today but yesterday z2/3 was painful. Examined my 2hr MTB ride on Sunday – 17minutes over threshold power….

Maybe I’ll just check out the local hill segments before I head out.