Sprinting Mojo?

[nm87710]

I seem to have lost my sprinting "jump" and am tired of having everybody blow BY me. Top end speed is fine it's just my jumpin mojo that's missing. Any good training ideas to help get my 200m speed back?

[gasman]

Lose a few years ? ;)

[shinomaster]

Did you turn 31 this year like me??? I have more seated power than ever, but my fast-twitch snap is missing....

[William]

... I am tired of having everybody blow me. ?


(snicker :D )

Dude, screw the sprint. Check with the good Doc about hormone therapy! :p




William ;) ;) ;) :D

[Too Tall]

Grammer check. That's the word of the day eh?

All sarcasm aside I've always had a terrible sprint. Mind you, I'm the guy sprinters would pay for a leadout :) In the past I worked pretty darn hard to turn my high end speed abilities into a good...no...just DECENT sprint but noooooooo and than I discovered track racing :cool:

The techniques and skills I took home from track race training helped immensely. If I can summarize what I learned it is this: the effort is violent and no silly throwing the bike side to side...all effort is FORWARD!!! Changed my sprint 100%.

Coach Too Tall wants you to do some drills:
1. Big gear spin ups - in 12X53 on flat ground from <5mph accelerate the bike while seated up to 25+ mph. Time it. See how fast you can get to your mark. Do at least 6 of these.
2. Pick a mark (sign post, mailbox) and practice finish line sprints as follows:
From 22-24mph nail it and go all out using 38X14. Try it from set distances from the "finish line" eg. 200 ft, 250 ft etc. What distance is faster when crossing the line? OK, now do the same using 53X 15 from 26-28mph same deal. What distance is faster? Do at least 6 of each.

[Fixed]

bro isn't it winter? cheers :beer:

[loctite]

DO some big gear work this winter like TT said, long steady low cadance climbs in the big ring. And hit the weights. get your leg press up to 500 pounds or so and you will be riping bars off!

[Too Tall]

Checks in the mail ;)

[William]

...And hit the weights. get your leg press up to 500 pounds or so and you will be riping bars off!

Oh boy! I've had that argument here before. :rolleyes:



William ;)

[nm87710]

Thanks Coach Too Tall et al

Yea, I'm 40 BUT used to have a very good sprint in my early 20's. Great sprint in my early 30's always in the top 5 but could not TT worth a damn. In the last few years the finishing speed just vaporized, but now I'm a better allround rider usually able to net top 10 finishes in sprints, TT's and tough road races and always do well in stage races. Just wish I could get my jump back cause it's depressing to come into a 10up sprint at the end a long break and get waxed. I've adjusted my tactics to avoid sprints if possible and sometimes try a flyer with 2-3k to go since I usually have nothing to loose...it even worked a few times! :banana:

[Too Tall]

No worries, I'm not from the Gov't and I'm here to hep you :)

How about you fit these (above) workouts into your weeklys and let's talk after a good month of adaptation and observations k? You obviously don't need to talk about how to race as you have the chops. Some fine tuning to make up for lost youth may be in order...ahhh I remember that youth thing sigh ;)

I've emphasised quantitative data gathering so you can find out what does work. It could be as simple as you used to sprint in an old school 50X13 at 120+ rpms and now you are trying to muscle a 53X13 at 100 rpms and that is not what works best for you.

It is too damn easy to say "to be better at sprints you need to practice sprinting". Well derrrr. But let's take it up a notch and dissect the art and science some to understand how you can be your best.