Early season training?
Discussion
As I've entered the Etape this year with absolutely no road bike experience (took delivery of my nanolight a few weeks ago) I've decided to get cracking with some training!
Anyway, I've made some good progress and managed my first ever col last week:
In the first few rides I managed to add about 30% to the previous distance covered, so I imagine the progress is going to slow down a little now!
Who else is braving the cold and embracing the pain?!
Anyway, I've made some good progress and managed my first ever col last week:
In the first few rides I managed to add about 30% to the previous distance covered, so I imagine the progress is going to slow down a little now!
Who else is braving the cold and embracing the pain?!
Good effort that man, keep it up!!
Have been training right through the winter as well, come rain or shine. Decent lights mean i can go out after work and the right clothing leave little excuse not to if the weathers not great.
Frustratingly I have had to write off this month, on account a lot of an awful lot of house renovation work being done.
Will need to double my efforts in April to get back up to speed as a month off will make a noticable difference.
Have been training right through the winter as well, come rain or shine. Decent lights mean i can go out after work and the right clothing leave little excuse not to if the weathers not great.
Frustratingly I have had to write off this month, on account a lot of an awful lot of house renovation work being done.
Will need to double my efforts in April to get back up to speed as a month off will make a noticable difference. Well done OP, sounds like you've got a job on your hands to get fit for the Etape. Keep putting the miles in!
For me this winter has been very productive. Managed to get gold standard in all of the winter sportive series rides so very pleased with that. In a couple of weeks I'm off for a week's training in the Alps
. Just checked my Strava rankings and I'm still holding 4th fastest time on the Col d'Ornon and I'm King of the Mountains on Le Courtil climb (just outstide of Bourg d'Oisans on way to Venosc). Cool!
For me this winter has been very productive. Managed to get gold standard in all of the winter sportive series rides so very pleased with that. In a couple of weeks I'm off for a week's training in the Alps
. Just checked my Strava rankings and I'm still holding 4th fastest time on the Col d'Ornon and I'm King of the Mountains on Le Courtil climb (just outstide of Bourg d'Oisans on way to Venosc). Cool!I entered some races from November which kicked things up the backside then managed to find some sun and some hills over January. Recently competed in a hilly 25TT which was great fun and a measure of where I am. The other thing which is paying off are the turbo sessions both with the club and on my own. If its pouring down or frosty they are my default choice. I am in way better shape than last year which isn't a surprise as I only started cycling in June 2011. Loads of club riders are out in Spain this week and another couple of trips are planned soon, i wish I could go but I think I am doing ok at the moment and I cant justify the costs compared to other things going on right now.
Very much looking forward to this year.
Very much looking forward to this year.
Janosh said:
As I've entered the Etape this year with absolutely no road bike experience (took delivery of my nanolight a few weeks ago) I've decided to get cracking with some training!
Anyway, I've made some good progress and managed my first ever col last week:
In the first few rides I managed to add about 30% to the previous distance covered, so I imagine the progress is going to slow down a little now!
Who else is braving the cold and embracing the pain?!
You should pop over to the Joux Plane too while you're there. That one made me feel a bit ill when I got to the top. Colombiere and back is a good ride form there too if you get the chance. And if you want anything flat, a lap round Lake Geneva is good fun too.Anyway, I've made some good progress and managed my first ever col last week:
In the first few rides I managed to add about 30% to the previous distance covered, so I imagine the progress is going to slow down a little now!
Who else is braving the cold and embracing the pain?!
thiscocks said:
mcelliott said:
I'm still holding 4th fastest time on the Col d'Ornon and I'm King of the Mountains on Le Courtil climb (just outstide of Bourg d'Oisans on way to Venosc). Cool!
Did you win a stage race competition then to become king of the mountains?
One month to go before the Etape... Training is going well, but i wonder what % of race distance should i do prior to the event?
On long rides i'm currently doing about half race distance & climbing gain quite comfortably, so perhaps i'll manage 75% before race day. I hope that's enough!
On long rides i'm currently doing about half race distance & climbing gain quite comfortably, so perhaps i'll manage 75% before race day. I hope that's enough!
Janosh said:
One month to go before the Etape... Training is going well, but i wonder what % of race distance should i do prior to the event?
On long rides i'm currently doing about half race distance & climbing gain quite comfortably, so perhaps i'll manage 75% before race day. I hope that's enough!
The distance is not what kills you in the Etape. It's the climbing. I would have thought that you would want to be doing 120 miles in the UK with relative ease to have anything other than a day in hell doing the Etape. The only way to build the endurance for long sportives in the Alps is long long days in the saddle. On long rides i'm currently doing about half race distance & climbing gain quite comfortably, so perhaps i'll manage 75% before race day. I hope that's enough!
Well its going to be tough to replicate that level of climbing, as I'm sure you know. But have you trained on long heavy drags, or riding into headwinds etc?
Got to agree with Ed on the distance thing, its about comfort too, my race bike has been perfectly comfortable for 100 mile rides at tempo pace, but its become uncomfortable after 2 hours at hard race pace. Make sure you can do a long hard day in the saddle here on your current bike before it, otherwise it will be brutal I would imagine!
Thankfully I have almost zero interest in events like that
Got to agree with Ed on the distance thing, its about comfort too, my race bike has been perfectly comfortable for 100 mile rides at tempo pace, but its become uncomfortable after 2 hours at hard race pace. Make sure you can do a long hard day in the saddle here on your current bike before it, otherwise it will be brutal I would imagine!
Thankfully I have almost zero interest in events like that
Until I read this http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=40... I didn't realise the broom wagon was so strict on the Etape, there are some tips in there to avoid being disqualified you may find useful.
Thanks for the replies guys - all useful info.
I live in the Alps, so climbing makes up most of my training but long rides are currently around 100km with 2000 - 2500m of climbing.
So if I plan to ride say 120km with 3500m of climbing, is that enough preperation for a 150km / 5000m event?
Gratuitous photo of this week's col: Col d'Iseran
I live in the Alps, so climbing makes up most of my training but long rides are currently around 100km with 2000 - 2500m of climbing.
So if I plan to ride say 120km with 3500m of climbing, is that enough preperation for a 150km / 5000m event?
Gratuitous photo of this week's col: Col d'Iseran
Road surfaces are usually pretty good (I registered over 70kph on the way down - so they must be fairly smooth!) and more importantly the lesser known col's can be ridden with very little road traffic. Col d'Iseran is due to open this weekend, so we had it all to ourselves yesterday!
Here's another good pic from this spring, taken en route to the Emosson dam... you can see the road is pretty smooth, you can also see that we had a decent snow fall this year!
Here's another good pic from this spring, taken en route to the Emosson dam... you can see the road is pretty smooth, you can also see that we had a decent snow fall this year!
Janosh said:
Road surfaces are usually pretty good (I registered over 70kph on the way down - so they must be fairly smooth!) and more importantly the lesser known col's can be ridden with very little road traffic. Col d'Iseran is due to open this weekend, so we had it all to ourselves yesterday!
Here's another good pic from this spring, taken en route to the Emosson dam... you can see the road is pretty smooth, you can also see that we had a decent snow fall this year!
That looks amazing! Jealous......Here's another good pic from this spring, taken en route to the Emosson dam... you can see the road is pretty smooth, you can also see that we had a decent snow fall this year!
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