Anyone ride slow but long? - Page 3 - Cycling Mob: Road Cycling, Mountain Biking and More

08-26-2004, 10:17 AM

Bob in CT wrote:
>
>>
>> What I found is that I have to occasionally ride with faster riders. The
>> result is that I ride faster, too. Oh, yeah, just in keeping up with
>> them at
>> first---but eventually, I get accustomed to the "feel" of riding
>> faster and
>> it seems more like normal to me. Last week, two of us were riding at
>> 19 mph
>> (trying to catch the main group which had left 15 minutes earlier) and a
>> third guy was going along with us--mostly drafting--well, okay, always
>> drafting. But when we stopped for a moment or two, he panted out "I
>> don't
>> usually ride this fast. I mostly ride at 12 mph." And yet, he was
>> keeping
>> up--because he had an incentive, I guess. When you ride alone, you
>> tend to
>> ride slower. At least that is true for me. Now, I have another
>> problem--I'm
>> up in the 18 mph range and all alone. I call myself a "tweener"
>> because I am
>> used to riding faster than the 14 mph group but I can't hang with the
>> 23-24
>> mph group yet.
>> The morale of the story is: riding with some faster people can improve
>> your
>> performance.
>>
>> Pat in TX
>>
>>
>
> You're right about that -- sometimes when I'm alone, I'll let my speed
> slip. I've been trying to get faster, though, when riding alone. It's
> just that I ride so many hills that I'm going as fast as I can up the
> hills that when I get to the top, I don't (or can't) go faster. Many
> times, my HR is well into the 90-95% of my max. HR for a long time
> (typically, about 1/3 of my ride is above 90% of my max HR -- I'll find
> out more this weekend, as I'm going to reprogram my HR monitor so that
> it tells me how long I'm between 90-100% of my max HR). On my current
> long rides, as soon as I turn around, I know it's all downhill (except
> for two very hard uphills, but these are relatively short), so I average
> over 20 mph on the flat sections of the downhill.

You sound like me. If I ride 12 mph I can ride for a long long time,
and pretty much any hill will get my HR up over 90% of max, if it isn't
pegged at MHR. How long have you been riding regularly? For me, I
think a lot of it is just that I've only been riding since late May, and
it takes me a long time to build up fitness due to my impaired gas exchange.

I think I have the best of both worlds right now: when I ride with my
husband, it's long slow distance; when I ride with my sons, they push
the pace. We're an exclusive club of five around here. *grin*

-km

--
the black rose
proud to be owned by a yorkie
[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]

08-26-2004, 10:29 AM

Bob in CT <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote:
> Personally, I think hills are more about aerobics and the ability to put
> whatever power you have down for a longer time. They're like time trials
> in that regard.

hmm, could be.
--
david reuteler
[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]

08-26-2004, 10:29 AM

Bob in CT <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote:
> Personally, I think hills are more about aerobics and the ability to put
> whatever power you have down for a longer time. They're like time trials
> in that regard.

hmm, could be.
--
david reuteler
[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]

08-26-2004, 10:29 AM

Bob in CT <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote:
> Personally, I think hills are more about aerobics and the ability to put
> whatever power you have down for a longer time. They're like time trials
> in that regard.

hmm, could be.
--
david reuteler
[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]

08-26-2004, 10:29 AM

Bob in CT <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote:
> Personally, I think hills are more about aerobics and the ability to put
> whatever power you have down for a longer time. They're like time trials
> in that regard.

hmm, could be.
--
david reuteler
[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]

08-26-2004, 10:53 AM

26 Aug 2004 18:29:11 GMT,
<412e2bf7$0$62953$[Only registered and activated users can see links. ].com>,
David Reuteler <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote:

>Bob in CT <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote:
>> Personally, I think hills are more about aerobics and the ability to put
>> whatever power you have down for a longer time. They're like time trials
>> in that regard.
>
>hmm, could be.

They're like consecutive time trials so any one hill can't be ridden
to anaerobic collapse unless it's the finish line.
--
zk

08-26-2004, 10:53 AM

26 Aug 2004 18:29:11 GMT,
<412e2bf7$0$62953$[Only registered and activated users can see links. ].com>,
David Reuteler <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote:

>Bob in CT <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote:
>> Personally, I think hills are more about aerobics and the ability to put
>> whatever power you have down for a longer time. They're like time trials
>> in that regard.
>
>hmm, could be.

They're like consecutive time trials so any one hill can't be ridden
to anaerobic collapse unless it's the finish line.
--
zk

08-26-2004, 10:53 AM

26 Aug 2004 18:29:11 GMT,
<412e2bf7$0$62953$[Only registered and activated users can see links. ].com>,
David Reuteler <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote:

>Bob in CT <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote:
>> Personally, I think hills are more about aerobics and the ability to put
>> whatever power you have down for a longer time. They're like time trials
>> in that regard.
>
>hmm, could be.

They're like consecutive time trials so any one hill can't be ridden
to anaerobic collapse unless it's the finish line.
--
zk

08-26-2004, 10:53 AM

26 Aug 2004 18:29:11 GMT,
<412e2bf7$0$62953$[Only registered and activated users can see links. ].com>,
David Reuteler <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote:

>Bob in CT <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote:
>> Personally, I think hills are more about aerobics and the ability to put
>> whatever power you have down for a longer time. They're like time trials
>> in that regard.
>
>hmm, could be.

They're like consecutive time trials so any one hill can't be ridden
to anaerobic collapse unless it's the finish line.
--
zk

08-26-2004, 11:01 AM

"Bob in CT" <ctviggen.x@adelphia.net> wrote in message
news

psdcjhbqo6snke8@news.snet.sbcglobal.net...
> My weekend ride is typically 60-70 miles, but I ride at a pace that's
> about 13mph (I'm unsure of the elevation gain; it's between 3,500-5,200
> feet; my GPS gives me different numbers each time). We have a great club
> in CT called Sound Cyclists, but I can never ride with the club, as the
> rides for C riders (12-14mph) are too short for me. I feel as if I'm
> stuck in "no man's land," as sponsored rides for C riders are too short
> but I can't gain enough speed to go out on the faster, longer rides.
>
> Anyone else have this trouble?
>
> --
> Bob in CT
> Remove ".x" to reply

I've always thought club rides in my area are WAY too short. Fortunately,
they usually meet about 17 miles away. I ride my bike over and back and get
the extra mileage I want. If darkness becomes a problem, I leave earlier
and find some extra mileage to add. Then I break off and head home whenever
I need to in order to beat the darkness.

I always get a chuckle out of people who claim they'd like to be able to get
in more mileage but can't find the time. They usually say this to me as I'm
astride my bike at the ride start, watching them remove their bike from the
trunk of their car or from their rack. They've probably spend as much time
packing and driving as it would have taken them to ride over.

Bob C.