What I did to prepare for Sebring 2017 ---today

[CruzLike]

Thanks Larry for toning it down a notch. I was getting a complex because I wasn't doing my training, riding on Zwift and then another 2hrs of riding to test something out every day.

When I bought my trainer I thought Zwift would be something fun to experience. Jason put together a group. Gave me a reason to join Zwift and ride with a gifted rider. I realized it's too much for me to do both.

Last week I documented my high TSS. This week I'm either reaping rewards or a switch has been turned on. This week I have been on cruise control. I have yet to suffer through rides like I did last week. I'm looking forward to Palisade. I have made it though Warlow which is the sister of Palisade. I know I can do it, even though a tenacious rider has already stated the pain it inflicted on him. I'm in a different place mentally. (that was a slow pitch across the plate)

Come on Ratz. Back on the bike tonight. Collins is a nice one to get the wind back in your sails.

 

[RojoRacing]

Thanks Larry for toning it down a notch. I was getting a complex because I wasn't doing my training, riding on Zwift and then another 2hrs of riding to test something out every day.

When I bought my trainer I thought Zwift would be something fun to experience. Jason put together a group. Gave me a reason to join Zwift and ride with a gifted rider. I realized it's too much for me to do both.

Last week I documented my high TSS. This week I'm either reaping rewards or a switch has been turned on. This week I have been on cruise control. I have yet to suffer through rides like I did last week. I'm looking forward to Palisade. I have made it though Warlow which is the sister of Palisade. I know I can do it, even though a tenacious rider has already stated the pain it inflicted on him. I'm in a different place mentally. (that was a slow pitch across the plate)

Come on Ratz. Back on the bike tonight. Collins is a nice one to get the wind back in your sails.

I'll need your FTP in w/kg and then I can quickly adjust my weight in game so my FTP matches your then I don't have to worry about pulling people along too fast. I'm going to log in at noon PST today and just spin while watching a movie to recover from 3 days of racing. You'll want to get the discord app working on your phone so we can communicate turns and you'll also want to add me to your friend list on Zwift so when you go to start a session your friends are all at the top of your list in orange of riders you can select to ride with. Friending another rider has to be done with the phone app.

 

[CruzLike]

Thanks Jason, I will stay focused on TR Training. Maybe another time. I hope your recovery is going well.

Today I installed some different pedals, reinstalled my headrest. I had a trial run with the new headrest padding. I think I'm getting close to the ideal feel and position.

In training I rode Palisade. It was not easy, but I feel like I struggled more with Warlow. Over the last month I have become more confident I can raise the level of effort without blowing up.

The challenge I see ahead of me is converting the wattage on the trainer to speed on the road. I can't go by feel. HR is the only stat that I will have on both places. I have been resisting buying a power meter for the bike. There are many types and pros and cons that I have not found the one I wanted to use. Maybe that is the purchase this summer.

 

[ratz]

Thanks Jason, I will stay focused on TR Training. Maybe another time. I hope your recovery is going well.

Today I installed some different pedals, reinstalled my headrest. I had a trial run with the new headrest padding. I think I'm getting close to the ideal feel and position.

In training I rode Palisade. It was not easy, but I feel like I struggled more with Warlow. Over the last month I have become more confident I can raise the level of effort without blowing up.

The challenge I see ahead of me is converting the wattage on the trainer to speed on the road. I can't go by feel. HR is the only stat that I will have on both places. I have been resisting buying a power meter for the bike. There are many types and pros and cons that I have not found the one I wanted to use. Maybe that is the purchase this summer.

P1 Left only Ken. that will get you power and cadence and perfect for pacing Sebring. If you fall in love with it you can add the right side later. If not the Left only will be supper easy to sell....

http://www.clevertraining.com/power...kMgdu7t3M7Dorfkq3oMp1lTRUFYNdAh0TUaAjeG8P8HAQ

Wait Headrest? I thought you were crushing those numbers on a Q559 did you add a bike or install a headrest?

 

[CruzLike]

Thanks Ratz. P1 was pretty high on the list. There is a good chance I end up with a pedal power meter.

Wait Headrest?.. Skunkworks has been going where no quest has gone before. (that I know of) I know, if there are no pics, it didn't happen.
I have lengthened the seat back 2 inches by making a new seatback out of fiberglass.
I made a bracket that separates the top of the shock and frame tabs by 1.25" This raises the swingarms, thus lowering the seat angle to 23 degrees. Similar to a V. It does change to fork angle by a couple degrees. probably voids a warranty on the frame too. It also raises the BB a little.
Now with the seat so flat, I need to support my head. I created a prototype headrest that is almost complete. The only thing that I have not done with it is road testing. Sorry to say that might not happen till February. I have a refined version about half completed.

 

[RojoRacing]

Did another Zwift race this time two laps on all the roads of the london course which includes a proper 7 min climb at Rojo pace. A few of the A class big dawgs showed up and buried us on the first climb dropping everyone but one other. I ended up 6th over the climb with two riders 15 second ahead of me and 2 more 5 seconds behind. I formed a chase pack with the 2 behind me and caught the 2 ahead but when it came time to climb the hill the second lap I came out last of our bunch by 15 seconds. Finished the race a lonely 8th which isn't bad but I'm feeling ragged. I think I'm carrying to much fatigue with me right and even though my power numbers over the last few races all average pretty close to each other it feel hard each time. Maybe a few days of ease short sessions will reset me to better form.

Good news is I'm now hanging my left hand on the bars with the cast on and there's no pain. I still can't shift the FD with the cast but at least I can pull on the bars on both sides a bit. It wouldn't be safe or a good idea but I'm sure I could ride outside at this point with the cast as long as I never needed to shift the FD, but I won't be trying that. So even if my thumb isn't 100%, the possibility of being able to ride with a thumb spike splint seems like an option. I don't know how cold you guys expect it to be at Sebring but if I do have to wear some kind of thumb brace I may have to invest into a barmit for the side and go without a glove.

 

[ratz]

I don't know how cold you guys expect it to be at Sebring but if I do have to wear some kind of thumb brace I may have to invest into a barmit for the side and go without a glove.

Someone will accuse you of using hand fairings

 

[RojoRacing]

Someone will accuse you of using hand fairings

add these to the list of things to test in the wind tunnel

 

[ratz]

Ok today I got to do some over-under which are my favorites. Yep; hey stop laughing they are fun. These workouts are great because the get your confidence up that you can attack; rest; attack; repeat. Those big rest blocks
give you a chance to see how far and how fast you can get you heart rate back down. Half way through the big values confidence is high. heading into the 3 hill of each interval it hurts but you know you can do it. The super loud music and bike side air drumming helps. Need to work on riding no handed more so I can leverage the air drumming on the road.

Tonight I need to get all the tire up stairs inspected for seals and fluid tests.

The graph looks wierd because I was testing some sensors with the desktop version of the software and it miss adjust my FTP down for the first interval; had to pause and fix that. So technically I sandbagged the first interval; I'll add some penance miles tomorrow.

 

[LarryOz]

The challenge I see ahead of me is converting the wattage on the trainer to speed on the road. I can't go by feel. HR is the only stat that I will have on both places. I have been resisting buying a power meter for the bike. There are many types and pros and cons that I have not found the one I wanted to use. Maybe that is the purchase this summer.

The problem is that your HR is fickle. Just being excited (i.e. being in a race situation) can make it go up as much as 20 bpm or more. But this is not really a true showing of it working harder really.
For instance: I can sit and pedal at 180watts on my KICKR and my pulse can be 125 just laying there pedaling and listing to music or some commentary. Then put up my video of me racing in a velodrome or the last 10 minutes of the Century race - bang - I'm beating at 145 within seconds, but not really "working" any harder or pushing more watts. Refocus myself, and it settles back down.\
Get the power stuff if you can. I've got a PT wheel I can sell you fairly inexpensively if you like. I bought it to test the power pedals and rarely used it. If interested, send me a PM.

 

[LarryOz]

I don't know how cold you guys expect it to be at Sebring but if I do have to wear some kind of thumb brace I may have to invest into a barmit for the side and go without a glove.

You need to come prepared either way.
In 2015, it was about 30 degrees and it was horrible! I rode the 24-hour and the cold just wiped me out at night
In 2016 it was about 50 I think at the start - so much better.
I'm sure hoping for that or warmer this year!

 

[ratz]

The problem is that your HR is fickle. Just being excited (i.e. being in a race situation) can make it go up as much as 20 bpm or more. But this is not really a true showing of it working harder really.
For instance: I can sit and pedal at 180watts on my KICKR and my pulse can be 125 just laying there pedaling and listing to music or some commentary. Then put up my video of me racing in a velodrome or the last 10 minutes of the Century race - bang - I'm beating at 145 within seconds, but not really "working" any harder or pushing more watts. Refocus myself, and it settles back down.\
Get the power stuff if you can. I've got a PT wheel I can sell you fairly inexpensively if you like. I bought it to test the power pedals and rarely used it. If interested, send me a PM.

Have to concur; training for iowa my max heart rate on the trainer was 165-169 once or twice and it hurt. Pretty sure I rode the whole hour at 175bpm. Outdoors + Event = high heart rate.

 

[DavidCH]

I'm sure hoping for that or warmer this year!

Ditto. After that fall, today was the first big long ride over 3 hours.

If you have the right gear on , you don't sweat buckets and you feel comfortable.

Since the new year I have reduced my intake of salt. Primarily by stop eating salted sunflower seeds. Something must be working as I have lost another kilo and got to 73kg. I might even be less than 72kg by the time Sebring happens.

I am finding training with so much intensity exhausting. Recovery never seems like a recovery.

The mod to the top of seat and the headrest was brilliant. No aching shoulder and no headache.

I also took a New Years resolution, which I don't usually do as I believe New Year Resolutions usually deprive you of something and that was not to eat cake until after Sebring.

Jason will probably entice me with a doughnut on race day.

LOL

 

[ratz]

And training block Part #1 done. Normally with Sweet spot we'd have spread this out over 6-8weeks. Instead thanks to the super early date of Sebring (man march would be so much warmer and more timely) it's a compressed 4 week with more volume; and then recovery and then a quick more hard 3 weeks. Big challenge next week is to hold water and not freak out about the workload reduction and let the body do it's thing; which is harder than it would seem for a lot of us; sweet spot recovery happens fast by Friday we'll be twitchy.

Anyway today was 65 miles in Zwift powered by a Trainer Road 3.25 hour aerobic workout (had some fun messing with the cycleops group ride which was trying to hold just 2.0 w/kg). Tossed in some sprints here and there but for the most part it's a leisure pace similar to what we'll probably just shy of what a Sebring 12 hour calls for. After the group ride was over switch back to kickr power to force myself to behave.

 

[LarryOz]

Well, today I was to do "nothing" as part of my recovery.
Hard to do nothing since we are snowed in under 8" of snow (I know Ratz - 8" is nothing of you - but with driveways and roads at 15-20% grade - we are not going anywhere probably at least until Tuesday.
Plus high of 20 F and low of 5 F makes it not fun outside with even a little wind.
..
But I could not stand it!! No I didn't ride but I did go and shovel snow for an hour on my steep driveway!
Here is a before picture (Forgot to get an after one - will do that tomorrow)
Should have put my Power meter boots and HR monitor on!

 

[ratz]

Looking for a cable to charge the Garmin 1000 on the handlebars without have to worry about snapping off the usb connector inside the gps head-unit. The usb connector on a landscape 1000 is right up at against the bar; sit-up and belly the unit and it's gonna snap.

Problem solved with recent cool tech. Order placed.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01MSFQ2L5

 

[CruzLike]

Last nights ride on Mt. Alice was long and boring. I was ready to stop at 2:30 but I continued for another hr. Can't wait till we do 4 and a little more. I think I'm sliding towards Larry's camp of shorter and harder workouts as preferred.
Ready for the recovery week.

I rode at a steady pace for 3.5 hrs. What does that convert to outdoors?

Larry, those power meter shovels are the bomb. Be careful. Shoveling snow is hard work. Don't over do.

 

[DavidCH]

I found a great spa quite close to where I live. Nothing like sitting in a great big bubbling jacuzzi ... Now to get back to my box making. I still can't believe that it only cost me €60 to travel the Atlantic ... God must want my presence in Sebring. LOL

 

[RojoRacing]

I found a great spa quite close to where I live. Nothing like sitting in a great big bubbling jacuzzi ... Now to get back to my box making. I still can't believe that it only cost me €60 to travel the Atlantic ... God must want my presence in Sebring. LOL

Are you shipping both you and the bike?

 

[DavidCH]

Are you shipping both you and the bike?

Haaaa Haaaa. That's an idea. Cheaper travel but don't think I like the cold nor the pressure. Oddly enough refugees are so desperate to get out of Syria that they do pack themselves into a box. They're desperate.

If anyone wants to create a box ... It needs to be 20cm thick... Then you can take the wheels too. And the V will fit into any vehicle and train.

Just a pain to put the bike back together.

Now it's in pieces I will swap over my chainwheel configuration and get my legs use to the gearing for Sebring